Sept. 6 versus Purdue Fort Wayne

Nevada volleyball swept its first match of the three-game tournament.

They posted a season-high .283 hitting percentage across the three sets of the match. They out-hit the Mastodons with 39 kills as opposed to their 38. Nevada also held Purdue Fort Wayne to a .178 hitting percentage, including a .111 percentage in the final set. 

Kayla Afoa lead the team with eight kills. Camryn Rocha added eight kills, along with Sydney Peterson’s seven. Dalyn Burns led with a team-high 18 assists, her lowest assist-total on the year thus far. 

For the third time this season, Nevada out defended their opponents at the net, blocking eight shots compared to the Mastodons’ season-low mark of one. 

Sept. 6 versus UC Riverside

The Wolf Pack fell in their first three-set loss in the second match of Saturday’s slate. It was Nevada’s second loss of the season, falling in all three sets 25-23. 

Nevada had a .151 hitting percentage, compared to the Highlanders’ .183 hit percentage. Afoa and Rocha were the only two to tally double-digit points for the second consecutive contest, as they both recorded 11 points on ten kills apiece. 

Ryan Blackwood and Mandalay Rennon were the only two Pack players to tally double-digit digs. Burns had a team-high 31 assists, adding six digs of her own the evening. 

The Pack had a plus-five block total compared to the highlanders with Sydney Peterson leading the Pack with five of Nevada’s eight blocks. Peterson, appearing in her fifth collegiate game ever, recorded her fourth five-block game of the season. 

Sept. 7 versus San Francisco 

Nevada pulled through in four sets versus San Francisco in the final match of the San Francisco Tournament, this time against the host. 

After falling in the opening set, 25-21, the Pack sent them down 25-16, 25-23 and 25-16. With the offensive dominance of Afoa, Kili Robins and Brianna Souza, Nevada tallied it’s fourth 50-kill game of the season.

Afoa added a team-high 13 kills—the junior’s sixth game with double-digit kills this season—as Robins and Souza followed with 12 kills of their own. 

Nevada had six aces on the afternoon, three of which came from Afoa. Mandalay had two, and Souza had one. Burns eclipsed the 40-assist mark for the fourth time this year, racking up a team-high 47 assists. 

The Pack held San Francisco to a .188 hitting percentage, the highest percentage an opponent had this weekend. For comparison, the Pack had a .231 hitting percentage.

After finishing the weekend 2-1, Nevada improves to 4-2 on the season. The Wolf Pack now heads to the Portland State Tournament next weekend, opening against California State Northridge University on Friday, Sept. 13. 

Matt Hanifan can be reached at rfreeberg@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @SagebrushSports.