Unbeaten volleyball team wins NCAA tourney opener

Mariena Hayden had 17 kills and nine digs to lead UNLV past Illinois State

25-21, 25-21, 20-25, 25-17 in an NCAA Tournament first-round volleyball match Wednesday in Omaha, Nebraska. Shelby Capllonch had eight kills and 24 digs and Arien Fafard 25 assists and 13 digs for the Rebels (13-0), who next face No. 2-ranked Kentucky (19-1) at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Kaylee Martin had 14 kills and 15 digs and Sarah Kushner 10 kills and 12 digs for the Redbirds (16-6), who had won nine straight matches.

■ Softball: Senior shortstop Samantha Diaz was named Mountain West player of the week for a second time this season after going 6-for-10 with a home run in each game and nine RBIS in helping the Rebels (19-9, 111) to a three-game sweep at Utah State.

■ Baseball: The three-game series between the Rebels (14-7, 9-6 Mountain West) and host San Jose State (3-5, 1-2), set for Saturday and Sunday, was canceled because of a positive COVID-19 test and resulting contact tracing within the UNLV program.

■ Track: Junior Avi’tal Wilson-perteete was named Mountain West athlete of the week after winning the 800-meter run at the Mountain West Challenge in 2 minutes, 4.44 seconds, a time that is the league’s best this season and ranks 10th nationally.

■ Women’s tennis: Senior En-pei Huang was named Mountain West player of the week for a fourth time after going 3-0 in singles and doubles without losing a set while helping the Rebels (9-5, 5-1) to two league wins.