UC San Diego climbed out of a four-point hole in the deciding set, took two late leads and still left Las Vegas without the finish. UNLV scored the final four points Sunday to win 25-18, 18-25, 24-26, 25-23, 15-12. The sequence dropped the Tritons to 0-4 in five-set matches.
The fifth began with UNLV ahead 7-3. UCSD did not rush the entire deficit into one swing. The Tritons worked back to 11-10, lost the next point, then moved in front again at 12-11. That was their final score. The Rebels tied it, passed them and closed before another side-out could interrupt the run.
Molly McCluskey carried the largest scoring load. She finished with 18 kills, two aces and four blocks for 22 points, adding 13 digs. Ireland McNees supplied 17 kills and nine digs. Together they gave UCSD two reliable high-volume options across a match that lasted five frames and repeatedly changed control.
The teams were close across the main attacking numbers. UNLV held a 64-61 advantage in kills and hit .236 to UCSD's .221. Those margins do not explain a match by themselves. They show that neither side dominated the entire afternoon; set endings and the allocation of errors mattered more than one sustained statistical edge.
UC San Diego had already won one tight finish. The third set went beyond 25 before the Tritons took it 26-24 for a 2-1 match lead. UNLV answered 25-23 in the fourth, a two-point margin that pushed every earlier serve and transition error into a deciding set where there was less room to recover.
Back-row work kept UCSD available for those chances. Baillie Seldin led the Tritons with 16 digs, while setter Alexis Catalan combined 26 assists with 10 digs and an ace. A setter double-double reflects both jobs required in a long match: distributing an offense and defending enough first contacts to run it again.
McCluskey and Seldin were named to the tournament team, recognition for production across the weekend rather than consolation for the final score. The harder team measure is the 0-4 record in fifth sets. Four losses can invite a broad conclusion, but the useful evidence is more specific: UCSD reached 12 first on Sunday and could not secure the next side-out.
The defeat left both teams at 4-7. UC San Diego completed 11 consecutive road matches to open the season, a schedule that removed home routine while the roster learned how to close tight sets. Travel did not decide the four-point UNLV run, but the end of the road stretch gives the Tritons a different setting for the next test.
Big West play begins Friday against Cal State Fullerton at LionTree Arena, followed by Long Beach State on Saturday. Home court will change the surroundings, not the scoring demand. The task is not to manufacture a fifth-set identity before then. It is to preserve what erased 7-3 and sharpen what followed 12-11: one clean pass, one available swing and one stop before an opponent can stack four points.