Andrew Huse, Staff Photographer

Some games are remembered for their hard-fought, down-to-the-wire, nerve-racking endings.

Others are memorable for a particular player’s record-setting performance.

And some are recalled for the fierce competitiveness displayed by two teams waging battle against one another.

On Friday night at Peterson Gym, the San Diego State volleyball team beat UNLV 3-2 (29-31, 30-26, 30-27, 28-30, 15-13) in a match that had all three of those things.

With the win, SDSU (10-4, 2-1 in Mountain West Conference play) continued its impressive season while handing the Rebels (10-2, 2-1) just their second loss of the year.

Prior to this most recent match, the Aztec-UNLV rivalry had been emphatically one-sided for nearly a decade.

SDSU had dropped six consecutive contests to the Rebels, the last coming in the Aztec’s 2006-07 home-finale.

And, as if there wasn’t enough drama in the gym, the Aztecs were struggling – relatively – after dropping consecutive matches for the first time all year to No. 12 BYU and No. 15 USD.

Oh, and, by the way, UNLV was bringing a nine-match winning streak to the table. Even the most stoic of coaches could acknowledge the importance of the match.

“This was huge for us,” head coach Mark Warner said, “It’s been a long while since we’ve beat (the Rebels), and coming off (of) the two losses, about to go on the road; it was a really great win.”

All sentiments, winning streaks and intangibles aside, it was also one of the most action-packed contests SDSU had been in all year.

Momentum constantly shifted as both teams produced long scoring streaks, chief among them a 7-0 spurt by the Aztecs that brought them within one point of victory at the end of the fourth set.

After another series of give-and-take runs, SDSU finally jumped ahead for good in the fifth set and held off UNLV’s high-powered offense to pull out a narrow victory.

Highlighting the night was senior libero Aime Cordiero. The upperclassmen leader tallied 27 digs to become the Aztecs’ all-time leader in the category. She surpassed Jackie Mendez’s mark of 1,688; a record that has stood since 1988.

“(Cordiero) is just that kind of a competitor,” Warner said. “She’s always out throwing herself around.”

Cordiero and her teammates’ achievements won’t last for long, however.

SDSU will face a new challenge as it travels to Fort Collins, Colo., on Thursday to meet Colorado State in its first MWC road game.