New Mexico Drops MW Opener to No. 23 Colorado State

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Lauren Twitty tallied 14 kills and the Lobos finished with an advantage blocking, but it wasn’t enough as the University of New Mexico volleyball team dropped its Mountain West opener 3-0 to No. 23 Colorado State.

Although the Lobos (8-5 overall, 0-1 Mountain West) largely fought tough in their first league match of the season, they couldn’t overcome the Rams (11-2, 1-0) in Moby Arena, falling 25-20, 25-18, 25-20.

“I think there were things that were really good,” UNM coach Jeff Nelson said. “I thought Lauren played really well. I thought we attacked from the right side of the court really well.

“The things we do well, though, we didn’t do well. We didn’t pass well and we didn’t play good defense.”

Despite Twitty’s offensive performance and the Lobos’ showing at the net, New Mexico struggled against the Rams’ setter and their varied offense, finishing with just 21 digs. It’s the the team’s lowest dig total this season.

However, the Lobos logged nine blocks to CSU’s seven, just the third time Colorado State has been out-blocked this season. The nine blocks also tie the team’s season high, set twice before.

“We’ve been working on blocking for two weeks and we blocked pretty well,” Nelson said. “We had nine blocks in three games against a really good team.”

Overall, New Mexico hit a respectable .221 (31 kills, 12 errors, 86 attempts), while the Rams hit .337 (50-18-95).

Twitty’s 14 kills were tops on for the Lobos, with Victoria Spragg (five kills, four blocks) and Mariessa Carrasco (four kills, four blocks) also contributing. Carson Heilborn finished with 28 assists.

Ashley Kelsey, who started at outside hitter and moved to libero after intermission, tallied three errorless kills and seven digs.

Colorado State surged to an 8-2 lead to start the match, forcing a quick New Mexico timeout. The Lobos would close the gap to three points at 10-7, but the Rams rebuilt their lead with a 5-1 run. UNM would stay within five points for most of the remainder of the set, eventually falling 25-20.

New Mexico came out with some more urgency in set two, battling to an 11-8 advantage. The Lobos would hold that three-point margin to 13-10, but, after successfully winning a challenge on a touch call, the Rams would post a 5-0 run to claim the lead at 15-13.

CSU would not relinquish the lead in the second stanza, effectively closing the set on a 15-5 run. UNM did not score consecutive points after winning the challenge at 13-10.

After intermission, the Lobos opened a 4-1 lead in the third set, but Colorado State would reel off a 13-4 run — including stretches of four- and six-straight points — to go up 14-8. New Mexico would cut the lead to four at 15-11 and 16-12, eventually whittling the Rams’ lead to three points at 19-16.

However, CSU would maintain its lead in the waning moments of the set, winning it 25-20.

The Lobos return to action Saturday, facing Wyoming at 1 p.m. MT in Laramie, Wyoming.

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