Sept. 9, 2005
MISSOULA, Mont. – The New Mexico volleyball team swept UC-Davis in the opening match of the Montana Invitational in Missoula, Mont. this evening, improving to 3-2 overall. The Lobos recorded 48 kills compared to the Aggies 28 and forced 30 UC-Davis errors. For the game, UCD hit -.015.
Senior Chelsea Sondrup set a new program record for career blocks, recording three block assists. Sondrup entered the match tied with Linda Archuleta at 326. She also holds the career block assist record with 309.
The Lobos came out firing in game one of the match, building a 14-7 thanks to three consecutive kills from senior Nicole Ryan. The Aggies would push back, getting to withing four at 22-18 but New Mexico turned up the heat and rattled off six consecutive points on five kills from junior Kelly Therkelsen for a 30-22 victory. Therkelsen hit .545 in game one with seven total kills. Ryan hit .417 with six kills.
In game two UNM and UCD traded points back and forth until the Lobos built a five point lead at 22-17 on five Aggie errors and four kills from Ryan. Seven New Mexico errors let UC-Davis back into the game, evening the score at 27-27. But New Mexico capitalized on three UCD attack errors, getting the 31-29 win.
New Mexico jumped out to a 6-2 lead in game three, forcing three errors while recording an ace and two kills. Three attack errors and a ballhandling error by UNM gave the Aggies a glimmer of hope, evening the score at 9-9 but that light would quickly fade as UNM built a seven point lead on six UCD errors and two kills from sophomore Samie Weber. The Lobos cruised to a 30-21 win.
For the game, Ryan put down a team-high 17 kills with nine digs. Therkelsen added 13 kills, four assists and a team-high eight blocks. Freshman Sarah Kwasigroch dished out 40 of UNM’s 45 assists while freshman Gayle Tripp, getting her first start as the libero, had 21 digs and two service aces. Sondrup hit a team-high .375 (7K-1E-16TA) to go along with her three blocks. Weber posted five kills, one ace and six blocks.
The Lobos return to the court tomorrow at 10 a.m., taking on Gonzaga. They will also play Montana at 7 p.m. Live stats are available at www.MontanaGrizzlies.com.