Sept. 10, 2005
MISSOULA, Mont. – New Mexico improved to 2-0 at the Montana Volleyball Invitational and 4-2 overall with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Gonzaga. The Lobos, just six matches into the season, haven’t started this well since 1994, when they began 5-1.
New Mexico opened game one, building a 12-7 lead. Sophomore Samie Weber was a major contributor to the five-point advantage, recording a kill, an ace and two Bulldog attack errors while serving. The Lobos extended their lead to 17-10 on two kills from senior Chelsea Sondrup. But the Zags would put together a 20-10 run fueled by Becky Jones’ four kills, one block and one ace for a 30-27 win.
Gonzaga jumped out to a 13-9 lead in game two thanks to two kills from Lacey Bell and three kills from Jones. New Mexico pulled even at 14 all on five serves from senior Nicole Ryan. With the score 29-29, Weber stepped up two serve, getting a block from Sondrup and freshman Sarah Kwasigroch followed with a ballhandling error to seal the 31-29 win.
Game three was dominated by the Lobos, who out-hit the Zags by 200 points (.303 compared to .103). UNM held a 22-20 lead when Gonzaga committed six of its nine errors, giving New Mexico the 30-24 win. Sondrup and Weber both put down four kills and two blocks while Ryan added three kills and a block. Freshman Michelle Miller chipped in with two kills and a block.
The Bulldogs hit an astounding .486 to avoid the loss, taking game four 30-22. UNM hit .300 and was even with GU at 12-12 when Michelle Buevers and Heather Dunn posted six and four kills, respectively. Ryan and Sondrup stood out for New Mexico, hitting .375 and .750, respectively.
With the match on the line and the score deadlocked at 11 all, UNM scored four straight points on a GU error, two kills from Sondrup and one from Ryan for the 15-11 win.
Ryan notched a season-high 19 kills with three assists, one ace, 11 digs and a block. Sondrup recorded 15 kills and six blocks while Weber posted 11 kills, one ace, two digs and four blocks. Miller racked up a season-high nine kills, one dig and one block. Junior Kelly Therkelsen added nine kills, four assists, 13 digs and six blocks. Kwasigroch had her most complete game of the season, hitting .400 (5K-1E-10TA) while dishing out 56 of UNM’s 64 assists and recording three blocks and eight digs.
The Lobos will battle Montana for the tournament title tonight at 7 p.m. Live stats are available at www.MontanaGrizzlies.com.