Oct. 8, 2005
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Head coach Kelley McKee set a new best at New Mexico (11-5, 3-3 MWC) as the Lobos picked up its 11th win of the season at TCU. The 3-2 win gave the Lobos its most wins in a season under McKee since they won 10 in 2002.
The score was tied 29 all in the opening game when freshman Gayle Tripp dropped in an ace to force a TCU time out with the Lobos at game point. Right out of the time out, junior Kelly Therkelsen slammed down her sixth kill of the game for a 31-29 win. Therkelsen hit .857 on six kills, no errors and seven attempts with two aces. As a team, the Lobos hit .400 (16K-4E-30TA).
UNM took a 6-5 lead early in game two and never looked back, going on for a 30-23 victory. The Horned Frogs were within two at 24-22 but sophomore Samie Weber sparked a 6-1 run for New Mexico with two kills and two blocks. The Lobos outhit TCU .440 (13K-2E-25TA) to .037 (10K-9E-27TA). Weber hit a team-high .667 with four kills and three blocks.
TCU jumped out with the lead in game three, holding a four-point advantage at 19-15 when freshman Michelle Miller fueled a comeback with a kill, ace and assist to even the score at 20. The Lobos were at game point (29-27) but couldn’t hold on, committing three attack errors to give TCU the 31-29 win. Therkelsen and senior Nicole Ryan each put down four kills and a block while TCU’s Anna Vaughn had a game-high five kills and two blocks. The Horned Frogs’ Erin Estep hit .800 with four kills, no errors and block on five attempts.
Vaughn and Haley Harmon pushed the match to game five as TCU took a 10-9 lead and held it for a 30-25 win. Vaughn hit .462 (6K-0E-13TA) with two blocks and an assist while Harmon hit .625 on five kills and no errors with eight attempts. Ryan stood out for New Mexico with eight kills, no errors and an ace, hitting .444.
The Lobos held an 8-4 advantage to start game five thanks to two kills from Weber and a kill and an ace from Therkelsen. TCU fought back to tie the game at 11 and them took a 12-11 lead. New Mexico showed its strength, putting together a 4-0 run to win the game 15-12 and the match. The game ended on a kill and an ace from Ryan and a kill from Therkelsen.
“We had an opportunity to win in three and got stuck,” McKee said. “Kelly was unstoppable from the beginning. Nicole carried the load for us and came through at the end. It is a great road win for us.”
Therkelsen hit a team-best .444 (19K-3E-36TA) with five digs, four blocks and two aces. Ryan put down a team-high 24 kills with 66 attempts, almost twice as many as any other Lobo. Ryan also had nine digs, four aces and two blocks. Weber hit .364 (10K-2E-22TA) with four digs, four blocks and an ace. Senior Chelsea Sondrup had a team-high six blocks, including two solo ones. Freshman Sarah Kwasigroch dished out 55 of UNM’s 59 assists and Tripp led the team with 19 digs.
The Lobos stay out on the road with matches at Utah on Friday and BYU on Saturday. Both games are slated for 7 p.m. and live stats are available for the game at Utah.