Sept. 17, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas — In a match that looked eerily similar to the 2007 match-up in Fort Worth, the University of New Mexico volleyball team had to battle back from being down 2-0 to send the match with TCU into a fifth set. Unfortunately for the Lobos the final result was the same as they lost the Mountain West Conference opener, 3-2 (25-16, 25-22, 18-25, 23-25, 15-7).
The Lobo offense struggled through the first two sets, hitting a sluggish .118 and .025, respectively. After allowing the Horned Frogs to take the first set by a nine-point margin, UNM settled down a bit in the second set as neither team ever held larger than a three-point lead.
UNM (8-2, 0-1 MWC) came out of the intermission with much better offensive numbers as the team played evenly to 11. Jeanne Fairchild put down two kills, Allie Suiter had a solo block and a TCU attack error put the Lobos ahead 15-11. The Lobos never allowed TCU back in the set.
TCU (10-1, 1-0 MWC) took a 10-5 lead in the fourth set. Freshman Ashley Rhoades entered the set and landed two solo blocks and a kill to get the Lobos to within two at 10-8. Jade Michaelsen evened the score at 11 with a kill and got UNM to 12-11 with a solo block. TCU took back the lead at 18-15, but Taylor Hadfield had two kills and assisted on a block with Rhoades to even things back up at 18. The teams swapped leads with TCU taking their final lead, 23-22 on a service ace. After a UNM timeout, a Horned Frog attack error, a block by Suiter and an ace by Michaelsen sent the match into the fifth set.
In the fifth set, the teams battled back and forth until the side change with TCU up 8-6. The Horned Frogs took over at that point, going on a 7-1 run to finish the match.
Fairchild matched her season-high with 19 kills in the match, while Hadfield had a season-high 10. Michaelsen and Suiter led the defense with five blocks each, while four Lobos had double-digit digs, led by freshman Allison Buck.
It was the first match all season that the Lobos played more than three sets.
The Lobos will stay in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the University of Texas-Arlington Holiday Inn Invitational on Sept. 19-20.