HONOLULU, Hawaii – The University of New Mexico volleyball team took one game away from the No. 20 ranked Hawai’I but it wasn’t enough as the Lobos fell to the Rainbow Wahine 3-1 with scores of 26-24, 18-25, 11-25, and 17-25.
The Lobos started our really strong in the first set, taking a 6-1 lead into the first timeout called by Hawai’i. Chantale Riddle was really on her game tonight as she tallied six block assists and six kills. Simone Henderson was also big in blocks as she collected four with Riddle.
Riddle hit .417 in the first set and led the Lobos for the match with 11 kills and eight block assists. She tallied six digs, one ace and hit .132 for the match. Julia Warren collected nine kills on the outside and picked up 14 digs. Ashley Kelsey, playing in front of her hometown crowd, picked up a career match-high of 18 digs.
The second set proved to be the start of a tough rest of the match for New Mexico. The Lobos had a hard time with the Rainbow Wahine’s serve as they had 13 aces on the match. The third set was similar to the second as the Lobos passing suffered again but the Lobos put up a fight in the start of the fourth set, taking a 5-4 lead which was their first lead in a set since the first. But the Rainbow Wahine regrouped and came back strong to finish off New Mexico.
The Lobos drop to 2-2 on the season. They continue their paradise tour with matches against St. John’s tomorrow at 9 p.m. MT/5 p.m. local island time and No. 22 Oregon on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. MT/2:30p.m. local time.