ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – It was a grind for the University of New Mexico volleyball team on Thursday night as the team came out on top 3-2 over Utah State at Johnson Center.
After going down 2-1 heading into the fourth set, the Lobos battled, made a comeback and came out on top with match scores of 25-21, 20-25, 28-30, 25-20 and 15-12.
“We were grinding the whole match,” said head coach Jeff Nelson. “It wasn’t our best match but when we did things well that were good enough to win. We weren’t doing them consistently enough. I thought the comeback in game three really made a difference in terms of us knowing. The spark was there and we were ready to battle.”
The third set was an exciting set to watch as a fan because it came down to the wire in the end. The Lobos were down 19-13 before they started their comeback. Attack errors from Utah State and strong net play from the Lobos pushed them up and back into the to tie it up at 25-25. The two teams traded points as the Lobos got kills from Riddle. The Lobos were tied at 28 and a kill from Riddle put the Lobos up 29-28 but two kills from Utah State’s Rachel Orr put the match for the Lobos in jeopardy.
After the third set thriller, the Lobos really improved their game and made their comeback with a different lineup. Freshmen Victoria Spragg and Taylor Cross were sent into the match and Maddie Mayfield switched by DS to Libero.
“I felt like we were spinning our wheels and we had to do something different. And it wasn’t something we’ve even practice. In practice everyone does everything so there reason not to give it a shot.
Big kills from Riddle and one from Spragg put the Lobos up early 5-2. But Utah State worked its way back to tie the set up 8-8. A Henderson kill put the Lobos up 9-8 and the Lobos never looked back, going on a 16-12 run. The Lobos hit .406 for the set, collecting 15 kills.
“I think that a couple of freshman came in and did a couple of great things. It is pretty awesome when your freshman come in and make big plays for us at the end of a really important match.”
In the fifth set, the Lobos started out strong again, taking an early 6-2 lead. The Aggies once again wasn’t going to back down easy and worked their way back in, closing in 10-9. Riddles kills and costly errors from the Aggies gave the Lobos the set and the match.
It started out great in the first set as the Lobos claimed the set win. The Lobos hit .275 for the set and tallied 19 kills to Utah State’s 10. The two teams traded points the whole set showing 11 moments where the set was tied. After a Lobo attack error at 21-21, the Lobos took the rest of the set by kills from senior Chantale Riddle, junior Simone Henderson and sophomore Julia Warren.
It was the second set where the Lobos started to slow down and Utah State came back firing. The Lobos hit minus (-) .093 in the second set and hit .175 in the third set compared to the Aggies .204 hitting in the third set.
In the second set, the two teams traded points early but Utah State managed to break away, leading 20-13. The Lobos couldn’t find a groove to finish out the set as attack errors were costly.
Sophomore Cassie House was a huge asset in the match as she had a season high of 17 kills. She finished with a .257 hitting percentage. Riddle finished with 20 kills while Warren recorded her second double-double of the season with 14 kills and 15 digs. Hannah Johnson had her seventh double-double with a career-high of 55 assists and 11 digs. Henderson put down a career-high of 11 kills and tied a season-high of eight blocks.
“Cassie picked it up and really had a solid performance for a five-game match.”
For the match, the Lobos hit .181 and collected 66 kills, 63 assists, 72 digs, and 19 team blocks. Utah State hit .120 for the match, collecting 57 kills, 35 errors, 53 assists , 61 digs and 17 team blocks.
The Lobos improve to 10-5 on the season and are 3-0 in conference play. They return to Johnson Center on Saturday to take on the Broncos of Boise State at noon MT. For tickets, visit GoLobos.com or by calling 925-LOBO.