SAN DIEGO,Calif. – The University of New Mexico volleyball team dropped its first conference match of the season, falling to San Diego State by scores of 25-17, 15-25, 26-24, 22-25 and 8-15 on Thursday evening at Aztec Court.
Lobos were off to an exciting start in the first set, hitting .342 for the set. The Lobos used big kills from both Chantale Riddle and Simone Henderson. Riddle tallied five and hit .500 for the set while Henderson had four kills and hit .800. The Lobos limited SDSU’s offense and held the Aztecs to a first set hitting percentage of .094
The set started off quick as the Lobos went up 6-2. SDSU worked its way back and came within three points, 9-6. But the Lobos didn’t back down, pushing to a 10-4 run to finish out the set.
The second set was much different as the Lobos struggled to get a consistent groove going. The Lobos hit .083 for the set and only saw their offense come from Riddle on the right side. She tallied five kills for the set but the Lobos made many mistakes all-around. It didn’t help that SDSU brought their match hitting percentage .215 for the match after hitting .333 for the second set.
The Lobos started off the third set down 3-0 but worked their back and took their biggest lead since the first set of 13-11. The two teams traded points and tied the set four times within the next 14 points played. The Lobos were down 21-19 and three straight blocks gave the Lobos the lead 22-21. A kill from SDSU tied the match up but Julia Warren comes back swinging to take a 23-22 lead for the Lobos. The two teams went point-for-point and the set was tied two more times before Skye Gullatt came up with a big kill to take the 25-24 lead. The set went to the Lobos after a bad set from the Aztecs.
New Mexico started the fourth set with a 4-1 lead but SDSU worked its way back in and the match was tied at 8-8. The two played the trading points game again but a kill from Gullatt gave the Lobos a 13-11 advantage. Point-for-point put the match tied five more times before SDSU took a 21-17 lead. The Lobos went on a 4-1 run but it wasn’t enough to outlast the Aztecs.
In the fifth set, the Lobos struggled to get back in their offensive groove as they hit minus (-) .130 for the set. SDSU used a .238 hitting percentage to take the set and the match.
For the match, the Lobos hit .182 to SDSU’s .224. The two teams were even in kills at 59. The Lobos tallied 52 assists and 77 digs. To lead the Lobos, Riddle collected 17 kills for a .205 hitting percentage. Henderson led the team with a .348 hitting percentage, putting down 11 of her 23 attacks. Johnson collected 52 assists and Mayfield had a career-high of 23 digs.
With the loss, the Lobos are now 11-6 on the season and 4-1 in Mountain West action. They continue their road trip to UNLV this Saturday. The match starts at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT and will be live streamed. Visit the volleyball schedule on GoLobos.com for the link.