MUNCIE, Ind. — Second game of the season and the Lobos’ newcomers were showing their youth.
But with their experience on the outside, the Lobos had nothing to worry about.
Three Lobos veterans tallied double-digit kills to power the University of New Mexico volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Albany in the team’s second game of the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge in Muncie, Ind.
After breezing through the first set and ably winning the second, the Lobos struggled in the third set before leaning on juniors Devanne Sours, Cassie House and Julia Warren to capture their second win of the day.
The Lobos also beat Belmont in their morning match of the four-team challenge, setting up head coach Jeff Nelson to capture his 400th career win tomorrow against his alma mater, Ball State.
In New Mexico’s match against Albany, Sours (16 kills, 11 digs) and Warren (11 kills, 14 digs) both notched double-doubles, while House posted 14 kills for the Lobos. UNM had 58 kills in the match compared to Albany’s 29.
And while the Lobos’ offense was enough in three of the four sets, UNM’s defense ended up being the key.
Albany hit negative .008 (29 kills, 30 attack errors, 133 attempts), and that includes the Great Danes’ 17 kills in the third set. New Mexico hampered Albany in all but the third set, stifling the Great Danes with 64 digs and 10 blocks.
Along with Warren’s and Sours’ production on defense, freshman Mercedes Pacheco notched 12 digs, while Hannah Johnson (34 assists) and freshman setter Carson Heilborn (12) combined for 46 assists.
New Mexico had no trouble with Albany in the first set, soaring out to a 13-3 lead. Skye Gullatt and House and four kills apiece for the Lobos in the first set, with defense suppressing any scoring by the Great Danes.
Albany could only muster two kills (with 10 errors) in the first set, while UNM put up 13 kills to only four errors. The Great Danes hit negative .276 in the opening stanza, in stark comparison to the Lobos’ healthy .300 hitting percentage.
The second set was a much more evenly matched affair, with neither team exerting much of a lead. The score was tied six times in the set set, with three lead changes between the team.
New Mexico eventually went ahead 21-17, and leaned on that small advantage to scrape out a 25-20 win in the second set.
Neither team was able to click offensively in set two, with the Lobos hitting .135 and the Great Danes negative .111. House and Sours had three kills each in the second set.
Albany finally did heat up in the third set, running out to a 17-12 lead. UNM was able to get the score to within one at 19-18 and 23-22, but both teams began trading points. Errors in the back row proved costly in the third set, as the Lobos yielded key points en route to losing the third set 26-28.
The Great Danes, who were only hitting negative .185 through two sets, exploded in the third, hitting .342 in that frame. UNM wasn’t too far behind, hitting .317. Warren had six kills in the set, while Sours chipped in five.
The fourth set was a completely different ballgame, as the Lobos bolted to a sizzling 11-0 lead. UNM suffocated the Great Danes in the set, as Albany scored mostly off of Lobo errors.
UNM extended its lead to 18-6, and cruised on for a comfortable 25-13 set win and match victory.
The Lobos return to action tomorrow evening as they play host Ball State at 7 p.m. MT on ESPN3.