MUNCIE, Ind. — Despite a career night from senior middle blocker Simone Henderson, the University of New Mexico volleyball team fell 3-2 to Ball State Saturday to close the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge in Muncie.
Henderson led UNM with a career-high 21 kills and Hannah Johnson dished out 57 assists, but it wasn’t enough to stave off a Ball State comeback that saw the Cardinals win the final three sets after the Lobos won the first two.
New Mexico, buoyed by stifling performances in the first two sets, won most of the key statistical categories, as it finished with more kills (67 to Ball State’s 65), digs (71 to 66), assists (62 to 60) and service aces (seven to four).
But the bigger Cardinals held a distinct advantage at the net, with 16.5 total blocks to UNM’s nine, and kept the Lobos’ offense off-balance in the last three sets.
Ball State’s showing also deprived New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson of his 400th career victory, a distinction that could have come against his alma mater. Nelson is a 1986 alum of the Cardinals’ men’s volleyball program.
UNM jumped out to a quick lead on Ball State in the first set, going up 9-3 to open the frame. After a 4-0 run, the Cardinals closed the gap to two points at 12-10, but the Lobos responded with an 8-3 run to move to 20-13.
Kills by Cassie House and a Ball State error pushed UNM’s lead to 23-14, and the Lobos parlayed kills by Henderson and Julia Warren to a 25-18 win in the opening set.
Henderson and House both had five kills to lead UNM in set one, as the Lobos’ defense limited Ball State to a .144 success rate.
Set two saw the Lobos battle back from an early Cardinal lead to take an 11-8 lead. UNM began to cultivate a small lead in the set, going up 17-13 behind a couple of Henderson kills, and finally began to pull away as Skye Gullatt and House notched kills.
The Lobos’ surge forced a Ball State timeout at 20-13 before UNM extended their lead to 23-14 off of an Ashley Kelsey service ace.
New Mexico won the set stanza 25-16, as its offense rolled to the tune of a .423 hitting percentage. Devanne Sours, Warren, Henderson and Gullatt all had three kills in the set.
After the break, both teams started trading points in the third set, with Ball State moving out in front early. The Lobos, plagued by miscues, found themselves down 17-10. A small 5-2 run by the Lobos — punctuated by three more kills by Henderson — put them within four at 15-19.
But more errors by UNM led the Ball State scraping out a 25-20 win. The Lobos struggled to put up a clean sheet, with seven miscues. New Mexico hit only .162 in the set, despite Henderson’s six kills in the set.
Neither team took control early in the fourth set, with the score tied at 7-all. New Mexico eventually seized a 14-11 lead, but Ball State responded, going up 23-22. Both teams continued to trade set points, and Ball State emerged with the set, 29-27.
The Lobos jumped to an 8-6 lead in the final set, but the Cardinals edged forward at 11-9, and claimed the win, 15-13.
House (14 kills) and Gullatt (10) both posted double-digit kills for UNM, which hit .247 (67 kills-26 errors-166 attacks) on the match. Four Lobos had 10 or more digs, with Warren (19), Mercedes Pacheco (18), Sours (14) and Johnson (10).
New Mexico is back on the court next Friday as it hosts the Lobo Classic at Johnson Center in Albuquerque. The Lobos play Santa Clara on Friday at 7:30 p.m. MT before taking on Cal State Fullerton and SMU on Saturday.