ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It had been three years since the Lobos had played in The Pit.
It took them one match to find their groove.
New Mexico volleyball turned away CSUN 3-1 Friday night, relying on clutch serving and 37 kills by its outside hitters to win its first match in the Days Inn and Suites Lobo Invitational in WisePies Arena aka The Pit.
The Lobos — displaced from their usual home, Johnson Center, due to a production of “The Book of Mormon” at nearby Popejoy Hall — didn’t play their sharpest game, but scored when they needed to en route to winning 25-21, 27-25, 17-25, 25-17.
“I think we played a good team and I am happy to get the win, but I think we have some work to do on things we need to be better,” New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said.
The Lobos, despite the win, were outhit by the Matadors, .167 to CSUN’s .190, and held just one most assists (44 to 43) and five more kills (51 to 46).
New Mexico’s biggest two advantages were on the serve and the block, where the Lobos (6-4) demolished CSUN (1-9) with 11 services aces (to CSUN’s one) and 12 total blocks (to CSUN’s seven).
“We did have significantly more blocks and we served really well,” Nelson said. “We had 11 aces to their one. That’s a really big difference right there.”
Stephanie Chavez helped fuel the Lobos’ advantage serving, as she tallied a career-high five service aces, with three coming during UNM’s comeback in set two.
Cassie House added three more aces, while Devanne Sours (15 kills), Julia Warren (11) and House (11) paced New Mexico offensively.
Hannah Johnson (35 assists) keyed UNM’s offense, while the defense was anchored by Ashley Kelsey (game-high 16 digs in her first start at libero) and Warren (11 digs). House and Mariessa Carrasco both had five block assists to power the Lobos’ at the net.
Kelsey kicked off the the first set with an ace, but CSUN went up 6-3 on the Lobos. New Mexico responded with a 5-0 run to go up 8-6, before both teams started trading points into a 14-all tie.
The Lobos scooted ahead 17-14 off of an ace by House and kills by Johnson and Simone Henderson, and kept the lead for the rest of the set, closing on a 4-1 streak to claim the set 25-21.
Neither team clicked offensively to start, and CSUN hit .118 compared to UNM’s .171 hitting percentage. Sours had six kills, nearly half of the Lobos’ 13 first-set kills.
Set two was another tightly contested affair, with numerous lead changes and ties early. But after UNM put up a 12-10 lead, CSUN rolled out an 8-2 run to go up 18-14.
The Lobos closed the gap to two points multiple times down the stretch, and took the lead at 24-22 via three straight Chavez service aces and a CSUN error. The Matadors scored the next three points to go up 25-24, but UNM finished on a 3-0 run — including a vicious set-clinching kill by Carrasco — to win 27-25.
Both teams improved offensively in the second frame, as UNM hit .270 and CSUN .256 in the set.
CSUN came out of the break firing, going up 11-4. New Mexico, struggling to convert offensively, scratched out a 5-2 run to make it 13-10 CSUN. But The Matadors continued to pressure the Lobos, answering UNM’s run with an 8-2 surge.
The Lobos couldn’t come any closer than eight points the rest of the set, dropping the stanza 25-17.
But New Mexico rebounded in the fourth set, marching out to a 15-6 lead on the Matadors. CSUN came back within five at 20-15, but the Lobos wrapped up the match with a 5-2 run and a 25-17 set win.
UNM returns to action tomorrow at 1 p.m. for a match vs. LIU Brooklyn (0-9) before facing off against LSU (2-7) tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. for a whiteout and “Pack The Pit”. The first 600 fans get a whiteout shirt, and tickets are just $3.
LSU and CSUN also square off at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, while CSUN and LIU Brooklyn play at 5 p.m.