ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico volleyball team fell in straight sets, 22-25, 22-25, 17-25, to San Diego State Thursday night at Johnson Center in the Mountain West opener for both teams.
The Lobos (7-6, 0-1 Mountain West) lost virtually every key statistical category against the Aztecs (4-9, 1-0 MW), and couldn’t produce much offensive as they hit a paltry .035. No UNM player had more than six kills.
“This is a really disappointing loss,” New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said. “I don’t have a lot of excuses for it. We got our butts kicked on our own floor.”
New Mexico’s middle blockers were the only highlight for the home team, as senior middles Skye Gullatt and Simone Henderson combined for 10 kills on a .291 hitting percentage.
Those positions also granted UNM’s only statistical victory versus San Diego State — a 12-11.5 advantage in total blocks.
Otherwise, the Lobos were out-produced across the board, finishing with fewer kills (29 to 39), assists (29 to 34), aces (two to five) and digs (41 to 50). The Aztecs also outhit UNM as they converted .124 of their attempts.
UNM’s starting outside hitters — Devanne Sours, Julia Warren and Cassie House — couldn’t generate consistent offense. Sours and Warren both finished with negative hitting percentages, while House tallied just four kills. Combined, the Lobos’ offensive pulse finished with 14 kills.
“[Our outside hitting] hasn’t been consistent enough,” Nelson said. “Our numbers on the outside are way lower than they need to be right now.”
Senior setter Hannah Johnson, New Mexico’s do-it-all team leader, finished with 26 assists and a team high-tying eight digs. Starting libero Stephanie Chavez also had eight digs, but was replaced by freshman Mercedes Pacheco in the final set.
The first set opened up fairly evenly, with neither team exercising much of a lead or much offense. The score was tied 11 times in the opening set, and both teams hit south of .027. But both teams managed to score in bunches against each other, including eight combined runs of at least three points.
A late 7-2 Aztec run was the difference maker in the set, as SDSU broke a 17-all tie for a 25-22 win in set one. The Lobos’ offense couldn’t make much headway against the Aztecs, a presage for the struggles yet to come.
UNM hit just .027 in the set with 16 total errors (hitting, blocking, serving and receipt), while SDSU wasn’t much better with 13 total errors.
Set two started off much like its predecessor, as both teams traded runs and ties. But key contributions off the bench from Henderson and Marisa Doran helped the Lobos take a lead at 14-11.
However, SDSU came back with runs of 4-1 and 7-2 to take set two 25-22. Eight of UNM’s 11 kills in the set came from Doran, Henderson and Gullatt as SDSU continued to stymie the Lobos’ outsides.
New Mexico couldn’t stem the Aztecs’ run in the third set as San Diego State bolted to a 7-3 run. The Lobos closed the gap to two points at 12-14 after a 3-0 spurt and got to within one at 15-16, but SDSU reeled off a backbreaking 9-2 run to win the set 25-17.
Again, UNM was unable to convert offensively, hitting negative .028 in the final frame. The Lobos managed only eight kills, and yielded 14 combined errors.
New Mexico will look to even its conference record on Saturday as it plays host to Nevada at 1 p.m. in Johnson Center.
Notes: San Diego State leads the all-time series 20-35, and is 7-3 in the last 10 matches … The Lobos’ .035 hitting percentage (29 kills, 25 errors, 113 attacks) is the team’s lowest since hitting .029 (26, 23, 103) vs. No. 2 Texas last August … The last time New Mexico was held without a player with double-digit kills was Oct. 16, 2014 vs. No. 6 Colorado State … The last time the Lobos’ team leader in kills had fewer than seven kills was in UNM’s loss to Texas … New Mexico drops to 3-6 in MW openers under Nelson … This is the Lobos first loss in a MW season opener since 2011