FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The University of New Mexico volleyball team fell to No. 21 Colorado State on Thursday night, dropping a three-set decision to the preseason Mountain West favorites 22-25, 16-25, 19-25.
Rolling out a new starting lineup that featured outsider hitter Julia Warren starting at libero, the Lobos (9-8 overall, 2-2 MW) and their offense never got on track against the Rams (12-3, 5-0) at Moby Arena in Fort Collins.
“Colorado State is a good team,” New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said. “They did a lot of really good things. But we struggled. We struggled on our right and we struggled with some of our left-side attacks. … We’re just making too many errors.”
Hoping to steady their inconsistent back-row defense, the Lobos looked to Warren, the MW’s Designated Libero in 2014. The move helped shore up the defense early, and Warren finished with a team-high 12 digs.
“That was something we talked about and the whole team was in favor of,” Nelson said. “We felt like we could be a little more stable. And she did a great job.”
But the move took Warren – one of Nelson’s top hitters on the year – off the front row, which limited New Mexico’s offense against one of the top defenses in the conference.
The Lobos hit .130 (28 attacks, 15 errors, 100 attempts) on the match, and got 15 combined kills from senior middle blockers Simone Henderson (nine) and Skye Gullatt (six).
UNM’s main offensive threat, Devanne Sours, added five kills, while Warren’s replacement at outside hitter, Marisa Doran, finished with three kills.
The always-reliable Hannah Johnson paced the offense with 24 assists, and Ashley Kelsey (who switched libero jerseys with Warren in the third set) cleaned up seven digs.
Colorado State ended the match hitting .337 (51, 16, 104). Junior outside Alex Reid had a game-high 15 kills, but the Lobos were able to limit preseason MW player of the Year Adrianna Culbert to eight kills and six digs and largely avoid one of the MW’s top blockers, Acacia Andrews (six total blocks).
Both teams opened the contest evenly, with both teams sharing ties early en route to a tie at 12-12. Colorado State then began to exert its size, and opened up a narrow two-point advantage at 14-12.
The Rams would ride that slim lead for the rest the of the set, winning the opening frame 25-22.
The Lobos hit a respectable .286 against CSU in the set, getting five kills from Henderson on just six attempts. UNM’s reshuffled front line scored the other six kills, but New Mexico yielded a .400 success rate to the Rams on the set.
The second frame opened with New Mexico taking a 7-4 lead to force a Colorado State timeout, but the Rams would quickly erase that with a 3-0 burst. The Lobos would keep it close for the rest of the set with a tie at 12-all, but CSU closed on a 13-4 run to win the set 25-16.
New Mexico’s offense, without Warren contributing, hit negative .028 in the set. The Lobos’ defense stepped up to limit the Rams to just a .243 attack percentage, but still gave up key points during Colorado State’s set-winning run.
After the break, the Lobos moved Warren back to the front row looking to spark their offense. It worked early, as New Mexico fought the Rams to a tie at 5-5.
But Colorado State reeled off an 8-2 run to go up 13-7, and rode that lead for the rest of the match. New Mexico was able to close the gap to four at 23-19 after a 3-0 surge, but the Rams claimed the last two points for the set win.
Colorado State has now won 21 straight matches against New Mexico in Fort Collins.
The Lobos return to action Saturday when they face Wyoming at 1 p.m. at the UniWyo Sports Complex in Laramie, Wyo.