BOISE, Idaho — Hannah Johnson edged closer to the career mark in assists and added one of two Lobo double-doubles Saturday, but it wasn’t enough as New Mexico volleyball fell in four sets to Boise State, 25-22, 22-25, 25-27, 19-25.
Despite Johnson’s 43-assists, 15-dig performance and a 18-kill, 10-dig day from Devanne Sours, the Lobos (16-14, 9-8 Mountain West) couldn’t stem the Broncos (22-7, 14-3 MW) or their offense in Bronco Gym.
Although New Mexico won the first set in Saturday’s match, it wasn’t able maintain the momentum late, dropping two set points in a pivotal third set before giving way the Boise State’s powerful offense in the fourth set.
Sours’ 18 kills led the Lobos against the offensively prolific Broncos, who came into the match leading the NCAA in assists per set and kills per set. Sours was joined by Cassie House (11 kills) in double-figure kills, while Johnson’s 43 assists keyed UNM’s offense.
Johnson, a senior with one game left in her collegiate career, is now just 50 assists from tying Jade Michaelsen in the program record in career assists.
Julia Warren chipped in eight kills for the Lobos, followed by Johnson (seven) and Skye Gullatt (seven).
New Mexico hit a solid .199 (58 kills, 27 errors, 156 attempts) against Boise State, but yielded a .228 success rate (65-27-167) to the Broncos. Both teams generated a large number of attempts in the a matchup of two of the more offensively-minded teams in the MW.
The MW’s leaders in kills per set, the Broncos’ Sierra Nobley, finished with 22 kills, while Maddy O’Donnell had 16. The league leader in assists per set, BSU’s Sarah Baugh, had 53 assists.
Defensively, Ashley Kelsey paced New Mexico with a game high-tying 20 digs, while Johnson added 15, Warren 12 and Sours 10. The Lobos out-dug the Broncos 70-67, in part because of the offensive fireworks by both teams.
Johnson moved closer to 1,000 digs in her career and now is just nine from that mark.
But Boise State tallied a big advantage at the net, with 16 total blocks to the Lobos’ 11. BSU came in averaging 2.12 blocks per set but averaged four a set vs. UNM.
Gullatt moved closer in her chase of the program’s block record as she led New Mexico with five total blocks. She’s now 10 blocks from tying the all-time career blocks record and is two block assists from second in all-time block assists.
Johnson contributed four total blocks, while Sours and House had three total blocks each.
Boise State opened the match scoring five of the first seven points and moved up 11-5 on the Lobos as both teams produced kill after kill. But the Lobos responded with a 7-1 run to tie the set at 12 and then traded points with the Broncos before reeling off four straight to go up 19-16.
Boise State would climb to within a point at two instances late, but New Mexico held off the Broncos to win set one 25-22.
New Mexico hit .444 (19-3-36) in the set as House notched six of her 11 kills in the frame. Sours was also productive with four kills.
Both teams played the second set tight with a tie game at 6-all. The Broncos rolled off four straight points to go up 10-6 and maintained their four-point lead through 14-10. The Lobos subsequently regained the lead on a 6-0 run fueled by four BSU attack errors.
Boise State took back the lead at 17-16 after scoring three straight, and each side played through six of the set’s 11 ties late. But the Broncos tallied the last four points to win set two 25-22.
Neither team was particularly productive in the stanza, as UNM hit -.026 (9-10-39) and Boise State hit .085 (15-11-47).
After intermission, the Broncos took control early, going up 6-3 on the Lobos. Both teams then posted 4-0 runs in succession before UNM surged ahead 15-12 behind a 7-1 run. However, Boise State notched a 5-1 run of its own to take a 17-16 lead.
Another volley of 4-0 runs but the Lobos up 22-21, and New Mexico had two set points (24-23 and 25-24). But BSU scored the final three points of the set, winning the frame 27-25.
Again, it was a relatively close set, with Boise State outhitting UNM .213 to .186. There were another 12 ties in the third set, with eight lead changes. Johnson grabbed nine of her digs in the set, while Sours tabbed five kills.
In the fourth set, New Mexico kept pace with Boise State through the first handful of serves, trailing 7-8 at one point. But the Broncos took the lead for good behind a 7-2 run, and the Lobos wouldn’t get any closer than four points the rest of the way, dropping set four 25-19.
New Mexico closes out its season on Tuesday as they travel to Air Force for a 6:30 p.m. MT match vs. the Falcons.NOTES: The Lobos lead the all-time series vs. Boise State 8-2, but BSU snapped a four-game losing streak to UNM … New Mexico falls to 15-6 when winning the first set and 9-3 in day games