USAF ACADEMY, Colo. — The Lobos were looking to finish the season off on a high note.
Their seniors made sure they did.
Senior Skye Gullatt tied the program record in career blocks and fellow senior Hannah Johnson passed 1,000 career digs as the University of New Mexico volleyball team rallied past Air Force in four sets in its final match of the 2015 campaign.
Behind the gallant performances from their seniors, the Lobos (17-14, 10-8 Mountain West) overcame a sluggish start, soaring past the Falcons (12-21, 5-13) 22-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-19 at the East Cadet Gym on the campus of the Air Force Academy.
“I think everybody really wanted to finish with a win,” New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said. “We talked a lot about it. When we started slow tonight, everybody was kind of nervous and panicked. But once we settled in and got some momentum, everything was really good.”
Gullatt and Johnson both played instrumental parts in powering the Lobos through a first-set loss to Air Force.
Gullatt, a 5-foot-11 middle blocker from Denver, finished with 10 blocks and a career high-tying 12 kills, hitting .391 in the process. She finished with 465 total blocks in her career, good for a tie with Chelsea Sondrup (2002-05) for the program lead.
She also finished with the second-best single-season total in program history, tallying 141 total blocks.
“5-11 at the net to have the block record, it speaks to her athleticism and her work ethic,” Nelson said.
Johnson, a setter from Longview, Wash., claimed her own record, capping her UNM career with 1,002 digs. While she missed the program record in career assists by just eight assists, she finished with 1,144 in the season (the seventh-best single-season total) and 4,167 in her career (12th-most in MW history).
Only Jade Michaelsen (4,174 from 2007-10) has more assists in UNM history.
“Skye had an amazing night with 10 blocks, hitting over .300,” Nelson said. “Big congrats to Hannah for 1,000 digs and Skye for tying the all-time blocks record tonight. It was amazing that she needed 10 and got it tonight. Really happy for both of them.”
The third senior of New Mexico’s 2015 senior class, Simone Henderson, also nabbed a record, finishing fourth in program history in career hitting percentage. The 6-1 middle from Palm Springs, Calif., ended her two-year Lobo career with a .312 hitting percentage.
But UNM’s seniors weren’t alone in Tuesday’s victory over Air Force.
Cassie House led all players with 16 kills on a career-best .407 hitting percentage, while Devanne Sours added 13 kills. Henderson posted six kills and Julia Warren five.
Defensively, Ashley Kelsey claimed the game high in digs with 16, and Johnson registered 11 digs for her 13th double-double of the year. She finished with 47 career double-doubles, tied for third in MW history.
The Lobos outhit Air Force .231 to .141, as UNM registered 53 kills and 23 errors on 121 attempts compared to AFA’s 44-26-128 line. New Mexico also had more assists (50 to 41), digs (48 to 42) and blocks (16 to 11), with both teams posting six service aces.
Air Force took a 7-4 lead to open set one, but the Lobos battled back to come to within a single point at 10-9 and 11-10. But the Falcons took control of the set with an 8-2 run fueled by two service aces and four Lobo errors.
The Academy would extend its lead to seven points at 23-17 before UNM started to chip into the lead, stalling five set points for Air Force. But the Falcons eventually sealed the set with a kill, winning 25-22.
New Mexico managed to outhit Air Force .200 to .161 in the set. Both teams had 11 kills with six errors, but the Falcons posted six more attempts. Neither team could fully establish their serving game, as both team missed four serves. The Falcons did have four aces.
“I thought we started a little slow with the serving errors and the receptions errors in set one,” Nelson said. “They came after us with tough serves.”
Set two opened with Air Force claiming the early lead, this time two points at 7-5. However, New Mexico knotted the score five times until the Falcons notched five straight points to go up 16-11.
Air Force would continue to hold its lead through 18-15, but the Lobos finally started clicking, running off a 10-2 run to win the second frame 25-20.
The Lobos continued to stymie Air Force’s offense, as the Academy hit just .128 with seven attack errors. UNM converted a .211 hitting percentage behind six kills from House.
Both teams opened the third set evenly, taking it out 5-all, but Air Force rattled off an 8-2 run to go up 13-7 and force a UNM timeout. New Mexico returned the favor right out of the break, posting a 7-1 run to knot the set at 14.
After Air Force scored three straight, the Lobos put the set out of reach with a 10-3 stretch. UNM won the set 25-21, relying on three kills each from Sours and Warren.
The fourth set was also tightly contested early, with a tie at 6-6, before New Mexico reeled off a 10-2 run to take a 16-9 lead. The Academy drew to within three at 17-14, but the Lobos did just enough to maintain their advantage and come away with a 25-19 set win.
“I thought we played really good volleyball in games three and four,” Nelson said.
The Lobos finish the 2015 season with a 17-14 overall record and 10-8 record in the Mountain West, good fourth fourth in the 11-team league.
A portion of the indoor volleyball team will transition over to the beach volleyball team, with competition slated to begin in March.