ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Hannah Johnson recorded a double-double and three players posted double-digit kills, but it wasn’t enough as New Mexico volleyball fell in five sets to Wyoming Thursday night in Johnson Center.
Despite Johnson’s 43-assist, 20-dig performance, the Lobos (14-11, 7-5 Mountain West) couldn’t complete their rally as Wyoming (19-6, 9-4) won by set scores of 25-14, 21-25, 20-25, 25-18, 7-15.
“It was a great volleyball match,” New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said. “But I think we should have won it, so I’m pretty disappointed about that.”
Both teams finished with similar stats in the tightly contested match, but it was Wyoming that converted late as the Cowgirls swept the season series from the Lobos.
New Mexico registered more kills (63 to 61) and digs (80 to 76) than Wyoming, while the Cowgirls tallied a better hitting percentage (.223 to .206) and more assists (58-55). The teams finished with the same number of blocks (10 each) and service aces (one each).
Along with Johnson’s superlative performance, Devanne Sours finished with a team-high 15 kills, and Cassie House added 14 and Skye Gullatt 10. Gullatt also finished with six blocks, while Ashley Kelsey notched a season high-tying 21 digs.
However, the Lobos’ rally from a 2-1 deficit stalled in set five, giving Wyoming the ultimate advantage.
“Wyoming is a good team,” Nelson said. “The stats were fairly even throughout the match. … It’s a match that could go either way, but in game five our hitters didn’t show up.”
New Mexico opened the set on a roll, taking a quick 7-3 lead on Wyoming. The Cowgirls cut the Lobos’ advantage to 10-9 after a 5-1 run, but UNM responded with a set-clinching 14-4 run en route to a 25-14 win.
The Lobos hit .333 in the opening frame, converting 12 kills on 27 attempts with just three errors, and forced Wyoming into a .000 clip. New Mexico posted five total blocks in the set as UW committed nine attack errors.
“We came out great in the first set,” Johnson said. “We wanted to come out and make a statement knowing that they beat us 3-0 at their gym.”
In the second set, both team opened evenly with a 6-6 tie. But Wyoming scored four straight for a 10-6 lead and later rebuffed a 3-1 Lobo spurt with a 6-1 run to go up 17-10. UNM climbed to within three points at a couple of instances late (including 20-17 and 24-21), but Wyoming won the set 25-21.
UNM managed to hit .205, but yielded a .424 success rate to the Cowgirls in the set.
After intermission, the Wyoming continued to apply pressure, going up 8-4 early before moving up 13-6. But UNM refocused and brought in redshirt freshman middle blocker Mariessa Carrasco to spell senior Simone Henderson, sparking a 5-0 Lobo run.
“Mariessa did a phenomenal job coming in for Simone,” Johnson said. “Wyoming didn’t give her any respect and she just came out guns blazing.”
Wyoming would build its lead back up to three at 19-15, but UNM continued to close the gap, climbing to within one point at 19-18 and 21-20. However, UW scored the final four points of the set to win 25-20.
New Mexico’s offense only converted .162 in the set, while Wyoming remained hot and hit .395. House nabbed five of her kills 14 kills in the set, while Carrasco added two.
Determined to win, the Lobos took a 7-4 lead early in set four, and held that advantage wire-to-wire as Wyoming scored consecutive points just twice in the set. UNM closed on a 4-1 run, winning the stanza 25-18 to force a decisive fifth set.
House scored six of her kills in the set and Gullatt tallied four kills as UNM hit .333 in the frame. The Lobos also held Wyoming to a .109 clip.
But the Lobos’ success ran out in the fifth set, as Wyoming bolted out to a 7-2 advantage. The closest UNM would get was 9-5, as the Cowgirls closed on a 6-2 run for the 15-7 win in set five.
All four of UNM’s main offensive weapons went cold in the final stanza, as the Lobos hit negative .074 in the fifth. Wyoming converted .222 for the win.
“Four of the five hitting positions hit negative in game five,” Nelson said. “… Everybody was kind of going for the glory ball instead of playing to win in game five and doing what got us there.”
New Mexico returns to action Saturday as it hosts No. 15 Colorado State at 7 p.m. MT in Johnson Center. The Lobos will be running their “Jam Johnson” promotion, and all tickets are just $2.
NOTES: New Mexico falls to 1-5 in five-set matches this year and is now 13-5 when winning the first set … With her 43 assists, Johnson is now 239 assists from tying Jade Michaelsen for the program record in career assists … Gullatt is now second in New Mexico history in total blocks with 436, passing three-time All-American Chantale Riddle (435) … Gullatt also moved to sixth in program history in block solos with three Thursday night — she needs five more to move into fourth place