ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico volleyball team fell in five sets to Idaho Saturday afternoon, dropping its first match of the 2016 season by set scores of 27-25, 22-25, 21-25, 25-14, 11-15.
Despite a strong effort in winning the fourth set, the Lobos (2-1) struggled versus the Vandals (3-0) and couldn’t maintain their momentum from Friday’s opening-day victories over Abilene Christian and Arizona State.
Although New Mexico marginally outperformed Idaho offensively — managing more kills (61 to 56), assists (58 to 52) and service aces (seven to five) — the Lobos were done in by more overall errors.
UNM finished with 53 combined miscues, compared to the Vandals’ 44 total errors.
Of New Mexico’s 53 errors, 29 were attack errors as the Lobos hit .196 (61 kills, 29 errors, 163 attempts) on the match. Idaho converted a .224 success rate (56k-21e-156a).
Cassie House posted a game high-tying 16 kills, while Julia Warren and Mariessa Carrasco registered 12 kills apiece. Devanne Sours and Victoria Spragg chipped in eight and seven kills, respectively.
But the Lobos’ hitters had trouble consistently scoring against Idaho’s block, which finished with an 11-6 block advantage over UNM.
Carson Heilborn (five kills, 32 assists) and fellow setter Lise Rugland (20) both posted solid numbers. In the back row, Ashley Kelsey finished with 20 digs and Warren added 12 digs for her first double-double of the year.
Both teams played the first set exceptionally tight, with 10 ties and four lead changes. After New Mexico forged a 10-10 tie, Idaho went on a 7-3 run to take a 17-13 lead. The Lobos would knot the set up at 17 before taking a 24-20 lead.
But Idaho made it interesting late, staving off five set points before House and Carrasco powered UNM to a 27-25 win.
Set two was similar, starting with a back-and-forth battle that led to a 10-all tie. Idaho then punched out an 8-3 run during the late stages of the set to go up 22-17, and held off a New Mexico push to win 25-22.
The Lobos struggle the most in the second frame, notching nine kills against 10 errors for a -.024 hitting percentage. Idaho was more successful statistically, committing fewer errors for a .171 hitting percentage.
After the intermission, both teams continued to battle point for point. After the Vandals went up 8-3, UNM answered with a 12-4 run to go up 15-12. But Idaho posted an 11-3 run of its own to go up 23-18.
New Mexico would get to within three a couple of times, but couldn’t close the gap, losing 25-21.
The Lobos tried to mount a comeback in the final sets, storming through the fourth set behind runs of 10-3 and 7-3 to win 25-14. In the fourth stanza, UNM hit .406, with 14 kills on just one error.
But the momentum proved short-lived, as Idaho claimed a 10-5 lead in the fifth set. Although UNM would close the gap to three points at 13-10 and 14-11, Idaho would hit .643 (9k-0e-13a) to win the set 15-11 and capture the match in five sets.
New Mexico returns to action later Saturday night when it takes on Fairfield at 6 p.m. MT.