TAMPA, Fla. — Devanne Sours, Julia Warren and Carson Heilborn all notched double-doubles and Lauren Twitty added a career high in kills, but it wasn’t enough as the University of New Mexico volleyball team fell in four sets to South Florida Friday night.
Although the Lobos (4-2) played the Bulls (5-0) close in the Sun Dome in Tampa, New Mexico couldn’t translate its standout individual performances into points at key moments, dropping its second match of the USF Invitational by set scores of 22-25, 25-23, 22-25, 17-25.
“It was really disappointing because every time we put ourselves in position to win, we made a mistake or made an error,” UNM head coach Jeff Nelson said. “… We opportunities to win and we let it get away.”
After topping Stetson to open the USF Invitational, the Lobos had chances to move 2-0 on the weekend. But New Mexico struggled to convert, despite a handful of strong showings from some players.
Sours and Twitty led the Lobos with 14 kills apiece, while Sours added 11 digs for her second double-double of the season. Twitty’s 14 kills are a new career best for the freshman.
“Lauren Twitty went in and had a really good match,” Nelson said. “She definitely came up with production for us.”
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| Carson Heilborn |
Warren also posted a double-double with 10 kills and 17 digs, and Heilborn just missed UNM’s first triple-double in six years, finishing with nine kills and career highs in assists (42) and digs (12).
However, outside of those four players, the rest of the Lobos combined for nine kills and 33 digs, with Ashley Kelsey contributing a team-high 19 of those digs.
“Ashley Kelsey also had two really good matches today,” Nelson said. “She had a good day for us and kept us somewhat grounded and in the matches.”
On the whole, New Mexico registered one more dig than USF (75 to 74), but saw the Bulls win the battle in kills (62 to 56), assists (60 to 53), blocks (seven to six) and aces (six to one).
The Lobos hit .223 on the match (56 kills, 21 assists, 157 attempts), while South Florida hit .273 (62-18-161).
South Florida captured the first two points of the match, but UNM responded with a 6-3 stretch to claim a 6-5 lead. USF would then go on 9-4 streak of its own to take a 14-10 lead before UNM responded with three straight to come to within one point at 13-14.
However, the Lobos wouldn’t be able to crack the Bulls’ lead as USF tacked on another 9-4 run to go up 23-17. A pair of South Florida errors and Twitty kills pulled the Lobos to within two at 24-22, but USF would win the set 25-22.
Twitty largely shined for the Lobos in the first set, compiling five kills. Sours was the only other player with more than two kills for UNM, which hit .159 (14-7-44) in the opening frame.
South Florida posted a marginally better if very similar line, finishing set one with a .205 mark (14-5-44).
In set two, the Bulls jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and extended their advantage to 12-7. But UNM wouldn’t fold, posting runs of 6-1 and 7-2 behind strong play by Sours and freshman J’Kaylee Clark to take a 22-19 lead.
Both teams would trade points late, but New Mexico seized the set 25-23 on a USF error.
Clark posted four kills on four attempts, while Sours chipped in five kills during the set. The Lobos hit .341 in set two, with just 17 kills on just two errors.
After intermission, South Florida came out hot, sprinting to a 7-1 lead. The Bulls continued to build their lead up to 10-4, but UNM responded with a 7-2 surge of its own to come to within one point at 11-12.
Both teams went back and forth, with neither team exerting much of a lead. Although the Lobos cut USF’s lead to one point multiple times, they couldn’t crack the Bulls’ advantage, falling 25-22 in set three.
Sours, Heilborn and Twitty each had four kills in set three for the Lobos, who saw Clark leave the match with a leg injury.
“It definitely hurt us that J’Kaylee went down,” Nelson said. “She was playing the best of our three middles at the time. She was putting balls away and was hitting 1.000 when she went down.”
The fourth set opened evenly, with both teams fighting to eight ties through 22 serves. But USF would wrest away control with a 6-2 run and the Bulls did enough late to claim the fourth frame to claim it 25-17.
Twitty again led the way with four kills, but USF nabbed the set’s only two blocks and had half the number of attack errors than UNM (six to three) en route to the win.
The Lobos close out action at the USF Invitational on Saturday with a matinee matchup with Western Carolina at 1:30 p.m. MT.
NOTES: The last triple-double by a Lobo was in 2010, when Jade Michaelsen had 11 kills, 44 assists and 11 digs vs. UC Santa Barbara on September 10, 2010