ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Down a key player in their conference opener, the Lobos needed some leadership and poise.
But with talented veterans and rookies, they had nothing to worry about.
Behind a strong team performance and key showings from their starters, the University of New Mexico volleyball team swept by Air Force in straight sets, 25-19, 25-15, 25-20, to open Mountain West play with a victory.
With senior Julia Warren out with a knee injury, the Lobos (10-4, 1-0 Mountain West) relied on solid offense from seniors Cassie House and Devanne Sours and steady play from redshirt junior Ashley Kelsey and freshman Lauren Twitty to dispatch the Falcons (9-5, 0-1) in Johnson Center.
“I’m glad we got a win tonight,” 10th-year head coach Jeff Nelson said. “It’s good to open the Mountain West with a win. We didn’t want a letdown with a new lineup.”
Losing Warren, the team’s captain, certainly shaped up to be a challenge for the Lobos. Warren entered the match ranked first on the team in aces, third in kills and second in digging, and often provided significant veteran leadership for the team.
But New Mexico inserted Twitty into the starting lineup, who, along with House and Sours’ offense and Kelsey’s defense, helped power UNM to the win.
“Overall, I thought it was a great match,” Nelson said. “I thought Cassie and Devanne really exploited Air Force well from the left side, which was our game plan.”
House and Sours led the team offensively, overpowering Air Force’s duo of 5-foot-6 setters in a largely dominant execution of New Mexico’s offensive agenda.
Twitty, Victoria Spragg and setter Carson Heilborn also contributed, tacking on four kills each for the Lobos, who hit .211 (34 kills-14 errors-96 attempts) on the match.
New Mexico also overpowered Air Force at the net, tripling the Falcons in blocking (nine to three). Air Force struggled to convert on the attack, hitting just .069 (33 kills-25 errors-116 attempts).
Both teams tallied 40 digs, with Kelsey, Sours (eight digs) and Twitty (six) cleaning up a number of balls. Maddie Mayfield and Jessica Leo (four digs each) also added passing with Warren out of commission.
UNM’s serving also played a factor, with House notching back-to-back aces as the Lobos posted five aces on the night.
“I think we came out with a lot of steam and fire and motivation and it was fun game to play,” House said.
New Mexico opened the match on a roll, claiming a 10-4 lead early in set one via five House points (three kills, two aces). Air Force would cut the lead to three points at 11-8, but the Falcons would get no closer as the Lobos extended their lead to 19-13.
A late surge by Air Force would cut UNM’s advantage to three points at 21-18, but another House kill and three Falcon miscues awarded the set 25-19 to the Lobos.
House logged five kills in the opening frame as New Mexico took control of the net early with four blocks.
Set two started similarly with the Lobos jumping out to an 8-3 lead. Air Force would stay within five points for the middle portion of the set, but UNM gained separation as it took a 21-13 lead behind kills from Heilborn and Sours.
Two more kills by House (who hit a flawless .500 with five kills in the set) capped the stanza for the Lobos, who won 21-15. UNM hit a stellar .444 in the set (14-2-27) while limiting the Falcons to a .000 clip (9-9-32).
“Cassie in games one and two tore it up [on the left side],” Nelson said. “She had Air Force on their heels the whole time the first two games.”
Coming out of intermission, the Lobos again took an early lead, this time 9-4 after a Twitty ace. A 9-3 run keyed by Air Force errors extended New Mexico’s lead to 19-9.
But the Falcons, to their credit, wouldn’t yield, posting an 8-2 run late to make the set 24-20 in UNM’s favor. A final error by Air Force resulted in a 25-20 win for New Mexico.
“It was hard to put a ball away at the end, but good passing gave us good looks, so we just had to keep swinging away to find a hole,” House said.
The Lobos return to action on Saturday as they host Boise State at 2 p.m. in Johnson Center. The Broncos (9-5, 0-1) fell 3-1 to conference leader UNLV (12-1, 1-0) in Las Vegas Thursday night.
NOTES: New Mexico moves to 35-3 all-time vs. Air Force, having only dropped seven sets since 2003 … With their win, the Lobos will continue a streak of not opening MW play 0-2 under Nelson … House now has 939 career kills and reached 2500 career attempts in her final swing vs. Air Force. She is now just 84 attempts from 10th all-time