ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico volleyball team dropped a three-set decision to Colorado State Thursday night, falling 19-25, 21-25, 21-25 on Jam Johnson night in Johnson Center.
Seniors Cassie House and Devanne Sours both notched nine kills each for the Lobos (10-8, 1-4 Mountain West), but it wasn’t enough against the Rams (10-5, 4-0) in front of an announced crowd of 1,202 fans.
“We are guarding and we’re right there,” redshirt junior Ashley Kelsey said. “But we’re tired, we’re beat up, and that’s not an excuse. We have to go for it when we’re having one of the best programs in the country here.”
New Mexico opened its three-game homestand with a solid effort, and, for just the second time in three weeks, played with a largely intact lineup as senior Julia Warren continues to return from a knee injury.
With Warren playing some back row, the Lobos found success at times against the Rams, fighting the six-time defending Mountain West champions each set.
“It’s nice having Julia back,” New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said. “I think Cassie had a good night. Hopefully this weekend just gets better.”
The Lobos resume their stretch at Johnson Center with matches against Wyoming on Saturday and UNLV next Tuesday.
Thursday’s effort, although it ended in a defeat, was an improvement for New Mexico after dropping a 3-0 match to Fresno State last Saturday.
“I felt like we were more in sync and we seemed to battle back and forth particularly in one rotation,” Nelson said. “… I actually think that tonight was better than Saturday.”
Sours and House led UNM’s offense Thursday night, with Victoria Spragg chipping in four errorless kills on nine attempts. Carson Heilborn finished with 18 assists and a pair of service aces, while Lise Rugland came on in the final set to post five assists and two aces of her own.
New Mexico’s serving was particularly successful, as UNM racked up 10 total aces behind Heilborn, Rugland and House (two aces).
“I thought we served pretty well,” Nelson said. “… We got a number of aces.”
However, errors proved to be UNM’s crux, as the Lobos finished with 21 errors against 28 kills. Overall, New Mexico hit .074 (28 kills, 21 errors, 93 attempts), while CSU hit .389 (43-8-90).
Defensively, Kelsey’s 14 digs tied for tops in the match, while Spragg added two total blocks.
Colorado State made the most of its advantage at the middle, relying on its corp of middle blockers to outblock UNM 12-8.
The Lobos opened the match well, running out to a 5-2 lead in set one as House notched a kills and both of her aces in the first three plays. Colorado State would tie the set at 7-7, but New Mexico retook the lead at 11-9.
The Rams would score four unanswered points, however, to take a 13-11 lead, before UNM retorted with a small spurt to tie the frame at 15-all. Both teams would trade 3-0 runs en route to a 19-19 tie, but after taking a timeout, CSU scored the final six points of the set to win 25-19.
House led the way with four kills, but New Mexico hit just .067 (8-6-30) to Colorado State’s .652 clip (16-1-23).
Set two was another closely played affair, with both teams dueling right from the start. UNM would forge an 8-6 lead after a Sours kill and Heilborn ace, but CSU responded to take a 13-12 lead.
Neither team would exert much of an advantage until the Rams scored four straight to take an 18-14 lead. The Lobos would cut the margin to three points late at 22-19, but Colorado State finished on a 4-1 run to win 25-21.
Sours and House had three kills apiece, while Spragg posted a pair of putaways.
Colorado State took the quick lead out of intermission, bolting to a 10-4 lead. But the Lobos wouldn’t yield, as back-to-back aces by Rugland would bring UNM to within three points at 14-11.
A late 5-0 streak with Warren serving cut the Rams’ lead to two at 20-18, and UNM stuck with it, riding a Maddie Mayfield ace to make it 23-21.
However, CSU scored the final two points to win 25-21. The Lobos’ defense limited the Rams to a .270 success rate in the final set, but UNM could only convert a .029 percentage.
New Mexico returns to action Saturday as it hosts Wyoming at 12 p.m. MT in Johnson Center.
NOTES: Colorado State leads the all-time series 51-23 and has won 38 of the last 41 matches between the two teams … House now has 992 career kills and is 82 kills from the breaking into the top 10 in program history.