USAF ACADEMY, Colo. — The University of New Mexico volleyball team grounded Air Force Saturday afternoon, winning its 26th-straight match against the Falcons in a 25-17, 29-27, 25-19 sweep at Clune Arena on the campus of the Air Force Academy.
The Lobos (12-12, 2-8 Mountain West) received a strong overall offensive performance against the Falcons (9-14, 0-10), including double-digit kills from senior pinhitters Cassie House, Julia Warren and Devanne Sours and a 40-assist performance from Lise Rugland.
“It was nice to get a win on the road,” 10th-year New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said. “This is our first road win in conference it helps take some of the pressure off. Now we’ve won two of our last three and hopefully we can get a run started the other way.”
After snapping a seven-game losing streak to open the week, the Lobos halted an eight-game conference losing streak with their largely dominant showing against Air Force.
New Mexico hasn’t lost to the Falcons since 2003, and is now 36-3 all-time against Air Force.
The Lobos’ offense dominated Saturday, hitting .301 as a team, with 51 kills, 17 errors and 113 attacks. It’s New Mexico’s third game this year hitting above .300 and the team’s first since September 16 vs. UT Arlington.
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| Cassie House |
House led the way with 16 kills, hitting a team-best .379 (16-5-29), while Warren added a double-double of 14 kills and 11 digs. Sours chipped in 13 kills as the trio all registered more than 10 kills each since the UT Arlington match.
“I thought Cassie and Devanne hit really well for us,” Nelson said. “Julia also hit well.”
The Lobos are now 4-0 this season when all three in that group nabs double-digit kills in the same match.
Victoria Spragg also had contributed in the middle, tallying five kills on five attempts.
Rugland keyed UNM’s offensive mastery, dishing out a career-high 40 assists in her first start of the season.
“I thought Lise did a good job of keeping the game simple for us and giving us chances to score and win,” Nelson said.
But, as good as New Mexico’s offense was, its defense also shined, as the Lobos registered more digs than Air Force, 47 to 44. Ashley Kelsey turned in another dependable performance at the libero position, tallying a game-high 17 digs. Warren (11 digs) and Rugland (eight) also helped out in the back row.
The Lobos also stifled Air Force’s offense, holding the Academy to a .175 hitting percentage (33-15-103).
New Mexico open the first set on a hot streak, racing out to a 10-3 lead as Warren notched a pair of kills. Air Force would respond with a 7-3 spurt to cut UNM’s lead to 13-10, but the Lobos broke open the set with a 5-1 run to claim an 18-11 lead.
The Falcons would get to within five points late at 22-17, forcing a UNM timeout. But the Lobos came out of the break with three straight points, sandwiching kills by Sours and House around an Air Force error.
House posted six kills in the opening frame, while Warren added four kills. UNM outhit Air Force .200 to -.032 in the first set.
Set two was a much more even affair, as both teams combined for 10 ties in the set. After playing to a 5-5 tie, Air Force scored four points in a row to lead 10-6. The Lobos would knot the set back up at 13-all as Mariessa Carrasco tallied a kill. That kill was part of a 7-2 New Mexico run that saw UNM turn an 11-13 deficit into an 18-15 lead.
The Falcons would answer, tying the set up at 20, but the Lobos made some moves of their own, translating a pair of House kills into a set-point chance at 24-22.
However, Air Force refused to yield, staving off four set-point opportunities en route to grabbing a 27-26. But, the Lobos dug down after a late timeout, repeating their first-set recipe to success as they blitzed the Falcons with three straight points to win set three 29-27.
Warren carried UNM’s offense in set two, scoring eight kills in the stanza. House and Sours chipped in four each as the Lobos hit .239 in the set.
After a brief intermission, New Mexico continued to apply the pressure in set three, doubling up Air Force 12-6 early in the set. The Falcons would climb to within three points at 14-11, eventually moving to within two points at 16-14.
But Air Force would get no closer than three points the rest of the way as five different Lobos nabbed a kill to go with three Falcon errors. New Mexico would win the set 25-19 to complete the sweep.
Sours (seven kills) and House (six) led the Lobos to a blistering .500 attack percentage in the set (18-2-32), the team’s best since hitting .526 (11-1-19) in the third set against Western Carolina on September 3.
The Lobos return to action Thursday as they host Fresno State at 6:30 p.m. MT at Johnson Center.