ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Senior outside hitter Cassie House reached 1,000 career kills Saturday afternoon, but her milestone wasn’t enough as the University of New Mexico volleyball team fell in three sets to Wyoming in Johnson Center.
House, from Rio Rancho, N.M., became the 12th player in program history to eclipse the 1,000-kill plateau, but the Lobos (10-9, 1-5 Mountain West) struggled to find a rhythm against the Cowgirls (11-7, 4-1) en route to dropping their third-straight three-set match.
The set scores were 23-25, 18-25, 14-25.
“I think that there’s some things that are inconsistent,” 10th-year New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said. “Instead of pulling together, we’re freaking out a little bit.”
Outside of solid performances from House (nine kills, five blocks), Lauren Twitty (seven kills) and Mariessa Carrasco (four kills), the Lobos’ had trouble converting against Wyoming.
As team, New Mexico hit .068, with 29 kills and 22 errors on 103 attacks.
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“I think that our outside hitters have to be steadier,” Nelson said. “… You can’t have an outside hitter have three kills and nine errors in a match. You’ve got to have some fight and some leadership. You can’t survive in volleyball with pin hitters hitting like that.”
Carson Heilborn (13 assists) and Lise Rugland (seven) split the setting duties, with libero Ashley Kelsey adding six assists and a game-high 16 digs.
Overall, the Lobos showed stretches of strong play, including their serving (four aces) and floor defense (39 digs). But Wyoming relied on a .314 hitting percentage and a 7-5 advantage blocking to take the win.
“We’re playing as individuals, and I’ll take responsibility for that,” Nelson said. “But you get to the point where you can win the game and you don’t abandon what got you to that point.”
The Lobos opened the first set strongly, jumping to a 7-3 lead behind a pair of kills by House. New Mexico would extend its lead to 15-10 en route to the media timeout, pushing the lead to six points at 17-11.
Wyoming would ride a 7-2 run to cut UNM’s advantage to one point at 19-18, but the Lobos managed to go up 23-19. However, the Cowgirls scored the final six points of the set to win the frame 25-23.
“In game one we’re up 23-19 and don’t get another point,” Nelson said. “The rest of it was leaving the game plan that was provided and just doing whatever you want to do out there.”
House and Twitty both logged four kills in the opening frame, but the Lobos hit just .109.
The second set started closely, with both teams trading points. New Mexico and Wyoming would post four ties, but UW broke the deadlock with three-straight points to take a 12-10 lead.
A 6-1 run gave Wyoming a 21-14 lead, which the Cowgirls rode to a 25-18 win.
Four Lobos had at least two kills, with House’s three kills leading the way in the third set.
After intermission, both teams came out relatively evenly, with Wyoming holding just a 9-7 lead. But a 7-1 run spurt made the score 16-8 Wyoming, and the Lobos would score back-to-back points just once more as the Cowgirls won 25-14.
House did reach 1,000 career kills in the third set, taking a Rugland set and rifling it down within Wyoming’s defense.
#12 Cassie House becomes the 12th Lobo in UNM Women’s Volleyball history to reach an outstanding 1,000 kills. #GoLobos @unmvolley pic.twitter.com/jId1tl0ST4
— New Mexico Lobos (@UNMLOBOS) October 8, 2016
She is the first to reach that mark since Chantale Riddle in 2013. The list of Lobos to reach 1,000 career kills feature five All-Americans, including current assistant coach Pauline Manser, Jeanne Fairchild, Maria Gurreri and Riddle.
“I think it’s special,” Nelson said of House’s milestone. “Cassie is a great athlete. That’s a quality group of people that she just joined, really quality kids that did quality things here.”
House is now just 73 kills from ranking 10th in program history in career kills.
She will look to continue her ascent on Tuesday as New Mexico hosts UNLV for a 6:30 p.m. MT match in Johnson Center.