FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Behind a career-high 21 kills by Julia Warren and spirited play across the board, the University of New Mexico volleyball team gave Colorado State a battle for five sets, falling in a tightly contested 3-2 match Saturday night at Moby Arena.
Although the Lobos (14-14, 4-10 Mountain West) couldn’t translate a 2-0 lead into a win, they fought point for point with the Rams (17-7, 11-2 MW) for most of the match, eventually falling 25-23, 25-21, 16-25, 22-25, 7-15.
“It was a very good volleyball match,” 10th-year New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said. “I thought we were really good in games one and two and pretty solid in game four. However I felt we played tentative after we went up 2-0. We battled very hard and really rebounded well tonight after a rough night on Thursday. We had chances and that’s disappointing but it was a great match.”
After dropping a tough 3-1 match to Wyoming to open their week, the Lobos showed well against the defending Mountain West champion Rams.
Warren’s performance led the Lobos on the night, as she set a new career high in kills by five. She also posted 14 digs to log her ninth double-double of the season.
Devanne Sours (15 kills, eight digs), Cassie House (13 kills, four digs) and Mariessa Carrasco (nine kills, .333 hitting percentage) also contributed offensively, with Lise Rugland’s career-high 50 assists keying the team’s attack.
The Lobos hit .166 on the night, with 62 kills and 34 errors on 169 attempts.
Ashley Kelsey also tallied 20 digs to anchor New Mexico’s back-row defense, with Carrasco (six blocks) and House (three blocks) providing solid defense at the net.
Kelsey now has 966 career digs and her 449 digs this year rank as the sixth-most in a single season in school history.
However, the Lobos struggled to contain Colorado State, as the Rams hit .291 (59 kills-16 errors-148 attempts) and totalled 22 blocks.
UNM did post more service aces (six to four) than the Rams, and fared closely in total digs (62-59 CSU) and assists (59-56 CSU). Kelsey tied a career high with three aces on the night.
Colorado State opened the match by taking the advantage, going up 8-5 early. The Lobos would draw to within a couple of points at 7-9 and 11-13, but a 4-2 Ram spurt gave the home team an 18-14 lead.
However, New Mexico responded with a 7-2 run fueled by five points from Warren and Sours, moving ahead 20-19. Three straight CSU points would return the advantage to the Rams at 22-20, but the Lobos closed the set with four straight points to win 25-23.
Four Lobos — Carrasco, Warren, Sours and House — all registered four kills for UNM as the Lobos outhit the Rams .268 to .179.
New Mexico continued its hot play in the second set, racing out to a 5-2 lead that it extended to 10-5 after a CSU error. The Rams would cut UNM’s lead to three points at a few instances, but the Lobos maintained their lead for the rest of the set, winning 25-21.
Warren was exceptionally productive in the second stanza, posting seven kills and five digs. Sours (four kills) added some additional offense as the Lobos matched CSU with three blocks apiece.
After intermission, UNM kept firing, claiming an 8-6 advantage. The Lobos would hang onto the lead for a few more points, but a 6-1 run gave the Rams a 15-12 margin. CSU would later roll out a 9-2 run to claim the set 25-16.
Sours, Warren and House each had three kills, but the Lobos struggled to convert, hitting .111 in the set.
Colorado State, now with momentum, opened the fourth set by taking a 9-4 lead. New Mexico would cut the Rams’ lead to two points after Sours powered a 5-2 run. After taking timeout, CSU extended its lead to four at 17-13, but UNM answered with a game-tying 4-0 run out its own timeout.
Both teams would trade ties en route to a 21-21 deadlock, but the Rams pulled away late, going on a 5-1 run to win the set 25-22.
Warren (six kills) and House (four) paced UNM’s offense in the fourth set as the Lobos hit .154.
The Lobos made things interesting early in the decisive fifth set, claiming a 3-1 advantage. Colorado State would gain the lead at 5-3, and then expanded it to seven points at 13-6. CSU finished the match on a 9-2 run to win the set 15-7.
New Mexico hit -.118 in the set, with Sours’ two kills tops for the team. The Rams .467 in the final frame.
The Lobos return to action next Saturday as they host Utah State for a 2 p.m. MT match at Johnson Center.