Lobos Drop Glory Road Finale to North Dakota
EL PASO, Texas — The University of New Mexico volleyball team dropped its second match of the year, falling to North Dakota in straight sets on Saturday to close out the Glory Road Invitational.
After earning back-to-back sweeps over Youngstown State and tournament host UTEP to open the weekend, the Lobos (4-2) struggled against the Fighting Hawks (8-1) inside Memorial Gym, losing by set scores of 25-23, 25-15, 25-22.
“Today’s match was difficult,” UNM head coach Jeff Nelson said. “We never found a good rhythm. We worked really harb but struggled in blocking against a very good North Dakota setter. We let our youth show a bit today and need to be tougher late in the games.”
Hailey Rubino led New Mexico’s offense for the third straight contest, finishing with 10 kills. The freshman logged double-digit kills every match in El Paso, earning her way on the Glory Road Invitational All-Tournament Team.
Carly Beddingfield also contributed to the Lobos’ offense, knocking home a season-best eight kills. Mariessa Carrasco (seven kills, .429 hitting percentage) and Lauren Twitty (seven kills) chipped in, as well.
Carson Heilborn finished with a game high-tying 34 assists, her third-straight match with at least 30 assists. She also earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
New Mexico hit .189 on the match, with 39 kills and 15 errors on 127 attempts.
Defensively, the Lobos posted solid numbers, with 55 team digs and four total blocks. Ashley Kelsey (game-high 18 digs), Mercedes Pacheco (12) and Rubino (nine) teamed up to power UNM’s floor defense, while Yasmin Tan and Victoria Spragg each finished with one block each.
The Lobos started the match strongly, opening with a 6-2 lead as Twitty posted three quick kills. However, North Dakota would score five straight to eventually pull ahead at 14-13, sparking a back-and-forth affair that saw neither team exert more than a three-point lead.
UNM had some momentum in the waning moments of the set after stringing together four straight points for a 20-19 lead, but the Fighting Hawks finished with six of the final nine points for a 25-23 win.
Twitty had six kills in the opening stanza, with Rubino adding four and Beddingfield three.
North Dakota maintained the momentum to start the second set, creating a 6-3 advantage early. The Lobos would cut the deficit to one point at 7-6, but UND took control of the frame with a 9-1 run.
A 5-2 spurt by UNM made the margin six points at 19-13, but North Dakota captured the set via a closing 6-2 run.
Three Lobos — Spragg, Carrasco and Beddingfield — each had a pair of kills in the set, but the Fighting Hawks were virtually flawless in the set, hitting .593 with 17 combined kills and just one attack error.
After intermission, New Mexico came out with some fire, battling to a 7-6 lead after a Carrasco kill. UNM would keep the lead up to 9-8, but two 3-0 UND runs sandwiched around two straight Lobo points gave the Fighting Hawks a 14-11 lead that they would not relinquish.
New Mexico would remain within three points the rest of the way — even cutting North Dakota’s lead down to one point at 21-20 — but the Lobos couldn’t completely erase the deficit, falling 25-22.
Rubino tallied five kills in the set, while Tan converted errorless four kills on nine swings. But, despite a respectable .231 attack percentage, the Lobos couldn’t overcome North Dakota’s .312 clip.
The Lobos return to action on Friday as they play their home opener vs. UT Arlington at 12:15 p.m. MT. That match is part of the Lobo Classic, where UNM will also play Portland and Northern Colorado inside Johnson Center.
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