RENO, Nev. — The University of New Mexico volleyball team dropped a four-set match to Mountain West foe Nevada Thursday night, falling by set scores of 23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-18.
Despite taking a 1-0 lead in the contest and double-doubles from Lauren Twitty and Carson Heilborn, the Lobos (10-7 overall, 2-3 MW) couldn’t hold off the Wolf Pack (5-12, 3-2) in Virginia Street Gym.
It was the first time UNM had ever lost to Nevada in the 10-match history of the series.
Twitty led New Mexico’s offense, posting 19 kills on a career-high 71 attempts. However, she hit .085, with 13 errors also on her ledger.
Victoria Spragg (nine kills), Yasmin Tan (career-high eight) and Carly Beddingfield (seven) also chipped in, but UNM hit just .136 as a team (49 kills, 27 errors, 162 attempts).
Heilborn tallied 40 assists to key the team’s offense.
Defensively, Ashley Kelsey led UNM with 19 digs, while Mercedes Pacheco tied a career high with 18 digs. Twitty added 16 for her sixth double-double of the season, and Heilborn posted 10 digs for her third such performance.
Hailey Rubino collected nine digs of her own, helping New Mexico to an advantage digging, 77 to Nevada’s 76.
UNM also equaled the Wolf Pack in blocking with 10. Mariessa Carrasco (season-best six blocks) and Tan (career-high five) helped pace the Lobos at the net.
New Mexico started the match off strongly, registering leads at 6-4 and 9-5. The Lobos would eventually build a five-point lead at 20-15 behind a series of Wolf Pack errors, but Nevada evened the set at 22-all via a 7-2 run.
However, a Twitty kill and two final Nevada attack errors provided the Lobos’ final margin at 25-23.
Twitty had six kills in the set, while Beddingfield and Spragg added two each.
UNM also posted a lead to open the second set, claiming a 6-4 margin after 10 serves. But the Wolf Pack would score four in a row to go up 8-6, and a 11-2 run would give Nevada a 21-12 lead.
Down but not out, New Mexico scored eight unanswered points with Pacheco serving to cut the deficit to one point at 23-22. However, the Wolf Pack scored two of the final three points of the set to eek out a 25-23 win.
Tan notched four kills in the frame, but both teams struggled to convert offensively. New Mexico hit just .111 (11-6-45), while Nevada hit .176 (14-5-51).
After intermission, both teams started trading punches, with neither side exerting more than a four-point lead. UNM would hold an 8-7 advantage early and led at 13-11, but the Wolf Pack would regain control of the scoreboard at 18-17.
New Mexico answered with back-to-back points, moving ahead at 19-18, yet Nevada reeled off four points in a row and five of the final six points to escape with a 25-21 win in the set.
The set featured 16 ties and seven lead changes. Twitty had seven kills, but the Lobos hit just .098 (12-8-41).
With momentum, Nevada leaped out to a 6-2 lead in set four and did not yield its advantage the rest of the set. UNM would get to within three points in a number of instances, but a 4-0 run for the Wolf Pack mid-set gave the home team an insurmountable 17-10 lead.
New Mexico would make it interesting late, scoring three consecutive points to make it 21-16, but Nevada finished off the match with four of the final six points to win 25-18.
The Lobos return to action on Saturday, visiting San José State for a 1 p.m. MT match.
Fans can follow @UNMLoboVB on Twitter and Instagram for information and updates on the team!