ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico volleyball team turned away UTEP Sunday night in Johnson Center, rolling through the first two sets before rallying late in the third set for the non-conference sweep.
Playing for the third time in the last four days, the Lobos (15-15) entered their penultimate home match of the season looking for a win, and emerged with a solid 25-16, 25-16, 28-26 victory over the Miners (6-22).
“We’ve kind of been going up and down,” redshirt junior Victoria Spragg said, “so today was just a little redemption and showing ourselves and the fans that we can play volleyball and that we’re going to go out strong. I think today was a good start up for tomorrow.”
Right in the middle of a season-closing run of five matches in seven days, the Lobos found a measure of redemption against the Miners, evening their season record as they head into their final home match on Monday vs. UNLV.
After that, New Mexico heads to Air Force to play its season finale on Wednesday.
But, facing off against UTEP in a relatively uncommon November non-conference match, the Lobos’ focus was on getting back on track as they aim to finish the season with a flourish.
Spragg helped lead that effort, posting a team-best 10 kills on a .421 hitting percentage. She was joined by Carly Beddingfield (nine kills, .409 hitting percentage) and Mariessa Carrasco (six, .462) in hitting over .400.
With Sarah Lobo keying the offense via her match-high 34 kills and UNM putting forth solid back-row defense off UTEP’s serve, New Mexico was able to get enough out of its offense for the win.
“I think we were pretty steady on serve-receive for the most part, and that allowed Sarah to run a lot of options and she was able to put a lot of good balls up,” Spragg said.
New Mexico gets the sweep, turning away UTEP in a non-conference match inside Johnson Center! #GoLobos #UNMatched pic.twitter.com/CauaNKQ1uX
— New Mexico Volleyball (@UNMLoboVB) November 13, 2017
Lauren Twitty paced UNM with a match high-tying 12 digs, with Ashley Kelsey and Lobo adding 10 and nine digs, respectively.
New Mexico’s block was also productive, compiling nine total team blocks on the evening. Spragg led the way with seven total stuffs, followed by four from Carrasco. UNM finished with a 9-8 advantage over UTEP at the net.
New Mexico opened the match with a blitz of offense, scoring six kills early — two each from Twitty, Beddingfield and Carrasco — en route to an 8-1 lead. UTEP would cut the deficit to four points at a few instances during the middle of the set, including at 16-12.
But the Lobos moved ahead 19-12 via a 3-0 run, eventually winning the set 25-16 as they wrapped up the stanza with a 4-0 run punctuated by an Abbey Willison ace.
Beddingfield notched four kills in the first set, with Carrasco and Spragg each posting three as UNM hit .314 (14 kills-3 errors-35 attempts) in the set.
The Lobos took a 4-1 lead early in the second set, but UTEP fought back to go up 6-5. New Mexico would recapture the advantage at 9-7 before breaking the set open and claiming a 20-10 lead with a 10-1 run.
The Miners got to within seven points late, but UNM scored its final four points of the set on UTEP errors for a 25-16 win.
Hailey Rubino registered four kills in the set, helping New Mexico to a .278 hitting percentage (13-3-36) in the set. The Lobos’ defense was also on point, tallied four blocks and holding UTEP to a .118 success rate (12-8-34).
Coming out of intermission, UTEP looked to get on the scoreboard as it went up 4-1. New Mexico would score three straight to gain the lead at 11-10, only to have the Miners go up three at 18-15.
UTEP would hold onto the three-point margin up to 23-20, but the Lobos reeled off four straight out of a timeout to set up a match-point opportunity. The Miners wouldn’t yield immediately, earning a shot at set point at 26-25, but two errors sandwiched around a Spragg kill gave UNM the win at 28-26.
New Mexico closed the third set on an 8-3 run, with Spragg (five kills) and Beddingfield (three) helping UNM to the win.
Fans can follow @UNMLoboVB on Twitter and Instagram for information and updates on the team!