MOSCOW, Idaho — The University of New Mexico volleyball team suffered a close 3-2 loss to Grand Canyon to open the season at the Idaho Volleyball Classic on Friday. Sophomore Lauren Twitty led the Lobos with 17 kills on the day while freshman Sabrina Bianco registered 24 assists.
UNM cruised to a 25-17 victory in set one before being overcome in set two, 25-15. The third set was a close one that saw the Lobos fall by just three points, 25-22, before UNM blew out the ‘Lopes 25-11 in set four.
It all came down to the final set, but the Lobos were edged 15-13 for the loss.
In the fifth set, UNM jumped out to a 5-1 lead before GCU evened the match 7-7 on an ace. Redshirt-junior Victoria Spragg registered a kill to put the Lobos up 8-7 and back-to-back kills by junior Tai Bierria and sophomore Yasmin Tan increased the Lobo lead to 11-8. Two kills and a Lobo error evened the score again at 11 apiece and another Bierria kill and a “Lope error put the Lobos within two points of victory, 13-11.
Grand Canyon finished on a 4-0 run to claim the victory.
Senior Carly Beddingfield boasted a match-high 10 blocks, followed by Spragg who tallied eight. The Lobos posted 19.0 total team blocks compared to 8.0 for the ‘Lopes.
UNM is set to return to action on Saturday, August 25 for a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. The Lobos will first take on Santa Clara before facing the tournament host, Idaho, at 8 p.m. MT. Fans can find links to watch the games live or watch live stats for both games HERE.