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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico volleyball team kept the first two sets against the New Mexico State Aggies close late before losing by two-point margins en route to a straight-set loss (24-26, 23-25, 18-25) on Saturday afternoon.
Carly Beddingfield led the Lobos with nine kills, while Sabrina Bianco had 17 assists, Lauren Twitty had a team-high nine digs and Victoria Spragg led with four assisted blocks. Twitty and Mariessa Carrasco each had solo blocks for the home team and Twitty also tied with a team-high in aces with one. Mercedes Pacheco had the other service ace. Jaclyn Inclan also reached double digits in digs, with Inclan and Bianco accounting for 31 of the team’s 33 assists in the match.
NMSU held the advantage in kills (45-35), assists (42-33), digs (40-39), service aces (4-2) and total team blocks (8-6), while also holding an edge in hitting percentage (.301-.137).
The Aggies claimed the early lead in the first set, leading to an early Lobos’ timeout at 6-3 NMSU. Out of the timeout, the Lobos were able to tie the set at nine, proceeding to go from being down 9-6 to the Aggies, to using an 8-0 run to take a 14-9 lead. The five-point cushion didn’t last as NMSU responded with an 8-3 run to tie the set at 17. From there, the Lobos would pull ahead by one only to give up the next point, resulting in ties up until 22-all. UNM were able to get a late lead at 23-22, but NMSU scored the next two points on back-to-back kills to give them set point at 24-23. UNM was able to fight off the set point on a service error, but NMSU captured the next two points to take the opening set by a score of 26-24. There were 12 ties and six lead changes in the set.
Much like the first set, the Lobos fell behind and tried to mount a comeback that didn’t pan out, once again losing the set by a two-point margin. Twitty, Beddingfield and Spragg spurred the Lobos in the set, pacing the team with key blocks and kills as they attempted their comeback. After falling behind 18-10, the Lobos used kills by Spragg and Beddington as well as blocks by Twitty and Spragg to fight back within four at 21-17. After UNM called a timeout late in the set at 23-18, the Lobos scored the next three points on kills by Carrasco, Beddingfield and Twitty to make it a two-point set at 23-21. An Aggie kill gave the visitors set point, but a Beddingfield and Spragg block kept the set alive and gave the Lobos a chance to tie the set. Although the Lobos fought their way back in the second set and fought off three set points to get as close as 24-23, the Aggies were able to get the clinching point to win the set 25-23 and gain a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set was close in the beginning, with four ties in the first eight points, before New Mexico State used runs of 3-0 and 4-0 to expand its lead to five at 11-6. The deficit grew to 10 at 21-11, at which point New Mexico got a kill from Spragg and two attack errors by New Mexico State to cut the lead down to seven. UNM got as close as six at 22-16 before falling in the final set, 25-18. Once again, the Lobos fought off three set points before ultimately dropping the set.
As a result of their play this weekend, Beddingfield was named MVP of the Lobo Classic and Tai Bierria was named to the all-tournament team. As a team, the Lobos finished runner-up in the tournament as three teams (Florida Gulf Coast, New Mexico and New Mexico State) finished the weekend with a 2-1 record.
The Lobos are back on the road next weekend, traveling to Jacksonville, Fla., for the North Florida Tournament. They are scheduled to play host North Florida on Friday and Furman and USC Upstate on Saturday.