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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Behind double-doubles from Lauren Twitty (19 kills and 12 digs) and Tai Bierria (19 kills and 11 digs), the University of New Mexico Lobos (7-6, 1-0 MW) opened up conference play with a 26-24, 19-25, 25-16, 25-20 victory over the Utah State Aggies at home on Wednesday evening.
Sabrina Bianco and Jaclyn Inclan registered double-digit assists in the match, with 38 and 19, respectively, combining for all but five of the team’s 62 assists on the night. At the net, Mariessa Carrasco led the Lobos with three assisted blocks, while Victoria Spragg, Yasmin Tan and Carly Beddingfield all had two assisted blocks. Morgan Schreckler recorded the only ace for UNM, bringing her season total to nine.
“I thought Sabrina had a really good game tonight, probably one of her best,” assessed head coach Jeff Nelson. “Vic (Victoria Spragg) hit really well, especially in game four. She really got her arm working, sped it up, and really had some nice putaways in game four.”
The Lobos got out to an early 7-2 lead in the first set behind four Aggie attack errors and kills by Carrasco, Bierria and Beddingfield. The Lobos extended their lead to 9-4 before the Aggies’ 5-2 run cut the lead to two at 11-9, and later went on a 4-1 run to tie the set at 12 and take a 13-12 lead. Carrasco helped UNM regain the lead with back-to-back kills. From there, there were ties at 14 and 15 before the visitors pulled in front 17-15. Their lead would grow to three at 19-16 before UNM used a 3-0 run to even the set back up at 19, with Bierria contributing two kills proceeded by a Beddingfield and Spragg block. Down the stretch, Utah State held a two-point lead at 21-19 and 23-21 before New Mexico was able to even the set at 23. A Twitty kill gave the Lobos set point at 24-23, but the Aggies fought it off for the eighth tie of the set. Two Carrasco kills closed the set with the Lobos taking the frame, 26-24.
In the second set, there were five ties within the first 10 points, with Twitty and Bierria having two kills each. The Lobos and Aggies had ties at six and seven, but the Aggies used a 5-0 run to pull away 12-7. Tan and Carrasco had consecutive kills to bring UNM within two at 13-11, and again the Lobos were able to get back within two at 14-12 with kills from Bierria, but the Aggies scored the next three points to gain the five-point advantage. UNM got within two points late in the set at 20-18 and 21-19, but the Lobos couldn’t get any closer before dropping the set, 25-19. Bierria had six kills and Twitty had fve in the frame, while Bianco contributed 10 assists and Schreckler had six digs.
Like set one, attack errors and Bierria kills helped the Lobos jump out to an early 5-2 lead in the third set, and subsequently, it was attack errors that allowed the Lobos to create separation en route to the commanding 25-16 win. Early on, the Aggies rallied to tie the set at five, and there were ties at six, seven and eight before the Lobos recorded six consecutive points to take the 14-8 lead. Utah State scored the next two points, but any chance for them to get any closer was hindered with a 6-0 run by UNM for a 10-point margin at 20-10. There would be three separate 2-1 runs by the Aggies to make it 24-15 UNM, and while the Aggies were able to extend the match with a kill to make it 24-16, a kill by Twitty gave the Lobos the final point in the set to take the 2-1 match lead. Bierria once again led the Lobos in kills with five in the set, and Inclan and Bianco each had five assists. Tan and Carrasco combined for the only Lobo block in the set.
For the final set, there were early ties at one and two before the Lobos created some separation with consecutive points on kills by Twitty and Bierria. The lead would continue to fluctuate between one and two points for the home team before USU tied the set again at eight. There would be ties at nine, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15 before the Lobos pulled ahead for good on back-to-back kills by Spragg to give the Lobos the 17-15 edge. Utah State came within one point on three separate occasions from that point, but New Mexico was able to pull away using a 3-0 run behind two kills from Twitty to create a four-point cushion at 22-18. The margin would get as close as three at 22-19 before UNM finished off the set and the match taking three of the final four points for the 25-20 set win. Twitty closed out the match with seven kills in the fourth set, hitting .429 (7-1-14) and Bianco had almost another double digits in assists in the set with nine. As Nelson alluded to, Spragg registered four of her nine total kills in the set, hitting .500 with four kills and one attack error on six attempts. As a team, the Lobos closed the match with a match high in hitting percentage at .382.
“I think the biggest thing is, it was described tonight as the lulls, and we’ve got to alleviate that. We’ve got to play how games three and four went all through the match,” said Nelson.
The Lobos travel to Boise State for a conference match-up on Saturday, Sept. 22, with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m. MT.