ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Junior outside hitter Lauren Twitty recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 17 kills, a match high, and 12 digs and added a match-high three service aces and four assisted blocks as the Lobos fell to the Fresno State Bulldogs in five sets on Thursday night.
The Lobos pulled out two close sets, while testing Fresno State late in one before ultimately dropping it, in the 28-26, 19-25, 20-25, 25-23, 7-15 loss.
Mercedes Pacheco tallied 21 digs in the match, her third-straight match with 20-plus digs and fifth overall this season. Sabrina Bianco had a team-high 24 assists with Jaclyn Inclan slightly behind her with 19, and Victoria Spragg had two solo blocks and four assisted blocks to lead the Lobos at the net. Spragg also had a season-high 12 kills on the night, hitting .320 in the match. Tai Bierria was the third Lobo to have double-digit kills in the match, tallying 11 kills.
UNM fell to 14-13 overall and 8-7 in the Mountain West with the setback, while Fresno State improved to 19-8 overall and 11-3 in the conference.
Fresno State led in every statistical category except service aces, where UNM had a 6-2 edge with three aces from Twitty and one each from Pacheco, Makayla Tam and Morgan Schreckler.
The opening set had 13 ties and five lead changes in which 25 points wasn’t enough to determine the winner. UNM scored three of the first five points to take an early 3-2 lead behind two errors by Fresno State and a kill by Nicolette Clark, however, Fresno State won the next six points to pull in front 8-3. A Bierria kill ended the run and the Lobos pulled within three at 9-6 on back-to-back Twitty kills. Fresno State led by five at 13-8 before Twitty started a 5-0 run with a kill followed by two service aces in-a-row, followed by a Clark and Mariessa Carrasco block and a Bulldog attack error that tied the set at 13. The Bulldogs regained the lead at 16-13, but the Lobos were able to keep in the set with two errors by the visitors that made it 16-15 FS. After Fresno State went up 17-15, Spragg answered with a kill and a solo block to create another tie at 17. There were ties at 18, 19 and 20, with each time UNM having to find the equalizer after FS went ahead. A kill by Carrasco made it 21-20 UNM, and a Bierria kill and Clark’s second kill of the set gave UNM set point at 24-22. A service error by UNM and a Fresno State kill tied the set at 24. UNM fought off set point two times with Clark tying the set at 25 on a kill and a Bulldog attack error tying the set at 26, before UNM took the final two points on another Fresno State attack error and a Spragg kill to win the opening set 28-26. Twitty had six kills in the opening set with Bianco having six assists.
The Lobos and Bulldogs had four ties in the first eight points of the second set before Fresno State took control for the set win. After a tie at four, the Bulldogs went on a 4-0 run to create separation and later had a 3-0 run to double their lead at 12-6. The Lobos tallied the next two points to cut the deficit to four, however, the Bulldogs got the points right back and then increased their lead to eight at 16-8 behind another 4-0 run. A 4-0 Lobo run with a kill by Twitty, two Bierria kills and a Carrasco solo block brought UNM back within four at 17-13. The Lobos would get back to the four-point margin four more times at 19-15, 21-17, 22-18 and 23-19, but wouldn’t be able to get any closer as Fresno State won the second set by the score of 25-19 to even the match at one. Twitty added five more kills in the second set and Inclan accounted for six of the team’s 13 assists.
Fresno State led 5-1 early on in the third set after a 4-0 run. A Bulldog service error ended the run to give the Lobos their second point, both of which came off of Fresno State errors. Fresno State ended up scoring eight of the first 10 points for the 8-2 advantage, which grew to seven at 12-5. The Lobos chipped away at the deficit, going on a 5-1 run to cut the margin to three at 13-10. Rachel Murphy and Twitty had two assisted blocks in the span. Two attack errors by Fresno State and a Tam ace made it a one-point game at 15-14, which would teeter between two and one before UNM fought back to tie the set at 17 on a Schreckler service ace. However, Fresno State regained the lead with the next four points for the 21-17 advantage. The Lobos would get three more points on a Bulldog service error, a Twitty kill, and a Clark and Murphy block before Fresno State won the third set 25-20. Murphy tallied three assisted blocks in the set, which was a season best for the freshman middle blocker.
The seniors stepped up early in the fourth set as Carrasco had three kills and Pacheco had a service ace to give UNM a 6-2 lead. Twitty’s third ace of the match pushed the Lobo lead to five at 9-4, but the Bulldogs responded to tie the set at 10 and went on to take the lead on the next point. There were ties at 11 and 12 before the Lobos retook the lead at 14-12 on a Spragg and Twitty block, to which the Bulldogs answered with a 3-0 run to pull back ahead 15-14. A Spragg kill evened the set at 15 and a Bulldog attack error allowed UNM to go back in front, but only temporarily. There were more ties at 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 before Twitty gave UNM the lead for good with her second kill of the set and 15th kill of the match. Carrasco put the finishing touches on the set with a kill after a long rally to give UNM the 25-23 set win and force a fifth set. Carrasco and Spragg each had five kills in the set, with Spragg a perfect 5-for-5 and Carrasco 5-for-7 with zero errors for a hitting percentage of .714. Bianco had nine assists and Pacheco and Bianco each had five digs. Spragg also recorded a solo block and had two assisted blocks in the fourth set, ultimately contributing on seven of the team’s 21 points in the set. Twitty’s third ace of the match brought her season total to a team-high 20 on the season. There were 14 ties and seven lead changes in the fourth.
For the 10th time this year, the Lobos went to five sets, and have now fallen on the wrong side of the outcome in five of them. The Lobos were able to hang close in the early stages of the set, due to service errors and a double hit by the Bulldogs that kept UNM within one in the first nine points. However, that was as close as the set would be from there as after a Fresno State ball handling error made it 5-4 FS, the Bulldogs scored the next five points to go up 10-4. A Spragg kill ended the run, to which the Bulldogs answered with the next two points to push their lead to seven at 12-5. The Lobos scored two additional points on a Bulldog attack error and a final kill by Twitty, but the final margin ended up being eight as Fresno State won the set 15-7.
The Lobos close out their regular-season home schedule this Saturday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. with a match against San Diego State. The match marks Senior Day for four UNM seniors: Carly Beddingfield, Mariessa Carrasco, Mercedes Pacheco and Victoria Spragg. Tickets to the match are $3.