Bierria, Blocking Leads Lobos Past Tigers
LAS CRUCES, N.M.— Behind 14.0 team blocks, The University of New Mexico volleyball team earned a straight-set win over the University of Pacific Tigers Saturday morning.
The 25-21, 25-20, 25-6 victory marked the first win for UNM over Pacific in program history after previously going 0-7 in the series.
Rachel Murphy tied her career high in total blocks with seven and set a career high in assisted blocks.
Lobos held the advantage at the net, out-blocking the Tigers by six total blocks, and recorded two solo and 24 assisted blocks in the match. Lauren Twitty and Tai Bierria each had a solo block with Twitty also assisting on five. Danica Rowan and Kaitlynn Biassou each posted three assisted blocks.
Alena Moldan led the Lobos with 10 digs, the fourth time this season that the freshman has reached double figures in the category. Bierria tallied a match-high nine kills while recording a service ace,a solo and assisted block and seven digs.
For the second time this season Twitty registered two service aces in the match as the Lobos had four in the match compared to none for the Tigers.
Jaclyn Inclan and Maddie Freiwald each contributed 12 assists with Moldan tallying the other assist.
In the opening set, the Lobos jumped out to a 4-1 lead and expanded it to four at 7-3 through the first 10 points. The Tigers closed the lead to two several times throughout the set, but each time the Lobos responded to keep the lead from getting smaller. Pacific made it a one-point set at 15-14, but a ball handling error and a Rowan and Murphy block pushed the lead back to three at 17-14. Pacific tied the set at 18 and took a 19-18 lead but a Bierria kill evened the score and a Biassou and Murphy block gave UNM the lead back. The Lobos had five blocks in the final five points, capped by a block by Twitty to give UNM the first set, 25-21.
UNM had 7.0 total team blocks in the first set, led by Twitty’s solo and three assisted blocks and Murphy’s four assisted blocks. In addition, UNM hit .217 in the opening set compared to Pacific hitting just .023 as the two teams had four ties and three lead changes.
After a Bierria kill opened up the second set, UNM trailed 4-1 early to which the Lobos whittled down to one on a Twitty and Tan block to make it 5-4. UNM tied the set at six on a Tiger attack error and a Bierria kill gave UNM a 7-6 lead. UNM extended its lead to two after a service error and Bierria kill to which UOP answered to tie the set at 10.
Four Tiger errors combined with a Bierria kill, block (with Murphy) and ace allowed the Lobos to go on an 8-1 run to take a seven-point lead at 18-11. UOP cut in to the lead at 21-18 but following a Lobo timeout, UNM responded with the next three points to reach set point at 24-18. Pacific fought off two set points before Bierria closed the set with a kill, her eighth of the match.
In the second set, Bierria had six kills, a service ace, two digs and a block to lead the Lobos to the 25-20 set win.
The Lobos used another large run to create separation to ultimately win in the third set.
Following a tie at two, UNM used a 6-1 run started by a Twitty kill and a Moldan ace to take a lead at 8-3, leading to a Tiger timeout. UNM’s lead grew to six at 14-8, to which UOP answered with a run to shrink the margin to three at 14-11 before a block by Murphy and Biassou ended the Tiger run. Back-to-back Twitty aces extended the lead to seven at 20-13 and the Lobos closed the match with a kill by Rowan, a solo Bierria block, a Tiger attack and service error and a Bierria kill to win the third set 25-16.
Twitty closed the match with three kills and two service aces in the final set, while Biassou and Tan led defensively with two assisted blocks. Seven different Lobos recorded a dig in the third set.
The Lobos (2-3) close out the Borderland Invitational with a match against New Mexico State, set for 7 p.m. MT. The match will be streamed on the WAC Digital Network.