Lobos Show Resiliency, Outlast Mean Green in Five
DENTON, Texas –“Reset and respond” is a phrase often heard throughout different points during a University of New Mexico volleyball match, but the concept may not have been more evident than on Friday night at the Mean Green Volleyball Center against the host North Texas Mean Green.
After falling 25-13 in the first set, the Lobos reset and responded to win the second set 25-20. After narrowly being edged out by UNT in the third set 26-24, in which the Lobos had set point at 24-23, the Lobos again reset and responded to grit out a closely contested 27-25 fourth set win- a set that UNM trailed 23-21 late- to force the fifth set. And up until Friday, the Lobos had not had much success in fifth-set decisions, dropping all three instances previously. This time however, the Lobos found a way, withstanding a 5-0 run by the Mean Green and three ties late in the set to come away with the 15-13 win for the match.
“I am so very proud of this team and its resilience,” first-year head coach Jon Newman-Gonchar said following the match. “We are chasing our best volleyball and we are starting to see it more and more. We are growing, improving and learning every time we take the court and today was a great step in our journey.”
Lauren Twitty tallied her fourth double-double of the season, recording a team-high 17 kills and posted a career-high 19 digs.
Setters Jaclyn Inclan and Maddie Freiwald were each credited with three service aces, which tied a career high for Inclan and was the second straight match that Freiwald finished with three. Inclan led the team with 26 assists with Freiwald closely behind her with 22. Freiwald added 11 digs in the match to record her first double-double as a Lobo.
Alena Moldan registered a match-high 25 digs, just two shy of her season best and the third time this season that the freshman libero had surpassed 20 digs. Tai Bierria’s 20 digs tied her highest total as a Lobo and the senior outside hitter was just one kill shy of a double-double.
Much like Thursday’s match against Ohio, the two teams combined for 41 ties and 19 lead changes through the five sets, with the most ties occurring in the fourth set (12) and the most lead changes in the final set (six).
UNM outhit UNT .179 to .162 with 59 kills to 57. The Lobos had four more assists than the Mean Green (56-52) and five more digs (101-96) and four more service aces (10-6), but both teams ended up with 13.0 total team blocks. The Lobos finished with a season-high 10 service aces with five different Lobos recording at least one and Twitty finishing with two, the seventh match this season that the senior outside hitter has recorded two in a match.
Kaitlynn Biassou posted a season-best six total blocks, all assisted, to lead the Lobos at the net.
UNT took control of the opening set early, scoring eight of the first 10 points, with UNM’s points coming on kills by Bierria and Twitty. Out of an early timeout, UNM scored the next two points on a Twitty kill and attack error by the Mean Green to cut the deficit to four at 8-4. UNT went on a 7-2 run, including a 5-0 run, to expand its lead to nine at 15-6 before a Bierria kill ended the run. Another 3-0 run by the home team pushed the deficit to 11 at 18-7 before another Bierria kill ended the run. An ace by Bierria cut the margin to nine at 19-10, which was the closest UNM got in the set, with the last time being at 21-12 on a Biassou kill, before the Mean Green took the first set 25-13.
In the second set, the Mean Green scored the first four points of the set before a Murphy kill put the Lobos on the board. UNT pulled ahead 7-2 but the Lobos fought back with a 6-0 run capped with a Freiwald ace, the second in the rally, to give UNM an 8-7 lead. The Mean Green answered with the next two points to retake the lead before a Twitty kill tied the set. A setting error by UNT tied the set at 11, although UNT would score the next two points to regain the advantage. UNM then went on a 3-0 run with a kill by Biassou following a successful challenge by Newman-Gonchar and a service ace by Inclan to take a 14-13 lead. The lead would stretch to two at 17-15 following a Yasmin Tan and Biassou block and a kill by Murphy, although UNT would tie the set at 17. It would be the final tie of the set as UNM would take the two-point lead back on another Tan and Biassou block and an attack error by the Mean Green and another Freiwald ace pushed the margin to three at 20-17. A Twitty ace stretched the margin to five at 23-18 and a Tan and Bierria block gave UNM set point at 24-18. UNT fought it off twice before another Tan and Bierria block clinched the set 25-20 for UNM to tie the match at one set apiece.
In the second set, four Lobos tallied two kills each with Nicolette Clark, Biassou, Twitty ad Murphy. Freiwald recorded three service aces in the set, three of five UNM recorded, with Twitty and Inclan accounting for the others. UNM hit just .065 in the set but UNT hit -.028. There were a total of eight ties and three lead changes, the last change coming at 18-17 on a block by Tan and Biassou.
The third set had ties at one and two before UNT scored the next two points to go ahead. UNM responded to pull ahead at 5-4 using a 3-0 run of its own capped by a Tan kill. Following a tie at five, the Lobos pushed the lead to two on a Twitty ace that made it 7-5. The Mean Green would close in on a 6-3 run to tie the set at 10 and take an 11-10 lead. A Murphy kill tied the set at 11 but the Mean Green used a 6-2 run to stretch the lead to four at 17-13. Out of a Lobo timeout, UNM responded with a Bierria kill and a Clark and Murphy block to cut the deficit in half, however out of a UNT timeout, the Mean Green got the points right back. A UNT service error, an Inclan ace and a Biassou kill brought UNM within one at 19-18 to which UNT answered with the next two points to keep the lead. A Murphy kill closed the gap again at one at 21-20, but this time the Lobos were able to find the tying point after a Twitty and Murphy block tied the set at 21. A Twitty kill gave UNM the 22-21 lead and back-to-back Biassou kills gave UNM set point at 24-23. However, UNT scored the next three points to take the set 26-24. The third set had 11 ties and five lead changes.
Biassou led with four kills in the set and would finish with 10 kills in the match.
Like how set three began, the fourth set had ties at one, two and three before an attack error gave UNM its first lead at 4-3, which stretched to two on a Twitty kill. UNT tied the set at five before a service error put UNM back ahead. A Tan kill down the middle pushed the lead back to two, but the Mean Green answered to re-tie the set at eight. There was a tie at nine before UNM went on a 4-0 run led by blocks by Biassou, Murphy (including one solo) and Twitty to take the 13-9 lead. A Tan kill that fell just inside the right-side line pushed the lead to five at 17-12, but the Mean Green responded with a 7-2 run to tie the set at 19. There were two more ties at 20 and 21 before UNT scored the next two points to pull ahead 23-21. Fighting to keep the match alive, Twitty came through with consecutive kills to tie the set at 23. After UNT took the next point to force set and match point, Twitty again delivered with a kill and then again to give UNM set point at 25-24, which UNT fought off. UNM scored the next two points capped off by a Bierria kill to force a fifth set, 27-25.
Twitty accounted for eight kills in the fourth set, half of them occurring down the stretch when UNM’s back was against the wall. UNM managed to outhit UNT .207 to .097 in the fourth behind 16 kills. There were a total of 12 ties and three lead changes in the fourth.
UNM scored five of the first seven points, including a 4-0 run that pushed a 2-1 deficit to a 5-2 advantage, to begin the fifth set. However, UNT mounted a run of its own, tying the set at five and took a 7-5 lead behind a 5-0 run. A service error ended the run and a Twitty kill tied the set at seven. There was another tie at eight before a reversal off of a Newman-Gonchar challenge and a Bierria kill pushed UNM’s lead to 10-8. There were two more ties at 10 and 11 before UNT went ahead 12-11. A Clark kill tied the set for the final time at 12 before an Inclan ace gave UNM the lead for good. A Bierria kill gave UNM match point at 14-12, to which the Mean Green evaded on a service error. However, after a long rally, Murphy sealed the set and the match with a kill.
THE LOBOS WIN, THE LOBOS WIN, THEEEEE LOBOS WIN!!!!
Heck of a final point and heck of a match as the Lobos win the fifth set 15-13!#GoLobos pic.twitter.com/k1ba07M8CC
— New Mexico Volleyball (@UNMLoboVB) September 21, 2019
Clark led the Lobos in the fifth set with three kills as UNM outhit UNT .250 to .192 in the final frame.
UNM (4-7) concludes its non-conference schedule with a final match against Kansas State (5-6) on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. MT. The Wildcats lost to Ohio in five on Friday, while beating North Texas in five on Thursday.