ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The University of New Mexico Lobos were swept by the Air Force Falcons on Saturday morning by scores of 25-21, 25-19, 25-18.
Lauren Twitty led the Lobos with nine kills, while Maddie Freiwald assisted on 27 of the team’s 29 assists. Defensively, UNM was led by 11 digs from libero Alena Moldan and a solo block and three assisted blocks from Rachel Murphy.
Air Force opened up the match with the first two points before the Lobos were able to side-out on a Yasmin Tan kill. However, Air Force scored the next three points to take an early 5-1 lead and the Lobos wouldn’t recover. A Tan and Twitty block ended the run temporarily as the Falcons pushed their lead to eight at 10-2. The Lobos got two points back out of a timeout on a Murphy and Twitty kill, and cut the margin to five at 11-6 following consecutive points on a Twitty kill and Tai Bierria and Murphy block. UNM closed in within four at 15-11 on a Kaitlynn Biassou kill, but the Falcons would extend their lead to seven at 18-11. A Murphy kill and Falcon attack error made it a three-point set at 19-16, which closed to two on a Bierria kill and Falcon error at 20-18. The Lobos got within two on a Biassou kill and an Abbey Willison ace at 23-21, but Air Force took the next two points to win the set 25-21.
UNM led early on in the second set before a 6-0 Falcon run changed the tide and Air Force took control of the set en route to a 25-19 win. A Biassou kill tied the set at one and there was another tie at two before the Lobos pulled ahead 4-2. The Falcons closed within one but a Murphy kill kept the Lobos in front and another Murphy kill later doubled UNM’s lead at 6-3. UNM would continue to lead, building a five-point lead at 11-6, before the Falcons went on a run to deadlock the set at 11 and took a 12-11 lead. The visitors would add to their lead at 17-13 and wouldn’t trail from there as they would go on to win 25-19. The Lobos would fight off four set points before a service error gave the Falcons the final point in the set.
A Tan kill opened the third set and there would be three ties in the first six points before AFA pulled ahead by two. The Lobos would answer to tie the set at six, seven and eight when the Falcons would tally the next two points to end the exchange of points and gain the lead for good. UNM closed within one on a Twitty kill at 12-11 and again after an exchange of service errors, but the Lobos were unable to find the tying point as the Falcons pulled ahead by three at 15-12 at the media timeout. Two attack errors by the Air Force cut the margin to one but a kill by the Falcons prevented the Lobos from gaining any momentum as they regained their three-point lead at 17-14, which would stretch to seven at 22-15. A service error by Air Force ended the 5-0 run and the Lobos would score consecutive points on a Falcon attack error to bring the deficit to five at 22-17. Air Force would go on to score the next two points to force match point, which a service error would allow the Lobos to fight off. However, a service error by UNM would give the Falcons the 25-18 set win and the match.
Saturday’s result was just the second loss for UNM against Air Force in Albuquerque and the fifth all-time.
The Lobos remain home for the next two matches, hosting San Diego State on Thursday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. and Fresno State on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 1 p.m.