ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The University of New Mexico volleyball team emerged victorious against Fresno State on Saturday afternoon at the Johnson Center in a hard-fought Mountain West contest that saw all but one of the five sets determined by two points (23-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-23, 15-13).
Freshman Kaitlynn Biassou was a presence both offensively and defensively for the Lobos, tying Lauren Twitty with a team-high 15 kills and recording a season-best eight total blocks, one solo and seven assisted. Saturday’s match was the 10th time this year that the freshman reached double-digit kills, seven of which came in the last nine matches.
Two Lobos posted double-doubles with Twitty’s 15 kills and 11 digs and Jaclyn Inclan’s 33 assists and 13 digs. It was Inclan’s 10th double-double of the season and the setter’s fourth in five matches as well as the seventh time this season that Inclan has tallied 30 or more assists. The double-double was also Twitty’s 10th this season and her second straight and the 16th match in which the outside hitter has reached double figures.
Alena Moldan notched a team-high 15 digs, the 18th time the freshman has finished with 10-plus digs and for the fourth consecutive match, the third player to finish with double-digit digs.
As a team, UNM tied a season high in total blocks with 17.0, two solo and 30 assisted, led by Biassou and Yasmin Tan, who had one solo and six assisted. The last time the Lobos totaled 17.0 was at Nevada, in which UNM also won in five sets.
From the service line, UNM received three aces, one each from Inclan, Twitty and Tai Bierria, while limiting Fresno State to two. Bierria added 10 kills in the match as well to give the Lobos three in double figures in the category.
The Lobos had early momentum as the match started, getting out to an early 3-0 start with a kill from Biassou, a Bulldog attack error and a Rachel Murphy and Biassou block, and would extend their lead to six at 7-1 forcing an early FS timeout. The Bulldogs later cut the margin to one at 8-7 before an attack error ended Fresno State’s 4-0 run. Fresno State would keep it close, eventually tying the set at 11 with two more ties at 12 and 13 before UNM went ahead 15-13. However, the Bulldogs answered with a 4-0 run for the final lead change at 17-15. UNM closed within one three times before a Bulldog kill gave the visitors set point at 24-21 to which the Lobos would get a Biassou kill and a Twitty and Abbey Willison block that brought UNM back within one but Fresno State got the next point to take the first set 25-23.
Bierria opened the second set with a kill but Fresno State went on to take the next four points for the early advantage. The Lobos responded with the next three points, with a Biassou and Tan block tying the set at four. Twitty kept the rally going with a kill to give UNM back the lead but there would be three more ties in the next five points before the Bulldogs pulled ahead by three at 10-7. Their lead extended to five at 13-8 but the Lobos answered to tie the set on a block by Tan and Danica Rowan following a Murphy and Rowan block, a Rowan and Tan block and back-to-back FS attack errors. UNM would take the 16-15 lead on a Biassou and Tan block, its first lead since it was 5-4. The points then alternated with five ties until the Lobos put together consecutive points to take a 22-20 lead. The Lobos’ lead extended to four at 24-20 which Fresno State fought off set point before a service error put UNM past the finish line to take the set 25-21 and tie the match at one set each.
There were 13 ties and four lead changes in the set with the last tie occurring at 20-all before the Lobos rattled off the next four points. In the second set, the Lobos recorded 8.0 total blocks, with Tan accounting for a solo and five assisted and Biassou tallying four assisted blocks. UNM held an 8.0-1.0 edge in blocks in the frame.
The third set contained just one tie score and a furious rally that fell just short for the Lobos. Fresno State scored the first two points of the third set and pushed out to a 6-2 lead. UNM chipped away to close within one at 10-9 on a Bulldog attack error, an Inclan ace and Bierria kill, but the Bulldogs prevented the Lobos from capturing the tying point, scoring the next five points to extend their lead to six. A Twitty kill and two straight blocks by the Lobos made it a two-point set at 16-14 although Fresno State answered with the next three points. UNM answered to pull within one at 20-19 following a 5-0 run on two Twitty kills and two Bulldog attack errors capped by a Rowan kill, one of six on the afternoon for the junior outside hitter. Fresno State would go on to win the next four points to reach set point at 24-19 but the Lobos would rally to tie the set at 24-all. A service error and two attack errors kept the set alive as UNM pulled back within one at 24-23 and an overturned challenge on a touch call that went New Mexico’s way tied the set at 24. However, a Lobo service error and a Bulldog kill gave Fresno State the 26-24 set win.
A Fresno State attack error gave UNM again the first point of the fourth set, and there were ties at two, three and four before a Twitty kill aided the Lobos in regaining the lead at 5-4. UNM and Fresno State would have ties at six, seven, eight, nine and 10 before a Bierria ace gave UNM an 11-10 lead to which Fresno State would tie on the next point. Another successful UNM challenge changed the score from 12-all to 13-11 in favor of the Lobos and UNM would push its lead to three at 14-11 and 15-12 at the media timeout. Out of the break, the Bulldogs tied the set at 15 before a net violation restored the lead for the Lobos which would be the final lead change. The Bulldogs kept it close at 18-17 and 19-18 but each time a Bierria kill preserved the Lobo lead which extended to three at 21-18 on a Bulldog attack error. Out of a Bulldog timeout, Fresno State closed the gap to one but a Biassou cross-court kill kept UNM ahead. A Twitty kill kept the momentum with the Lobos and a Biassou kill gave UNM set point at 24-21. Fresno State fought it off twice to pull back within one but a Murphy kill put the set away with a 25-23 set win to extend the match.
UNM hit a match-high .375 in the set on 18 kills with Twitty accounting for five and Bierria and Biassou contributing four each. It was another back-and-forth set with 12 ties and six lead changes with the last tie coming at 15-all.
It was all Biassou early as she accounted for the first five Lobo points in the fifth set. The outside hitter opened the set with a kill and another kill by the freshman tied the set at two. A block by Biassou gave UNM a 3-2 lead which extended to 4-2 on a Biassou kill. Fresno State tied the set at four before another Biassou kill regained the Lobo lead. UNM led by two at 8-6 as the two teams switched sides but Fresno State tied the set at nine. A Bierria kill put UNM back in front and a Bulldog attack error put the lead back at two. Two Biassou kills gave UNM match point at 14-10, the largest lead of the set, to which Fresno State fought off three times before a Bulldog service error clinched the set and the match for the Lobos.
Biassou finished with six kills in the final set, in which the Lobos had 10 team kills, and recorded the only block of the set for UNM.
With the win, UNM ends its four-match losing streak and improves to 7-17 overall and 2-10 in MW play while Fresno State drops to 12-12 overall and 5-7 in conference play.
The Lobos head back on the road for their next two matches, traveling to Utah State on Thursday and Boise State on Saturday.