Lobos Pick Up Road Win at Utah State Behind Rowan's Hitting
LOGAN, Utah— Behind a sensational .706 hitting percentage with a career-high 12 kills on 17 attacks with no errors from junior outside hitter Danica Rowan, The University of New Mexico picked up its second-straight win in a four-set victory over Utah State at the Wayne Estes Center on Thursday night (25-19, 25-21, 17-25, 25-16).
Rowan was one of three Lobos to reach double-digit kills, with freshman outside hitter Kaitlynn Biassou tallying a team-high 13 and senior outside hitter Tai Bierria finishing with 10.
Junior middle blocker Yasmin Tan tied her career high in total blocks with eight, all assisted, as the Lobos racked up 14.0 total team blocks, the second-straight match that the Cherry and Silver have achieved 10-plus total team blocks.
Setter Jaclyn Inclan accounted for 29 of UNM’s 50 assists on the night for the 11th consecutive match that the redshirt-sophomore has finished in double digits in the category and the third consecutive match that Inclan has tallied 20 or more. Libero Alena Moldan once again led the team in digs with 13, with Lauren Twitty joining her in double figures with 10.
From the service line, Bierria and Maddie Freiwald recorded two aces apiece to lead the Lobos while Moldan recorded one.
In the opening set, two early service errors by the Aggies kept the set close with eight ties in the first 16 points of the match. Three consecutive attack errors by USU broke the exchange of points and gave UNM a three-point margin at 11-8, which would be the final lead change in the set. The cushion stretched to four at 13-9 on a Tan and Biassou block but the Aggies got two points back. A Bierria kill kept the score from closing in any closer and an attack error regained the four-point margin at 15-11. The Lobos would continue the run to lead by six at 17-11 on a Bierria ace, a lead that would grow to seven at 19-12. USU would go on a 3-0 run to shrink the lead to four at 19-15, but the Lobos would get two points back to stretch the lead back to six at 21-15. Utah State got as close as five at 23-18 before a Rowan kill gave UNM set point. USU fought it off with a block before Bierria ended the set with a tip that dropped inside the line for the 25-19 set win.
UNM served up three aces in the first set with Moldan, Bierria and Freiwald each recording one, while USU posted three service errors and nine attack errors. Inclan recorded a solo block and Tan assisted on two blocks as UNM recorded 3.0 blocks in the set.
Bierria continued where she left off in the first set with a kill to open the second set as UNM got out to a 4-2 lead on Freiwald’s second ace of the match. The Lobos’ lead would grow to three at 7-4 and further at five at 10-5 following a 3-0 UNM run on a Tan and Bierria block, and a kill each from Bierria and Rowan. USU answered to close within one at 11-10 but Tan kept the Lobos in front with a kill down the middle of the court and the Lobos would grow their lead to 13-10. The Aggies would again answer, this time tying the set at 13, the first tie since it was two-all and a service ace on the following play gave USU its first and only lead of the set. UNM took the lead back on a Biassou kill and a Twitty and Rachel Murphy block for the slight lead at the media timeout. Consecutive Twitty kills continued to put UNM in front, extending the lead to three at 17-14, capping a 4-0 Lobo run. Back-to-back Rowan kills gave UNM its 20th point of the set with a three-point cushion over the Aggies and a Biassou and Tan block stretched the lead to four at 21-17. USU closed back within two at 21-19, however, a Bierria and Tan block kept the Aggies from getting any closer and a Twitty kill put UNM back ahead by a four-point lead at 23-19. USU would make one final push and get the points back to make it 23-21 but a service error gave UNM set point at 24-21 and a Biassou kill would end the set with the Lobos taking it 25-21.
UNM outhit USU .333 to .182 in the second set behind 16 kills with Twitty leading the team with four and Biassou, Murphy and Rowan each finishing with three. Inclan assisted on 11 of the Lobo points and the Lobos finished with 4.0 total team blocks in the frame with Tan assisting on three.
Utah State got ahead 5-1 in the third set with a 5-0 run to take command of the set before a Biassou kill ended the streak. The deficit grew to seven at 9-2, leading to an early Lobo timeout and out of the timeout, the Lobos chipped in to the lead with two straight points but the Aggies got the points back plus some as the Lobo deficit grew to 10 at 15-5. A 3-0 run for the Lobos behind two Murphy kills and a Rowan and Murphy block helped the Lobos cut in to the deficit at 15-8 and a Bierria kill would bring the gap again to seven at 19-12. A Biassou kill brought the margin to six at 21-15, but the Aggies would extend the match with a 25-17 set win.
The Lobos had 13 kills in the set but paired with 10 errors to hit .091 while the Aggies hit .310 with 11 kills and just two errors. Of the 13 kills, Biassou accounted for four of them.
In the fourth set, it was close early before the Lobos broke the set open with a 5-0 run and closed with a 5-1 run to take the 25-16 set win to clinch the match. UNM got out to an early 2-0 lead with a Bierria kill and ace and Biassou’s 10th kill of the match kept the Lobos in front by two at 4-2. Utah State would answer to tie the set at five and take a 6-5 lead on an overturned challenge, but a Murphy kill, a Rowan kill, a Rowan and Tan block and two Aggie attack errors created separation in the set as the Lobos led by four at 10-6 on a 5-0 run, the last tie and lead change of the set. The Aggies would close to within two at 11-9 and again at 13-11 but a Biassou kill and a Murphy and Twitty block pushed UNM back in front by four at 15-11 and following a Bierria kill, UNM would gain its largest lead of the set up until that point at 20-14. After that point, UNM closed on a 5-2 run with the Lobos taking the final three points of the set on a Biassou kill, a block by Biassou and Tan and a Tan kill.
Rowan capped the match with five kills in the fourth set on six swings for a hitting percentage of .833 as the Lobos matched their second set tallies of 16 kills and a hitting percentage of .333. UNM posted 5.0 total blocks in the frame with Tan assisting on three of them.
With the win, the Lobos improve to 8-17 on the season and 3-10 in conference play and are set to take on Boise State on Saturday in Boise with first serve set for noon.