Lobos Fall to Islanders in Three to Start Borderland Invitational
LAS CRUCES, N.M.— Senior outside hitter Lauren Twitty led The University of New Mexico volleyball team with 13 kills and 10 digs to record her second-straight double-double as the Lobos fell in three sets (25-18, 25-18, 25-19) to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday morning to begin the Borderland Invitational.
Twitty hit .306 in the match and was the only Lobo in double digits in kills, with her 13 tying a match high. It is also the fourth match that the senior captain has registered double figures in the category.
In her first appearance in the Cherry and Silver, Maddie Freiwald tallied 22 of the team’s 28 assists and recorded a match-high two service aces.
Freshman Kaitlynn Biassou contributed eight kills and a solo and assisted block in the match in her second career start.
Texas A&M- Corpus Christi outhit UNM .346 to .167 in the match, while the Lobos had four service aces to two for the Islanders.
The Islanders took control of the match early, scoring the first three points of the match before a Biassou solo block put the Lobos on the board. UNM trailed 7-3 through the first 10 points of the set and trailed by nine, 13-4, forcing a UNM timeout.
The Lobos tried to come back with a couple of different runs to cut in to the deficit. UNM went on a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to six at 16-10 on a Biassou kill, and a 4-0 run on a Biassou kill, a Morgan Schreckler service ace and consecutive Yasmin Tan kills brought the Lobos within five at 20-15. The Lobos got within four on an Islander attack error at 22-18, but the Islanders scored the next three points to take the first set, 25-18.
TAMUCC outhit UNM .343 to .139 with the Lobos having 10 kills total in the opening set. Biassou, Twitty and Tan all contributed three kills with Tai Bierria tallying the remaining kill. Schreckler and Freiwald each had a service ace and Biassou had the lone block for the Lobos in the set. Freiwald led with six assists.
Unlike the first set in which the Islanders led from the start, the second set had five ties and two lead changes.
Biassou kept the Lobos in the set early with three kills and an attack error by the Islanders gave the Lobos their first lead of the match at 4-3. However, the Islanders used a 3-0 run to take a 6-3 lead.
A Tan kill and Twitty kill tied the set again at six, but the Islanders regained the lead on the next point. Twitty kills continued to keep the Lobos within one before TAMUCC went on a 5-1 run to extend their lead to five at 14-9. UNM responded with a 3-0 run including an Alena Moldan ace to bring UNM within three at 15-12 to which TAMUCC answered with a 5-1 run to go up seven. A Bierria kill brought UNM as close as five at 22-17 and an Islander attack error made it 23-18 but the Lobos dropped the set 25-18.
Twitty added five kills in the set while Biassou had four. Freiwald added nine assists to put her in double digits. The Lobos recorded their highest hitting percentage in the match at .294 with 12 kills.
In the third set, the Lobos built an early lead but were unable to keep the Islanders at bay.
Twitty opened up the set with two kills to put her in double digits for the fourth-straight match and combined with a Twitty and Murphy block as well as a bad set by TAMUCC, UNM got out to a 4-1 early lead. The Islanders tied the set at four before a Twitty kill regained the lead for the Lobos. UNM was able to build the lead back up to three following a Bierria kill, a Tan and Biassou block and a Twitty kill, her fifth of the set, leading to an 8-5 Lobo lead and an Islander timeout.
Out of the break, TAMUCC tied the set at eight but a service error made it 9-8 UNM. A 6-1 run by the Islanders put UNM in a 14-10 deficit and while UNM pushed back within two at 15-13 on a Freiwald ace, the Islanders got the points right back. A drop shot by Danica Rowan closed the gap to four at 22-18 and an attack error made it 22-19, but Texas A&M- Corpus Christi tallied the next three points to win the set, 25-19, and the match. There were a total of five ties and one lead change in the set.
UNM (1-3) returns to the court Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against Pacific (2-1) at the Pan American Center.