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Lobo Race Past Nevada in the Opener 3-1

RENO, Nev. — Losing an epic season-opening set that had it’s share of chances proved of zero consequence for New Mexico, as Jon Newman-Gonchar’s Lobos raced past Nevada by sweeping away the final three sets for a 3-1 (32-34, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20) victory over Nevada to open its belated season.  The Lobos and Wolf Pack, who also opened its season, will play against on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Reno.

The match was played in Reno after originally being scheduled for Johnson Gym, but the current state health order prevents UNM from hosting contests.  It was no matter as UNM made itself home at the Virginia Street Gym, which had a small crowd in the stands, mostly family of the Wolf Pack players and staff.

After dropping the opening set in an epic affair 34-32, the Lobos bounced back to win the final three sets.  In the second, UNM found itself down 12-11, but Kali Wolf evened the set up with a kill and then UN forced Nevada into three straight hitting errors.  Another Wolf kill gave UNM a 16-12 lead.  Nevada would close to 16-15, but Wolf twice served aces (two of her three) and UNM cruised from there, winning 25-21 and tying the match at 1-1.

The Lobos then went ahead as they attacked well in the third with 18 kills.  Still, up just 22-21 after a service error, Kaitlynn Biassou had back-to-back kills, part of a 14-kill, 17 dig double-double for her, and UNM went on to a 25-23 win and a 2-1 lead.

From there, it was a matter of time as UNM never trailed or was tied in the final set.  UNM jumped out to an early 8-3 lead, and kept the lead at five pretty much the entire set.  Fittingly, it was Biassou that ended the match with a cross-court blast for a 25-20 win.

The three straight set wins followed a wild opening set which saw the second-highest point total for UNM in a single-set in the 25-point era.  UNM had five straight set points in the opener, but Nevada got five straight kills to stave off UNM.  Overall, UNM had six set points and Nevada four, finally converting for a 34-32 win when Kassie McGill’s kill ended it.

The same two teams go back at it in the second game of the series, against in Reno, this at 1 p.m. Mountain.

NOTES: The 34-32 match was only eclipsed by a 35-33 set win over St. John’s on September 12, 2008 … UNM had four players record double-figure kills in Wolf (18), Biassou (14), Uxue Guereca (13) and Avitol Jaloba (11) … dating back to last season UNM has now won six of its last eight … Newman-Gonchar is now 3-0 against Nevada … due to COVID-19 protocols, the teams did not swap sides after each set as is normally the case … all seven players that played in the match for UNM wore masks … of UNM’s seven players that saw action, five were making their Lobo debuts … Jaloba’s 11 kills were a career-high as her best total at Arizona State was seven (vs. California on November 10, 2019).

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