Lobos Battle to Five-Set Victory at Air Force
USAFA, Colo.— It took five sets, but The University of New Mexico emerged victorious against the Air Force Falcons on Saturday night by the scores of 25-22, 25-9, 13-25, 25-27, 15-9 to end a five-match losing streak.
Sophomore Kaitlynn Biassou led the Lobos with her second double-double of the series with a match-high 16 kills and 14 digs and freshman setter Kara Erfurth collected her third double-double of the season with a match-high 43 assists and added 14 digs.
The Lobos had a total of four players finish with double-digit digs with Alena Moldan leading the team with a season-high 18 and Chloe Clark with a season-high 11 to go along with a season-high 14 from Erfurth and Biassou. As a team, the Lobos had 73 digs, tying the season high.
Five different Lobos recorded a service ace led by three from Erfurth and two each from Biassou and Wolf. Moldan and Clark each finished with one for nine aces as a team.
In the first set, the Lobos and Falcons exchanged points for the first 14 points before the Falcons pulled ahead 15-12, leading to a Lobo timeout. Out of the timeout, UNM scored the next three points to tie the set back up. There were ties at 17, 18 and 19 when a Biassou kill gave the Lobos the lead and an attack error by Air Force extended the lead. The Lobo scoring continued out of an Air Force timeout with an Erfurth ace and Tori Tua kill that made it 23-19. Air Force closed within two at 24-22, but Tua closed the set with a kill for the Lobo set win.
Biassou had six kills in the opening set with Tua with three of her nine total kills occurring in the set.
The Lobos continued to carry the momentum into the second set, using a 5-0 run to take a 12-5 set lead and later another 5-0 run to extend the lead to 11 at 18-7. After Air Force ended the run with a kill, the Lobos closed the set on a 7-1 run to win 25-9.
Wolf led in the second set with four kills with Tua and Biassou registering three kills each. The Lobos had three aces in the set and three total blocks with Milica Djukic leading with a solo and an assisted block.
The third set was a role reversal in which the Falcons went on a 9-0 run late in the set to turn a 12-9 set into a 21-9 set before eventually extending the match with a 25-13 set win.
Biassou and Wolf again led in kills with four and three, respectively, with Djukic registering one.
The fourth set was the closest set in the match, with an early challenge keeping the Lobos in the lead early. An overturned call off challenge gave UNM a 6-4 advantage instead of a tie at 5-all and the Lobos continued to build the lead to four at 9-5. The Falcons closed the gap to one at 9-8 and again at 11-10, but the Lobos continued to hold onto the lead, using a 3-0 lead to build back the four-point advantage. However, Air Force pushed back to tie the set at 14 and there would be another tie at 15. UNM went back in front by two at 18-16 before the Falcons created another tie at 18. There was another tie at 19 and 20 when the Lobos scored the next two points to take the late lead. The Falcons tied the set at 22, the Lobos answered with the next two points to reach match point at 24-22, but the Falcons fought off both match points to tie the set at 24. Air Force took the 25-24 lead which a Wolf kill staved off the set point, but ultimately the Falcons pulled out the 27-25 set win.
For the first time this season, the Lobos faced a five-set match. There were two ties at one and two before the Lobos went on a 3-0 run led by freshmen with a Tua and Emma Smith block, a Smith kill and an Erfurth ace.
The Falcons pulled within one at 5-4, the closest the set would get as the Lobos scored the next three points to build an 8-5. The lead grew to five at 11-6 and again at 13-8 and the Lobos finished off the set with a service ace by Wolf and a Falcon attack error for the 15-9 set win for the match.
Tua led the Lobos in kills in the fifth set, hitting .600 with three kills and accounted for the lone Lobo block after teaming up with fellow freshman Smith.
Up next for UNM is a two-match series at Boise State on March 5 and 6.