Volleyball Falls in Three at Boise State
BOISE, Idaho — The University of New Mexico volleyball team dropped three straight sets to the Boise State Broncos on Friday afternoon on the road, 25-9, 25-19 and 25-13. The Lobos were led by seven kills from sophomore Kaitlynn Biassou in the series opener.
UNM (3-6), started all three matches strong, claiming early leads, but could not hold onto the advantages. The Lobos will take on the Broncos (7-2) for game two of the series on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT.
Biassou was followed offensively by freshman Tori Tua who posted six kills on the day while sophomores Alena Moldan and Chloe Clark each registered eight assists.
The Lobos opened set one strong on a kill by Tua and a service ace from freshman Kali Wolf to get out to a 2-0 lead. UNM increased the advantage to 4-1 before the Broncos tied it up 5-5 and again at 6-6, then took a lead that they never relinquished. BSU closed set one on an 8-0 run en route to the 25-19 final.
The highlight of the day was set two in which the Lobos fell by just six points after a hard-fought battle. The Lobos jumped out on top once again, 2-0, and held the lead until the Broncos tied the game at 6-6. It was Biassou who registered a kill to put the Lobos back up by one, 7-6, sparking a 4-0 Lobo run.
The run included the kill from Biassou, a pair of Bronco attack errors and a service ace from Biassou to get the Lobos ahead 10-6.
The Broncos came back with a 5-0 run of their own to take a two-point lead, 14-12, causing UNM head coach Jon Newman-Gonchar to take a timeout. Out of the break, the Lobos notched a point before the Broncos put up another 4-0 run en route to finishing out the set, taking a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Set three started much in the same fashion with New Mexico earning the first point before the teams tied it at 4-4 and again at 8-8. BSU went on a 4-0 run to make it 12-8, jumping ahead by five.
UNM held tough, cutting the BSU lead back to four on a Tua kill to make it 15-11, before the Broncos embarked on another 4-0 run to make it 19-11. Boise State finished set three on a 6-2 run.
The Broncos registered a .444 kill percentage in the final set compared to UNM’s .107, both the highest of the match.
The Lobos and the Broncos will have a rematch on Saturday, March 6 at 1 p.m. on the Mountain West Network.