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UNM Drops Match to CSU

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The trademark grit of a Jon Newman-Gonchar Lobo team was on display on Thursday night at The Pit, with The University of New Mexico volleyball team and its head coach fighting for every point against the Colorado State Rams.

Playing with just seven student-athletes, the Lobos gained their footing as the match went on, going from winning nine points in the first set to 15 in the second set and pushing the Rams to extra points in the third set before falling 25-9, 25-15, 29-27.

While outside hitter Kaitlynn Biassou and setter Kara Erfurth played their usual role of leading the team with nine kills and 21 assists, respectively, it was the play of freshmen and the all-around play of Alena Moldan that stood out in the Mountain West contest. Usually serving as a libero, Moldan traded in her role and recorded two kills, two assists, a team-high 11 digs and a block. Kali Wolf and Tori Tua each contributed five kills, with Tua leading with a solo block and two assisted blocks as well as adding an assist, and Wolf accounting for the lone service ace for the Lobos, to go along with an assist and eight digs.

Following three early ties in the opening set, CSU gained some separation at 10-6 and later used a 4-0 run to go ahead 14-7 before a Tua kill ended the run. The Lobos scored just one more point on a Ram ball handling error before Colorado State won the next six points to win 25-9.

CSU controlled the second set, scoring the first six points, with the Lobos getting as close as four points at 8-4 and later at 9-5 before CSU pulled away. The Lobos closed to within five points at 17-12, but the Rams took the set 25-15 for the 2-0 match lead.

A 7-0 run by the Lobos allowed UNM to gain an 11-3 advantage in the third set, with the lead growing to nine at 13-4 following an Erfurth kill. After UNM led 17-10, CSU used a 4-0 run to narrow the margin, and closed to within one at 18-17. However, the Lobos took advantage of a Ram service error and a Tua and Biassou kill to keep in front and build a four-point cushion at 21-17.

The Lobos led 23-19, to which the Rams managed to come back to tie the set. A Ram service error gave UNM set point, but a Ram kill created another tie. CSU gained match point at 25-24 but Wolf kept the match alive with a kill. Colorado State again gained match point at 26-25, but this time it was Hayley Torres who came through with a kill to keep the set going. The Rams looked as if they would take the set 28-26, but Newman-Gonchar challenged the call on the court that the ball was in, which was successful to create another tie at 27. However, CSU recorded consecutive kills to win the set 29-27 and the match.

Biassou tallied four kills in the third set with Erfurth, Wolf and Tua all recording two each.

The Lobos close out the season on Saturday against Utah State, with a scheduled start time of 1 p.m. at The Pit.