Lobos Improve to 8-0 Following Hard-Fought Wins
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— One streak came to an end while another continued for the New Mexico volleyball team, as the Lobos dropped their first set of the season in the third set against Seattle U, but ultimately got the win to improve to 8-0 on the season. Of note, 2008 was the last team to start 8-0.
The Lobo set streak reached 23 sets before the Redhawks won the third, 25-22, but the Lobos got the final say in the result, winning 25-23 in a thrilling four-set win to take the match (25-14, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23).
UNM controlled its first match on Friday in a 25-13, 25-17, 25-18 fashion to earn the seventh sweep of the season.
“Just really excited that the Lobos had two good matches today and it was great to get pushed by a great Seattle team,” said head coach Jon Newman-Gonchar. “The team found solutions; we had ups and downs and all of the things that are going to happen in a Mountain West match. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to get pushed and for us to push back. At the end of the fourth set, incredibly proud of our team to be down two points late and come back and reverse it and go up four points from where we were to win at 25-23. Really just a shoutout to our team, and for everyone being in it for every point.”
Southeastern Louisiana:
The Lobos controlled the noon match at The Pit early with a balanced attack, led by nine kills each by Kaitlynn Biassou (9-1-17, .471) and Elizabeth Woods (9-1-16, .500). Kali Wolf finished with eight kills and Uxue Guereca tallied seven as the Lobos outhit the Lady Lions .364 to .101 in the match.
From the service line, UNM registered five aces with two each from Wolf and Hayley Torres, with the two a UNM career high for Torres.
Melissa Walden nearly tallied as many assists as the entire Southeastern Louisiana team, recording a match-high 28 assists and Alena Moldan and Guereca were nearly identical in total digs with Moldan at a match-high 14 and Guereca 12.
At the net, UNM also outblocked the Lady Lions 5.0-2.0, led by three assisted blocks by Avital Jaloba and Biassou.
The opening set had one tie score at two-all before the Lobos went on a 6-0 run to take an insurmountable lead over the Lady Lions, including three consecutive kills and an assisted block from Woods.
SLU closed it to a five-point game at 14-9, but kills by Jaloba and Biassou ended the threat. The lead grew to double figures on a Lady Lion attack error at 21-11 and from there the Lobos received points from two Guereca kills, a Walden kill and a final SLU attack error for the 25-13 first set win.
Biassou started out with an efficient .800 hitting clip, going 4-for-5 with no errors, and contributed with two assisted blocks, and as a team the Lobos hit .536 (15-0-28).
The second set was much closer with ties at one, three, four, five, six and seven, before the Lobos created separation on a 3-0 run. SLU got as close as 10-8 until another run, this time 4-0, put enough distance between the two teams. Late in the set, Southeastern Louisiana pulled within four at 17-13 but the Lobos were able to push the lead back to their greatest point in the set at 22-14 on a Jaloba and Kassie McGill block. UNM closed with a kill from Jaloba and two Lady Lion attack errors to take the set, 25-17.
UNM fell behind 2-0 in the third set and responded winning the next four points to take the early lead. Both teams battled to tie the set at seven, although the Lobos never trailed for the remainder of the set after being down 2-0. A Woods kill helped the Lobos regain the lead at 8-7, the start of a 4-0 run that included a Torres ace and Walden kill. UNM’s lead continued to grow to seven at 18-11 on a kill by Wolf and a Wolf service ace pushed the Lobos to the 20-point mark in the set and within reach of the set. Emma Smith and Guereca recorded consecutive kills and two SLU attack errors got the Lobos to match point at 24-18. Guereca tallied a final kill on an Alia Rasmussen assist to finish the set at 25-18 and the match.
Seattle U:
The Lobos were tested late in Friday’s evening match, not only dropping their first set of the season, but on the verge of going to five sets after Seattle U was within two points of taking the fourth set at 23-20. UNM went to Guereca for the kill, followed by a Moldan service ace to bring the Cherry and Silver within one. An attack error tied the set at 23 and two more Redhawk attack errors completed the Lobo comeback.
UNM closed scoring the final five points of the set to complete the match.
Biassou had another powerful performance, finishing with a match-high 17 kills and hitting .325, with Jaloba reaching a career high in kills at 13, while hitting .478 (13-2-23). Guereca was the third Lobo to finish with double digit kills at 10 and Walden took over with a match-high 39 assists and 20 digs for her fifth double-double on the year. Moldan recorded a match-high 30 digs on the night to go along with 10 assists for her first double-double of the year. Wolf was one kill shy of making it three Lobos with nine kills and 10 digs.
There was a battle between the two teams at the net, both finishing with 10.0 total blocks, with the Lobos led by Biassou’s six assisted blocks, Jaloba’s five and Woods having one solo and four assisted.
Both teams were very similar in statistics, not only in total blocks but also in service aces (four) and errors (seven), while UNM led in kills (55-47), digs (81-73) and assists (51-42).
Back-to-back Biassou kills and a Biassou and Jaloba block opened the match as the Lobos took control early. However, Seattle U responded to tie the set at three and there proceeded to be another tie at four for the final lead of the set. UNM pulled ahead 6-4 and was able to stretch the lead to four at 13-9 on a 3-0 run midway in the set.
Two Wolf kills, a Woods kill, a Biassou ace and a Redhawk attack error bumped the lead to 10 at 22-12 and the Lobos closed with kills by Wolf, Guereca and Woods to take the first set 25-14.
Biassou again opened the match at a high efficiency , hitting .875 on 7-for-8 effort, with the Lobos hitting .412 overall. Walden’s 12 assists in the first set was higher than the entire Seattle U team (seven) and Moldan’s nine digs almost matched SU’s team total of 11.
The second set had two ties (at two and three), although the Lobos never trailed in the 25-21 close set. Seattle was within one point several times through the first 17 points before UNM went on a 5-0 run to take control. The Redhawks did fight back to pull back within one at 16-15 when Wolf kept SU at length on a kill that was followed by a Biassou kill and a Seattle U attack error.
Once again, SU pulled within one at 21-20, and again New Mexico stayed ahead on a Jaloba and Guereca combined block and a Biassou and Jaloba block. A Guereca kill and a Seattle U attack error closed the set out to give UNM the 2-0 match advantage.
While there were five ties in the first 20 points, the Lobos did trail midway in the third set before rallying to tie the set at 14. A solo Woods block put UNM ahead to which the Lobos would build on a Wolf kill. Seattle tied the set at 17, but the Lobos answered with three points on a Woods kill, a Guereca kill and a Walden and Woods block to take the 20-17 lead. The Redhawks rallied to tie the set at 21 and although a late Jaloba kill fought off set point, the Redhawks took the third 25-22.
The third set ultimately had nine ties and six lead changes.
It was not much different in the fourth and final set, with eight ties and six lead changes. Five of those tied occurred in the first 16 points, but then Chloe Clark took over. Clark entered to serve and proceeded to lead the Lobos to win the next four points to take a 12-8 lead. However, Seattle U responded to create a tie at 13 and stayed in front to build a 20-17 lead.
Jaloba and Biassou kept the Lobos within reach as the Lobo attempted to get back in the set. UNM took a timeout at 22-19 Seattle U, but from there the Lobos rallied winning six of the next seven points, including closing on a 5-0 run, to take the set and the match.
The Lobos (8-0) close out the weekend homestand with a final match against UC San Diego on Saturday at 1 p.m. at The Pit. Admission is free, however fans will need to pay for parking.