UNM Drops First Match of Season to UCSD in Closely Contested Match
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The New Mexico Lobos were in every set on Saturday against UC San Diego and two players finished with double-doubles, but the Lobos experienced their first loss of the season (25-21, 25-23, 25-22).
Avital Jaloba and Kaitlynn Biassou led the team with 11 kills apiece, with Jaloba hitting .450 in the match. Melissa Walden recorded her second double-double of the weekend with 33 assists and 13 digs and Biassou recorded her first double-double of the season with 10 digs to go along with her 11 kills.
Alena Moldan again was the match leader in digs, finishing with 22, but as a team the Lobos had five finish in double figures with Moldan, Walden (13), Uxue Guereca (11), Kali Wolf (11) and Biassou’s 10.
The Lobos did finish with more kills than the Tritons with 42, and Wolf was one kill shy of adding another double-double with nine kills and Uxue two kills shy of a double-double.
The opening set had seven ties and three lead changes, with four of the ties occurring in the first eight points. The Lobos ended the exchange of points with two straight kills, by Wolf and then Guereca, and again pulled ahead by two at 8-6, however the Tritons tied the set at nine and the Lobos forced another tie at 10.
When UCSD pulled ahead, the Lobos answered to keep the set within one, with a Walden solo block closing the gap to within one at 16-15, and after UC San Diego pulled ahead 20-17, UNM pulled back within one at 21-20 on an Elizabeth Woods and Wolf block. However, the Lobos were unable to record the tying point, falling 25-21 in the set.
Jaloba and Wolf led with five kills each, with Jaloba hitting .833 to start out with on six attempts.
The second set was another close one for the Lobos, closing within one several times and rallying from down 22-18 to tie the set at 22 on a Wolf kill, but UNM couldn’t gain the lead as the Tritons took the second set 25-23.
Biassou added five kills to her tally in the second set with Jaloba and Wolf finishing with four each.
Much like the first set, the Lobos and Tritons remained close in the third set with ties at one and two before UNM pulled ahead 6-2. However, UCSD answered to tie the set at seven and the two teams couldn’t get much separation with ties at eight and nine.
A Kassie McGill and Emma Smith block followed by a McGill kill put UNM back in front, with the Lobos ultimately building a three-point lead at 13-10. UNM remained in front, going ahead 16-12 and led 21-18 late before UCSD rallied to tie the set at 21 before closing to take the set 25-22.
UNM (8-1) has a home-and-home against Northern Arizona starting Thursday, Sept. 16 at NAU and host NAU on Saturday, Sept. 18.