Lobos Respond to Sweep Portland State
EL PASO, Texas— The University of New Mexico volleyball team closed the Borderland Invitational with a sweep of Portland State, trailing just once in the match in the 25-12, 25-20, 25-20 score.
Kaitlynn Biassou led the Lobos with a match-high 11 kills and added a match-high four service aces, seven digs and a match-high six assisted blocks. Kali Wolf was closely behind with 10 kills and two service aces, while Uxue Guereca had a team-high 10 digs. Anilee Sher led with a match-high 24 assists, as well as recorded a kill, an ace, three digs and an assisted block. With the ace, Sher finished the weekend with 11 service aces. Making her first collegiate start, Lea Zurlinden hit .444 with five kills and added five assisted blocks and a service ace, and Avital Jaloba had a balanced five kills, four assisted blocks and hit .455.
As a team, the Lobos led in kills (35-28), hitting percentage (.225- .089), service aces (10-5) and total blocks (9.0-4.0). With the 10 service aces on Saturday, the Lobos finished with double digits in all three matches, with 13 against UTEP and 10 against South Dakota, although this time they achieved the feat in three sets.
The Lobos set the tone early in the match, using a 4-0 run to gain a 10-3 lead, and although the Vikings closed within four at 12-8, New Mexico answered right back with a 3-0 run to regain the seven-point advantage at 15-8. UNM maintained control throughout the set, stretching the lead to 11 at 20-9 on a 5-0 run that included an assisted block by Biassou and Zurlinden and kills by Biassou, Wolf (twice) and Zurlinden. UNM closed to win the set 25-12, with Biassou recording five kills (hitting .625), three aces and two block assists, while the Lobos hit .391 to PSU’s .071.
Portland State took the early lead in the second set with a 6-2 lead that the Lobos chipped away at on kills by Wolf and Biassou and a couple of Viking errors to tie the set at seven. An Alena Moldan ace put UNM in front 9-8 lead and an eventual 4-1 run gave UNM an 12-9 advantage. Portland State closed within one at 15-14, but a Jaloba kill on the following point kept UNM in the lead, which the Lobos then expanded to six at 21-15. After the Vikings cut the margin in half, an Arianna Jamerson and Jaloba combined block stopped the run and the Lobos proceeded to close with a Zurlinden kill, a Viking service error and a Biassou kill to take the set 25-20.
Sher started off the third set with an ace and blocks by Zurlinden and Biassou and Zurlinden and Guereca gave UNM the first three points of the set. UNM continued to create separation and extended the lead to nine at 14-5, and although PSU pulled within three at 18-15 and again at 22-19, the Lobos put the set and the match away in a 25-20 win, with Wolf providing an ace and a kill and Guereca clinching the match with a kill.
Wolf closed the match with four kills and two service aces as the Lobos led from start to finish in the set.
With the win, the Lobos improve to 4-1 on the season. Up next for UNM is the UC San Diego Tournament with the Lobos set to face Pacific, UCSD and Liberty starting Friday.