Lobos Defeat Lumberjacks in Four
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Behind three Lobo double-doubles, including 11 digs and a match-high 23 kills for Kaitlynn Biassou, 12 kills and 12 digs for Kali Wolf and 10 assists (tying her career high) and a match-high 27 digs for Alena Moldan, the Lobo volleyball team improved to 8-1 on the season with a four-set victory over Northern Arizona on Wednesday night.
With the win, the Lobos extend their win streak to five matches.
In addition to tying her season high in kills, Biassou reached another milestone in Wednesday’s match, recording the 1000th kill of her career in the second set and in doing so became the 15th Lobo all-time to achieve the feat.
Biassou, Avital Jaloba and Wolf each finished with double-digit kills, with Jaloba finishing with a season-high 12 and hit .524 (12-1-21). Anilee Sher added a match-high 44 assists to her season tally, the fourth time this season that the setter has finished with 40 or more assists.
Freshmen played a large role in Wednesday’s win as Madison Blanco added seven digs, two assists and a service ace in four sets, while Arianna Jamerson had six kills and hit .667 in the match and Lea Zurlinden contributed eight kills and a team-high four assisted blocks.
As a team, the Lobos hit a season-best .306 (68-19-160), with 78 digs, 64 assists and eight service aces with Biassou, Jamerson and Sher each registering two.
While the Lobos dominated in the first set with a 25-11 score, the second through fourth sets were all determined by two points with the Lobos winning sets two and four 25-23 and the Lumberjacks winning the third set 25-23.
The Lobos came out with a spark, leading the set from start to finish in the 25-11 set win. A 6-0 run put UNM firmly in control, taking the score from 9-4 to 15-4, and added another run of 5-0 gave the Lobos a 15-point cushion at 20-5. NAU fought off three set points before a Biassou kill closed the set. Biassou had 11 kills in the first set, hitting .786 (11-0-14), with the Lobos hitting .593 as a team.
Much like the first set, the Lobos took the early lead, scoring the first three points of the second set on an Elizabeth Woods’ kill, a kill by Biassou and a Wolf service ace. UNM led 5-1 and 10-7 before NAU pulled within one at 10-9. A Sher kill and service ace extended the lead back to three, which increased to five at 15-10 on a Biassou kill. The Lumberjacks worked their way back into the set, eventually tying the set at 21, at which point, Wolf put the Lobos back in front with a kill. Following a tie at 22, consecutive Biassou kills pushed the Lobos to set point, and although NAU fought off set point once, Jaloba closed the set with a kill for the 25-23 win.
There were two ties in the set, although the Lobos never trailed.
NAU’s first lead of the match came at 2-1 in the third set, with neither team able to create any separation with 10 ties. Jamerson provided a lead for the Lobos with two service aces, and combined with a Jaloba solo block and a Jaloba and Sher combined block, the Lobos gained the 14-10 advantage. However, NAU found an answer late to tie the set at 18 and extended the match with a 25-23 set score. There were a total of 11 ties and four lead changes in the set.
The Lumberjacks continued their momentum, winning the first two points of the fourth set, but the Lobos responded with a 5-0 run with kills by Jaloba, Biassou and Jamerson. NAU evened the score at five and proceeded to take a 7-5 lead that grew to 11-8. The Lobos kept within reach of the Lumberjacks, tying the set at 14 on a kill by Biassou, however NAU won the next three points to restore its lead. The Lobos pulled within one four different times without being able to find the tying point before finally tying the set back up at 23 on a kill from Jaloba. A Lumberjack attack error that was confirmed after an unsuccessful challenge provided match point for the Lobos and another attack error secured the 25-23 set win and the match.
Jamerson hit .625 with five kills, matched by five kills by Biassou, as the Lobos outhit the Lumberjacks .260 to .180.
UNM will face NAU on Friday in Flagstaff to close out the non-conference schedule.