Lobos Begin Homestand with Wyoming Thursday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobo volleyball team begins a four-match homestand on Thursday with the Wyoming Cowgirls, with first serve set for 6:30 p.m. MT in the Johnson Center.
UNM opened MW conference play 1-1 with a five-set loss at Boise State before responding with a hard-fought sweep at Utah State, and is 10-2 on the season.
The Lobo fight has been a reoccurring theme this season, with the Lobos showing no quit time and time again. To date, New Mexico has completed two reverse sweeps and had nine sets go to extra points, going 8-1 in such instances.
Saturday’s match at Utah State was the latest example, containing two sets going to extra points and the Lobos trailing 20-14 in the first set and fighting off set point after set point in the third set, with the Lobo volleyball team emerging victorious (27-25, 25-20, 32-30).
The Lobos trailed for nearly the entirety of the opening set, fighting back from a 13-7 deficit and a 20-14 deficit, ultimately completing the comeback to tie the set at 23. The Lobos then had to fend off set points at 24-23 and 25-24 with Kaitlynn Biassou kills before claiming the win 27-25, with an Avital Jaloba and Biassou block providing the 26-25 Lobo lead and an Aggie attack error clinching the set.
Following an early Aggie attack error that tied the third set at two, Utah State gained a little separation at 10-6. An Elizabeth Woods kill, Biassou and Lea Zurlinden block and Uxue Guereca and Zurlinden block brought the Lobos within one at 10-9, although the Aggies answered back to pull ahead 15-11. The Lobos returned with a 6-2 run to tie the set at 17, and after USU reached set point at 24-22, showed resiliency in fighting off two sets points on an Anilee Sher kill and a Jaloba and Woods block. Out of an Aggie timeout, USU reached set point at 25-24 to which Guereca answered with a kill. The Aggies again held set point at 26-25, 27-26, 28-27, 29-28 and 30-29 with the Lobos answering each time to tie the set. With the score at 30-all, a Woods kill put the Lobos in the lead and at match point and a USU attack error ended the set and the match in favor of the Lobos.
There was a total of nine ties and one lead change in the final set, with the Lobos fighting off eight set points and the only lead change occurring at 31-30.
Biassou led the Lobos on the week with 34 kills, an average of 4.25 per set, with Kali Wolf leading with six service aces, Alena Moldan leading with 45 digs, 5.63 per set, and Zurlinden leading with eight total blocks.
The Lobos have had multiple players step up in matches, with 18 double-doubles on the season, at least one double-double in nine matches with multiple players recording a double-double in a match seven times this season. Guereca leads with seven double-doubles and Kali Wolf has five double-doubles on the season, the second most on the team.
UNM is 7-2 when a player records a double-double and 5-2 when multiple players record a double-double.
Collectively, New Mexico gets stronger as the match goes on, and is 9-0 when winning the third set, 5-2 when winning the fourth set and 4-2 in the fifth set this season. The Lobos are 3-0 in matches that go three sets, 3-0 in four sets and 4-2 in five sets.
On the other side of the net, Wyoming enters the second week of conference play at 4-10 on the season, 0-2 in the Mountain West following losses to Colorado State (3-1) and UNLV (3-0).
UW is 0-3 on the road and 3-2 in three sets, 1-7 in four sets and 0-1 in five sets.
The Cowgirls have two players with double-digit kills in Corin Carruth (134) and KC McMahon (123), while Kasia Partyka leads in assists with 483 and is averaging 9.3 per set. Hailey Zuroske leads with 14 service aces, one of four players in double figures, as well as digs with 190. Kayla Mazzocca leads in total blocks with 47 (nine solo, 38 assisted).
UNM split the season series with Wyoming last season, with each team earning a sweep at home.
Following Thursday’s match, the Lobos host Colorado State on Saturday at 1 p.m., Air Force on Oct. 4 at 6:30 p.m. and UNLV on Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the matches can be purchased at golobos.com/tickets.