Lobos Defeat Falcons in Four
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobo volleyball team got back in the win column on Tuesday night at the Johnson Center, winning in four against Air Force (21-25, 25-21, 25-14, 25-14).
Kaitlynn Biassou led the way with a match-high 17 kills, and added 11 digs for a double-double, while Kali Wolf recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs.
The Lobos won the statistical battle in kills (46-42), assists (42-38), service aces (9-1), digs (66-61) and blocks (11.0-10.0). Anilee Sher nearly matched Air Force’s team total in assists with a match-high 36 assists, with the Falcons finishing with 38 team assists.
Tuesday’s match was the fourth-straight match that UNM has finished with 10 or more total blocks and five of the last six matches. Avital Jaloba registered a match-high two solo blocks and six assisted blocks for a match-high eight total blocks, the second-straight match that the middle blocker has tallied eight. Biassou assisted on five blocks.
Moldan led the Lobos at the service line with a career-high four aces and was the third consecutive match with multiple service aces for the senior co-captain. Uxue Guereca was one of four Lobos to finish in double figures in digs, leading with 15 followed by 14 for Moldan, 13 for Wolf and 11 for Biassou.
New Mexico took an 8-2 lead in the opening set that the Falcons cut to one at 9-8. A Jaloba kill kept the Lobos in front 10-8, although Air Force tied the set at 10 and took an 11-10 lead. Air Force held a 15-13 lead at the media break that expanded to 18-14, and while UNM rallied to pull within one at 19-18, the Falcons scored the next two points to lead 21-18 and went on to win 25-21.
While the second set started similarly as the first set with the Lobos getting out to a 6-1 and then an 8-2 lead, the Lobos maintained their lead in the set. UNM used a 3-0 run on a Falcon service error and kills by Wolf and Biassou to restore a six-point lead at 16-10. Air Force cut the lead to one at 20-19 but the Lobos closed on a Guereca kill, Jaloba service ace and benefited from three Air Force errors to take the second set 25-21.
Biassou accounted for half of UNM’s team kills in the second set with seven, with Guereca accounting for eight digs.
For the third-straight set, Biassou opened with a kill as the Lobos scored the first seven points of the set and got out to a 13-1 lead with two Jaloba and Biassou blocks and two Wolf kills providing the catalyst for the 4-0 Lobo run to stretch the lead to 12. A 4-0 Falcon run cut the lead down to eight at 13-5 and Air Force later got within five at 16-11. However, UNM won the next two points on Air Force errors to push the lead back to eight, a lead that stretched to nine at 22-13 on back-to-back Biassou kills. Air Force tallied one more point before the Lobos took the second set 25-14 to take the 2-1 match lead.
UNM led from start to finish in the set, with Wolf adding five kills and hit .556 as the Lobos outhit the Falcons .269 to -.065. The Lobos tallied five total blocks in the set, with Jaloba contributing two solo and two assisted and Lea Zurlinden adding a solo block. Guereca recorded two aces in the set, the only player on either team to have an ace in the set.
The fourth set was the first time in the match that Air Force scored the first point of the set. There were ties at one, two and three before the Lobos pulled ahead 5-3. The Falcons were within one on two separate occasions, but the Lobos kept their lead and eventually used a 4-0 run behind two Moldan aces and two Falcon errors to build a 14-8 lead. Out of an Air Force timeout, the Falcons got a point back, but it was a temporary halt to UNM’s momentum as the Lobos extended the lead to eight at 18-10, which grew to 10 at 21-11 on a Jaloba ace. The Lobos closed on a Guereca kill, Sher ace and Falcon attack error for the 25-14 set win and the 3-1 match win.
UNM finished with 3.0 more total blocks in the final set on two Jaloba assisted blocks and one each from Biassou, Guereca, Sher and Zurlinden. UNM also outhit Air Force .304 to .065 in the set and had four service aces.
With the win, the Lobos improve to 11-4 on the season and 2-3 in the Mountain West. UNM closes out its four match homestand on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m. against UNLV.