Lobos Fall in Four at Fresno
FRESNO, Calif. – In the second game of its first road swing of conference play, New Mexico Volleyball controlled the pace for much of the first two sets before late rallies from the Bulldogs (7-6, 1-1 MW) put them in an 0-2 hole they couldn’t get out of in a four-set loss (23-25, 24-26, 25-21, 19-25) Saturday afternoon at the Save Mart Center.
The loss snaps a four-match win streak for the Lobos (9-4, 1-1 MW), who entered the match having won 12 of their last 14 sets – 10 of which by five points or more. UNM led 22-18 in the first set and 22-16 in the second, posting a higher hitting percentage in both, but the Bulldogs stormed back with a pair of late runs to build a 2-0 advantage. Needing a response to avoid getting swept for the first time this season, the Lobos built an early lead and controlled the third set to gain back some momentum, but Fresno kept it from going to a fifth set with their largest margin of victory of the match in the fourth.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Lobos posted 14 kills in each of their first three sets and hit .233 to Fresno’s .189 on the match, but were held to just eight kills in the closeout set on match-low .133 hitting. The Bulldogs are the 10th consecutive opponent UNM has held below .200 hitting.
Kaitlynn Biassou (17 kills, 10 digs, 2 aces) and Uxue Guereca (11 kills, 16 digs, 1 ace) both posted double-doubles to lead the Lobos – the second in a row for Biassou and third in a row for Guereca – while combining for three service aces. Athina Dimitriadis added 8 more kills to go with three digs and two blocks and Kali Wolf connected on 7 kills while finishing with double-digit digs (12) for the second match in a row and sixth this season.
Melissa Walden finished one dig short of a double-double, finishing with 37 assists – her 10th performance with more than 30 this season – to go with 5 kills, 9 digs and an ace. She’s connected on at least four kills in four of her last five matches. Angela Crosetti picked up a team-high 17 digs at Libero.
Elizabeth Woods posted eight total blocks – four solos and four block assists – along with a pair of kills to round out UNM’s scoring.
UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
The Lobos return home to two big conference matchups at the Johnson Center next week, hosting Utah State (9-4, 2-0 MW) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and Boise State (6-6, 2-0 MW) Saturday at 1 p.m. Both matches will be broadcast via the Mountain West Network, with live stats available via GoLobos.com/vbstats. Follow @UNMLoboVB on IG, X and Facebook for match day updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.