Lobos Fall in Three at Utah State
LOGAN, Utah – New Mexico Volleyball dropped its first true road game since Sep. 23 against Mountain West No. 1 Utah State on Saturday, falling in straight sets (17-25, 24-26, 20-25) for only the second time this season.
The Lobos (17-8, 9-5 MW) remain in second place in the Mountain West standings behind the Aggies (20-5, 13-1), moving into a tie with Colorado State (15-10, 9-5) with four games left in conference play.
BY THE NUMBERS
Kaitlynn Biassou recorded 12 kills – the eight time in her last nine matches that she’s cracked double digits – and an ace to lead the Lobos on offense, with Athina Dimitriadis adding six kills on .267 hitting and both Lauryn Payne and Kali Wolf finishing with four kills each. Uxue Guereca contributed three more kills, serving up a pair of aces and cracking double-digit digs (10) for the fourth time in her last five matches.
Melissa Walden (16) and Madeleine Miller (12) both finished with double-digit assists at setter, combining for 11 digs.
SET ONE – LOBOS 17, AGGIES 25
An early 5-0 run gave USU the upper hand straight away, and the Aggies didn’t trail again despite a 5-1 run in response from the Lobos that included two kills from Biassou and an ace from Guereca. USU outscored UNM 17-9 the rest of the way, hitting .452 and putting down 17 kills while the Lobos were held to .071 hitting.
SET TWO – LOBOS 24, AGGIES 26
The Lobos stayed within striking distance for the first half of the second set but didn’t tie things up until a 4-1 run that included Biassou’s sixth and seventh kills of the day made it 14-all. UNM finished with .302 hitting in the second frame as the Lobos kept things tight down to the wire, with Dimitriadis connecting on back-to-back kills to get UNM within one at 24-23. Coming out of timeout, another USU attack error tied things up, but the Aggies responded with two more points – including USU’s Tatum Stall’s 16th kill of the day – to seal a 2-0 advantage.
SET THREE – LOBOS 20, AGGIES 25
A 3-0 USU run padded the Aggies’ early two-point lead in a potential closeout to force a UNM timeout at 11-6. Biassou provided an immediate response with her 10th kill of the day coming out of the break, but USU kept coming, scoring five of the next six to extend the lead to 17-8 and forcing UNM’s second timeout. The Lobos finally found some momentum with a 7-1 run powered by three kills by Biassou to get within two once more at 22-20, but the Aggies responded with three straight kills to slam the door on a comeback.
UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
The Lobos return to Albuquerque for their final homestand of the season, playing host to Fresno State on Nov. 9 and Nevada on Nov. 11 for Senior Day. Live stats and streaming options are available via GoLobos.com and the MW Network — follow @UNMLoboVB on socials for matchday updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.