Lobos Fall in Straight Sets at Boise State
BOISE, Idaho – New Mexico Volleyball couldn’t overcome an onslaught at the net and the service line from Boise State in Saturday’s Mountain West road matchup as they fell in straight sets.
The Lobos (9-5, 2-2 MW) held the Broncos (10-5, 2-2 MW) to .208 hitting on the match and kept them below .220 in all three sets but were held to .027 over the final two sets to stifle their hopes of turning the tide. In total, Boise outblocked New Mexico 11-5 and served up 12 aces to the Lobos’ one to stay in control even after a 10-2 UNM run made it 11-6 in the second.
With the loss, UNM drops to 9-5 overall and 2-2 in MW play after snapping an overall two-match win streak as well as a streak of back-to-back wins against Boise State.
The Lobos stay on the road next week for two more Mountain West matchups at Utah State (Oct. 10) and Nevada (Oct. 12). Both matches will be streamed via the MW Network at GoLobos.com/Watch, with live stats and all other matchday essentials available at GoLobos.com/FollowVB. Follow @UNMLoboVB on IG, X and Facebook for match coverage, promotional information, updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.
BY THE NUMBERS
Lauryn Payne (10 kills) notched double-digit kills for the fourth match in a row and 11th time this season to lead UNM on the attack, with the Lobos also getting an efficient nine-kill outing from Elizabeth Woods (.294) to go with six from Jada Bouyer and four from Kialah Jefferson. Bouyer and Jefferson put away all 10 of their combined kills in the first two frames, with Woods and Payne combining for six in the third.
Madeleine Miller collected 24 of the Lobos’ 27 assists and came up with a team-high three block assists – Woods and Liepa Lavickyte both finished with two each.
Falanika Danielson picked up 10 of UNM’s 45 digs in total, with Giselle Groe adding nine more and Madison Blanco finishing with six to go with five each from Miller and Jefferson.
THE ACTION
SET ONE – NEW MEXICO 17, BOISE STATE 25
The Lobos went to Woods early and often to set the tone in the opening set, with the senior middle producing three kills within UNM’s first four points before the Broncos opened things up a bit with a 6-2 run over the next eight. After Jefferson’s first kill of the day got the Lobos back within two at 10-12, the two teams exchanged 3-0 runs – the Broncos scored the next three heading into the first media timeout with their second ace to go with two kills from Anabel Kotzakov. Payne connected on back-to-back kills and Madeleine Miller came up with an emphatic solo block to make it 13-15 and threaten to steal momentum again, but a pair of UNM errors that followed cued Newman-Gonchar to use the Lobos’ first timeout. Coming out of the break, BSU’s Kiki Remensperger connected on a kill for the next point before three Bronco attack errors in succession made it 16-18, calling a timeout of their own.
But the Lobos couldn’t find another response the rest of the way other than Bouyer’s fourth kill of the set that broke up a 4-0 BSU run and made it 17-22 – the Broncos outscored UNM 7-1 after timeout, serving up a pair of aces and connecting on two more kills before blocking Bouyer to seal a 1-0 advantage.
Bouyer, Woods and Payne all finished with four kills each in the opening set as the Lobos notched match-highs of .122 hitting and 45% on sideouts, outdigging the Broncos 16-15.
SET TWO – NEW MEXICO 17, BOISE STATE 25
The Lobos started off the second in a 1-4 hole, but asserted themselves right after with a 10-2 run in response that saw Payne, Woods and Jefferson all put away a pair of kills each. After Jefferson made it 11-6 with UNM’s first service ace of the day, BSU burned its second timeout in response, coming out firing afterwards – the Broncos scored seven of the next 10 points upon their return to pressure the Lobos into a timeout of their own. UNM got some energy coming out of the break thanks to a team-up at the net with Bouyer and Lavbickyte followed by a BSU attack error, but the Broncos retook the lead for good with a 4-0 run – two blocks in succession followed by a pair of kills – that made it 17-16 and cued UNM’s second timeout.
The Broncos scored four more in a row after the final break – with two more aces – before Liz Woods finally got the sideout with her seventh kill to make it 17-22, following with two more kills and their ninth ace of the day to end it.
SET THREE – NEW MEXICO 15, BOISE STATE 25
Another strong set from Payne, who produced four kills on 16 attempts in the third, wasn’t enough to shift the momentum – the Broncos closed out with .216 hitting while holding UNM below zero and converted on sideouts at a match-high 75% clip as they opened with a 6-2 run and scored 10 of the last 15 points to seal the sweep.
Madeleine Miller came up with two of her three block assists in the final set, with freshman Reagan Miller – who started the set – and Woods adding one each.
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Lobos trail the all-time series 12-14, with a 5-10 record in true road matches against Boise State. Coach Jon Newman-Gonchar is 3-6 in his tenure against the Broncos but has won three of the two teams’ last seven meetings and can even it up at 4-4 should the Lobos get payback in round two at home (Nov. 14).
The loss also snaps a two-game win streak over the Broncos – after losing eight of their last 10 matches to the Broncos heading into the 2023 season, the Lobos beat them both at home (9/30/23) and away (11/2/23) in four sets to sweep the season series for the first time since 2014.
UP NEXT
Thursday’s MW matchup at Utah State (Oct. 10) is set to get underway at 7 p.m. MT. The match will be streamed via the MW Network at GoLobos.com/Watch, with live stats and all other matchday essentials available at GoLobos.com/FollowVB. Follow @UNMLoboVB on IG, X and Facebook for match coverage, promotional information, updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.