Bulldogs Sink Lobos in Four

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico Volleyball fell in four sets (22-25, 25-21, 22-25, 29-31) to Fresno State in the two teams’ first Mountain West meeting of the season after dropping a fourth set that went beyond 30 points Saturday afternoon at the Johnson Center.

Lauryn Payne finished with 18 kills — her eighth match in a row cracking double-digits — and put away eight of them to pace UNM’s attack as the Lobos won the second set to tie things up. Elizabeth Woods and Jada Bouyer both adding eight each and Seenane Brewer putting away six more on team-high .333 hitting to round things out.  Falanika Danielson picked up 25 digs — her seventh match this season with 20+ digs — and served up two aces, with Giselle Groe, Madeleine Miller and Kialah Jefferson all adding nine digs and a service ace each.

The Lobos (9-9, 2-6 MW) hit for a match-high .243 while putting away 14 kills in the final set to push the Bulldogs (10-9, 6-2 MW) late, fighting off two Fresno State match points and going ahead 29-28 when Elizabeth Woods connected on her eighth kill of the day and followed up with a service ace. But the Bulldogs responded with back-to-back kills before a UNM attack error halted the Lobos’ rally for good.

This story will be updated.

UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
The Lobos stay home next week to resume Mountain West play, hosting Colorado State (10-8, 6-2 MW) on Thursday at the Johnson Center. Thursday’s 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.