Lobos Taken Down in Four at San Jose
SAN JOSE, Calif. – New Mexico Volleyball’s bid to equalize faltered in the fourth set of its Mountain West road matchup with San Jose State (13-3, 10-3 MW) Saturday afternoon, with the Spartans scoring 12 of the last 15 points to put the Lobos away in four (21-25, 21-25, 25-22, 13-25).
In an opening two sets that saw 13 ties and seven lead changes, the Lobos (9-13, 2-10 MW) were outscored 3-2 in the final five points of both to fall behind two sets to none despite holding San Jose State to match-low .143 hitting in the second. They dominated the third set and closed out strong to force a fourth but couldn’t keep it going as the Spartan reasserted themselves in the next set to extend the Lobos’ losing streak to nine matches.
New Mexico will return home next week to continue Mountain West play at the Johnson Center, hosting Nevada on Thursday (6:30 p.m. MT) and Utah State on Saturday (1 p.m. MT).
Needing a set win to stay alive, UNM put up match-highs with 12 kills on .357 hitting, with five different Lobos recording multiple kills. The Lobos went up 6-2 early on a service ace from Madeleine Miller and took control with a 6-0 run that included three blocks and another ace – this time from Kialah Jefferson – that made it 16-8. San Jose State put together a 6-0 run of its own to threaten to steal the set late and got within one at 23-22 before a kill from Elizabeth Woods and a block from Lauryn Payne and Liepa Lavickyte in succession ended the set then and there.
But the Spartans responded in a big way to avoid a fifth set after the break, racing to a 9-5 lead that forced UNM to burn their first timeout and never looking back even as the Lobos fought to trim the deficit. After Sohila Wafeek got the Lobos back within reach at 15-12 with her second ace of the day, the Spartans scored 10 of the next 11 points to put them away for good.
BY THE NUMBERS
Naomi Chankoumi and Jada Bouyer both finished with eight kills each while Elizabeth Woods and Lauryn Payne added seven more apiece to lead a balanced 40-kill performance for UNM
Woods hit .357 on the match, producing seven block assists to lead the way as the Lobos unblocked the Spartans 14-12, with four others finishing with multiple team-ups at the net. Liepa Lavickyte finished with six block assists and added four kills without an error on 11 attempts (.364) to lead UNM in hitting percentage.
Falanika Danielson (15 digs) and Kialah Jefferson (14 digs) both cracked double-digit digs for the 19th and 14th times this season, respectively – they were two of four Lobos to serve up two aces each along with Madison Blanco and Sohila Wafeek.
Wafeek finished with 17 assists to lead UNM in assists for only the second time this season, with Madeleine Miller serving up an ace of her own while pouring in 16 more and picking up five digs.
In total, the Lobos matched a season-high from Sept. 9 (at Houston Christian) with nine aces as a team but were aced 12 times by the Spartans.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
🏐Highlights from @SanJoseStateVB 3-1 win over New Mexico!#MakingHerMark | #MWVB | #AllSpartans pic.twitter.com/1BPyK6poWp
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 2, 2024
ALL-TIME SERIES
Today was the 30th meeting between UNM and SJSU on the volleyball court – with the loss, the Lobos are 1-6 against San Jose in Coach Newman-Gonchar’s tenure and 17-13 against the Spartans all-time, with an even 7-7 record against them on the road.
UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
The Lobos return home to continue Mountain West play next week at the Johnson Center, hosting Nevada on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and Utah State on Saturday at 1 p.m. (all times MT).
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.