Lobos Rally to Force Five, Outlast Utah State to Complete 2-0 Week at Home
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Volleyball turned the tables on Utah State to win a five-set thriller (18-25, 25-20, 18-25, 26-24, 15-11) in Mountain West action at the Johnson Center on Saturday, snatching momentum late in the fourth set and dominating the rest of the way to complete a 2-0 weekend in conference play in as dramatic a fashion as possible.
The Lobos (11-13, 4-10 MW) fell behind 22-17 in the fourth set as the Aggies looked poised to close things out but outscored them 9-2 the rest of the way – a run that Kialah Jefferson sparked with her eighth kill of the day before sealing the deal with her ninth – to force a fifth set for the first time since Oct. 1.
UNM converted on 81% of sideouts in that final set to minimize Utah State’s opportunities to retake momentum after jumping out to a 9-4 lead, scoring three of the next four coming out of timeout to complete the comeback after the Aggies got back within two at 12-10.
After losing nine in a row heading into this week, the Lobos have won back-to-back conference matches against opponents that downed them in four in their first meetings on the road in October.
“The reality is, this team has been through a lot the last few weeks — and to come up on the right end of one of these five-setters and come up on the right end of a four-set match like we did on Thursday night just shows how far this team is willing to go,” said UNM Head Coach Jon Newman-Gonchar. “This team doesn’t back down and they fight the end — and you see what happens when a team never quits.”
“They haven’t done that in training the last few weeks and they haven’t done that in matches,” Newman-Gonchar said. “Even though we’re not always getting the results, today is just an awesome opportunity for them to go ‘Hey, it’s all worth it.’”
UNM also snapped a streak of four straight losses to Utah State, breaking up the Aggies’ five-match win streak heading into Saturday in the process – it’s the Lobos’ first win over Utah State in nearly two years (Nov. 17, 2022). They improve to 4-1 on the season in five-set matches and 3-0 in five sets in conference play.
Postmatch with Coach JNG after an electric five-setter to close out a 2-0 weekend at home 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/jr39LjO3jw
— New Mexico Volleyball (@UNMLoboVB) November 10, 2024
They’ll get a brief respite before continuing Mountain West play on Tuesday at home against Air Force for next week’s MW Tuesday Night Block Party, set for a 6:30 p.m. MT first serve. The match will be streamed via the MW Network, with live stats, streaming and all other matchday essentials available at GoLobos.com/FollowVB.
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BY THE NUMBERS
Lauryn Payne (15 kills) led UNM on the attack – her 18th match in double figures this season – while Jefferson added 11 more while picking up 10 digs for her team-leading 12th double-double of the season and second in a row after recording 14 kills and 11 digs vs. Nevada on Thursday. Jada Bouyer also joined them in double-digits with 10 kills, making it back-to-back matches in which three Lobos surpassed double-digits after the same trio combined for 36 kills on Thursday.
Jefferson put away a team-high five kills on eight errorless attempts in the fourth set to lead the Lobos’ rally, adding two more in the fifth as they took control for good. She hit for a .428 clip over the final two sets after hitting .125 in the first three.
“Just really happy for her,” said Newman-Gonchar of Jefferson. “She had a tough ball there at the end and I said, ‘Hey, I don’t want you to back down — I want you to keep going at them,’ and she did exactly that. And the team rallied around her and found a way to get a win there … It was awesome.”
Madeleine Miller generated 29 assists and put away six kills on nine attempts without an attacking error (.667) – four of which came on six attempts in the final two sets as UNM came all the way back – while serving up three of UNM’s five aces and picking up 12 digs for her 11th double-double of the year.
UNM’s recent resurgence at the net continued with 13 team blocks to the Aggies’ 12 – the first time this season in which the Lobos have outblocked opponents in three matches in a row as well as the first time they’ve finished with double-digit team blocks in three straight. They’ve outblocked opponents 45-34 in those three matches combined and are averaging 3.64 blocks per set in that span.
Liepa Lavickyte led the Lobos in blocks for the 11th time this season, finishing with nine block assists while putting away five kills on .200 hitting. Jada Bouyer assisted on five blocks while Naomi Chankoumi and Elizabeth Woods both added three more apiece – Woods finished with eight kills with just one error on 15 attempts (.538) while Chankoumi put away four kills.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
🏐 Highlights from New Mexico’s 3-2 thrilling win over Utah State!#MakingHerMark | #MWVB | #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/9EbprKze7z
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 9, 2024
ALL-TIME SERIES
With the win, the Lobos improve to 25-18 against the Aggies all-time, with a 14-5 mark at home – they’re 5-5 against Utah State in Jon Newman-Gonchar’s six-year tenure as head coach.
The Lobos snapped a streak of four straight losses to Utah State as well as breaking up the Aggies’ five-match win streak heading into Saturday – it’s their first win over Utah State in nearly two years (Nov. 17, 2022). They’re now 4-1 on the season in five-set matches and 3-0 in five sets in conference play.