Late Blocking Leads New Mexico Past San Jose State
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Despite a 2-0 lead in the match, the Lobos’ block had been relatively quiet in the opening two sets.
But, with the match on the line, nothing got past the net.
Hailey Rubino and Mariessa Carrasco teamed up for back-to-back, match-winning blocks, Lauren Twitty posted her 12th double-double of the season and Sarah Lobo continued to shine as the University of New Mexico volleyball team swept San José State 3-0 Thursday evening.
Winners of three straight matches, the Lobos (14-12 overall, 6-7 Mountain West) held off the Spartans (15-9, 7-6) inside Johnson Center, rallying for comeback wins in sets one and three en route to a 25-22, 25-22, 26-24 victory.
“Since Colorado State, we’ve just been competitive in every game,” head coach Jeff Nelson said. “Tonight we were a little tired, but we ground it out and we had the confidence to win at the end. … [We] really stepped up with the blocking and we were able to pull it out.”
Since the Lobos fell in a close and well-fought 3-2 loss to Colorado State on October 21, they haven’t lost, winning three straight for the first time since last October.
Although key blocks late clinched the match on Thursday, the main key to New Mexico’s resurgence has been its setting, with Lobo taking over as the offense’s point person.
The freshman setter notched a match-high 36 assists, helping spur the Lobos’ attack to a strong .224 hitting percentage with 43 kills and just 19 errors on 107 attacks.
“Sarah does a great job of keeping things calm and putting up the ball where somebody can hit it and take care of business,” Nelson said. “Our hitting percentages have been above our average since we made the change.”
With Lobo distributing the ball, Twitty finished with a match high-tying 15 kills, while Victoria Spragg finished with 10. Three other players — Rubino, Carrasco and Carly Beddingfield — had six kills each.
New Mexico holds off San José State inside Johnson Center, claiming the sweep for its third-straight win! #GoLobos #UNMatched pic.twitter.com/73baoTIGSY
— New Mexico Volleyball (@UNMLoboVB) November 3, 2017
Defensively, New Mexico’s block came alive in the final set, with all four blocks coming in the last frame. Spragg, Rubino and Carrasco all had two each, but none were bigger than Rubino and Carrasco’s last two tandem blocks that won the set.
Additionally, Ashley Kelsey tallied a match high-tying 14 digs, with Twitty notching 10 for the double-double and Lobo adding eight.
New Mexico got off to about as good of a start as possible, scoring the first six points of the set. However, San José State managed to close the gap to one point at 6-5, sparking a back-and-forth battle. UNM would gain a four-point lead at 13-9, and held a three-point advantage, 15-12, at the media timeout.
But the Spartans forged a tie at 16 before taking their first lead at 19-18. SJSU would maintain that one-point margin until 22-21, when the Lobos reeled off the final four points of the set, including two Twitty kills, for a 25-22 win.
Spragg had five kills in the set, with Twitty chipping in four. New Mexico hit .229, while SJSU converted a .171 rate.
The second set was more of the same tense volleyball, with San José State taking a 4-1 lead early before UNM claimed an advantage at 5-4. The Lobos would eventually move ahead four points at 16-12 after a 4-0 spurt, only to have the Spartans answer and tie the set at 18.
Undaunted, New Mexico regained the lead at 21-18 after an Abbey Willison ace, and rode the surge and kills by Twitty, Carrasco and Beddingfield for another 25-22 win.
Twitty (five kills) and Beddingfield (four) teamed up for nine kills in the set as UNM hit .343 (16-4-35).
Coming out of intermission, both teams continued to trade points, with neither team building a significant lead until New Mexico went up 8-5. But, San José State came back to knot the set at 9 before scoring six straight for a 15-10 lead at the media timeout.
The Lobos would retake a lead at 20-19 after posting a 7-2 run, but the Spartans regained the lead at 22-20 before earning a set-point opportunity at 24-22.
But, New Mexico refused to yield, scoring the final four points of the match for a 26-24 win. Twitty struck first in the decisive run with a kill and ace, while Rubino and Carrasco sealed the deal with back-to-back stuffs.
Twitty had six kills in the set, but it was the blocking that made the difference late. San José State hit just .081 in the final stanza, with four of their nine errors coming at the net.
The Lobos return to action on Saturday as they host Nevada at 12 p.m. MT. The match is the team’s “Let’s Get Muddy” match, so fans who come to the match wearing Mudd Volleyball attire are eligible for a $3 ticket.
NOTES: This is UNM’s first three-game winning streak since winning against Air Force, Fresno State and SJSU last October … The Lobos have now won on back-to-back Thursdays for the first time since 2015; UNM had been 0-5 on Thursday this season before last week’s sweep of Utah State in Logan … New Mexico hasn’t lost to San José State in Albuquerque since 1998, a streak of six matches
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