Nov. 7, 2009

Box Score

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. --- It was an exciting night from start to finish for the University of New Mexico volleyball seniors as the Lobos beat BYU, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-23) in the final home match of their collegiate careers. Anna Lehne, Rose Morris and Allie Suiter were introduced with their parents, along with the four BYU seniors - Morgan Lloyd Sorenson, Marisa Boaz, Kayla Walker, and Stephanie Lau - prior to the start of the match.

The next phase of the evening was an exciting Lobo win, the 18th of the season (18-8, 9-5 MWC), backed by a season-high crowd of 2,613. It is the first time in Lobo volleyball history that every home crowd of the season has been over 1,000.

A kill by Lehne, a BYU attack error and a Lisa Meeter service ace got the Lobos off to a 3-0 start in the first set. New Mexico never relinquished the lead but the Cougars stayed close, even as late as 24-23. Meeter recorded one of her team-high 13 kills to finish the set, 25-23.

The Lobos maintained a little more wiggle room in the second set. After Sorenson put BYU within two at 7-5 with a service ace, Meeter put down a kill to get the ball back for the Lobos, 8-5. UNM went on a 7-1 run to build a 15-6 lead and kept the set out of the Cougar reach, 25-17.

After the intermission, both teams came out ready to play tough. UNM took a 2-0 lead on BYU attack errors and never gave up the lead in the third set. But BYU tied the set at six points, the last at 17-17. As in the first set, BYU closed to 24-23 on a kill by Christie Carpenter. A kill by Lehne finished the set and the match for UNM, 25-23.

Along with Meeter's 13 kills, Taylor Hadfield had nine and Morris and Lehne had seven each. Meeter also added to her list of double-doubles on the season with a team-leading 11 digs.

The evening capped off with the seniors and head coach Jeff Nelson saying their good-byes and thank yous to the Johnson Center crowd, before one more big moment. Morris was surprised by a marriage proposal on the court in front of everyone from her boyfriend, Matt Doxtator. And the answer was a resounding, yes!

The Lobos finish up the regular season with three matches over the next three weeks, Nov. 12 at UNLV, Nov. 20 at TCU, and Nov. 27 at New Orleans.