After winning the first set against the Aggies, UNM’s offensive play vanished. Lobo head coach Jeff Nelson said he was proud of his club’s poise late in the game when the team finally found some rhythm offensively.
“We were really grinding that whole match,” Nelson said. “It wasn’t our best match, but when we did things well, they were good enough to win.”
UNM (10-5) dropped the second set with a -.093 hitting percentage, the worst of either team on Thursday. However, Nelson said the third set comeback provided some flare for his unit.
The Lobos got into an early 6-1 hole in the third set before battling back to trail 11-10. However a large run by Utah State (5-8, 1-2 MW) had UNM’s back against the wall threatening to go up 2-1 with the set point 24-19.
New Mexico battled back with a 5-0 run to tie the game at 24, which is when Nelson said the momentum shifted. Although UNM would eventually drop the third set, 30-28, Nelson said his team was ready to battle.
“This was a really important match for us,” Nelson said.
In the fourth set, Nelson decided to go with a different look, handing the grey libero jersey over to defensive specialist Maddie Mayfield.
“I just felt like we were kind of spinning our wheels and we had to do something different,” Nelson said. “There was no reason not to give it a shot.”
The Lobos’ new look gave a dominant performance offensively, hitting .406 in a 25-20 fourth set victory. Defensively, UNM didn’t lose a step with the new rotation holding the Aggies to a .100 hitting percentage.
Sophomore outside hitter Julia Warren came out of the match with a double-double, recording 14 kills and 15 digs. She said the team wasn’t going to go down easily at home, the team just had to gather stick to the fundamentals.
“We’re very prideful about our home court,” Warren said. “It started with passing and serving and I thought it went really well.”
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The fifth set of the match was gut-wrenchingly close as UNM allowed Utah State to catch up after going up 8-4 in the match. Utah State went on to tie the game at 11 before New Mexico pulled away, not allowing the Aggies to come back in the 15-12 victory.
Junior setter Hannah Johnson seemingly was all over the court, recording 55 assists while recording several hustle plays that she said ignited the team.
“That’s our attitude right now,” Johnson said. “I have to better the ball for everyone and I just think that brings momentum to the team. If one person goes out, everyone will work a little bit harder.”
UNM had four players record double-digit kills, including Warren. Senior Chantale Riddle had the game-high 20 kills, followed by House’s 17. Simone Henderson had the best hitting percentage of the night hitting .476 with 11 kills.
New Mexico improved to 3-0 in conference play following the victory over Utah State. Nelson said the squad will shift focus to a different style of play when taking on Boise State (8-7, 1-2 MW) on Saturday at noon.
“Boise is just a different team,” Nelson said. “They aren’t as physical at the net, but they’re scrappy... It’s going to be a very different match.”
Liam Cary-Eaves is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
