The UNM volleyball team fell just shy of a victory over the University of Wyoming Saturday night at Johnson Arena, losing in a hard-fought five-game match.
The Lobos lost their third straight match of the season while playing in their first five-game match of the year. The Lobos record drops to 3-13, 1-6 in the Mountain West Conference after losing the close match 30-27, 27-30, 30-27, 26-30 and 11-15.
Head coach Tom Peterson said he feels going all five games hurt the team in the game against the Cowgirls (8-7, 3-3).
"We have gotten beat up a little bit in the season, so we have never had the chance to go five games," he said. "It hurts to do that. (The Wyoming girls) have had more close matches than we have."
It looked as if the match could go either way until the crucial fourth game when the Cowgirls went on a nine point run early on. They ended their scoring run smothering the Lobos with a 16-3 lead. The Lobos would come within one point at 22-21 with a kill from sophomore Lynzie Hayes, but that's as close as they would get.
Junior setter Kelly Griffin said the team plays different when they get close.
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"We came back, we should have had the momentum," she said. "We get close, then we get nervous. When we are down by a lot we are not nervous. We just play all out. We need to play all out all the time."
The Cowgirls finished off the final points in the fourth game with an ace and two kills.
In game five the Lobos were down 7-3 when sophomore Anna Reines increased the momentum in UNM's favor with a big hit off of junior Staci Masten's set. The Cowgirls would answer back with a kill of their own, maintaining the lead. The Lobos again came within one point of Wyoming off senior Malena Thompson's ace that just barely rolled over the net. However, the Cowgirls finished the match with a long rally at game point 14-11 with a tip into uncovered Lobo territory.
Junior Blaire Burns had a record-setting evening with the second most aces in a single match. Her match high seven aces tied for second place in UNM's record book, sharing the position with Kelly Knowles (1982) and Shannon Vessup (1983).
Griffin also had a good night and compiled her first career triple-double with 11 kills, 45 set assists and 15 digs. Griffin was happy yet modest about her career mark set during the match.
"That's exciting, but I don't think much of it because it's a team sport," she said. "I'm improving so that's a good sign and if we keep improving as a team we'll win."
Peterson said Griffin played a good match despite having to scramble all night chasing after misguided passes.
"We would have won that match if we passed and served well, we'd easily have won that match," he said. "It comes down to what we are doing, not what they are doing against us."
UNM had a season high 68 kills on the night and had four players with double-figure digs. Along with Griffin's 15 digs, Haynes added a career-high 14, Thompson contributed a season-high 17 and Reines put together 18 digs.
Friday, UNM was overwhelmed by 8th-ranked Colorado State University, losing in three sets 30-21, 30-17 and 30-20.
