Staff Report
The UNM volleyball team was eliminated from the Mountain West Conference Championships on Friday, losing to Colorado State University 3-0.
The Lobos were the seventh seed in the tournament while Colorado State was the second seed. The Rams are the two-time defending conference champions and will move on to the semifinals.
UNM was not able to win a game in the quarterfinals and CSU put the pressure on to start game one. The Rams jumped out to a 9-1 lead. UNM made a slight run and cut the lead to 13-8, but that was as close as it would get.
With the score 23-17, CSU went on a 7-1 run to clinch the game-one victory 30-18.
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The Lobos came out stronger in game two grabbing a 2-0 lead. The game was tied at 6-6 until the Rams took their first lead at 12-8. The Lobos trailed by one at 21-20. It seemed as though game two was in UNM's control as it held a 27-24 advantage.
CSU was able to overcome that deficit and escape with a 31-29 victory.
UNM also scored first in game three but trailed 4-3 early. All the momentum swung the Rams' way as they cruised to a 30-13 game-three win. The victory clinched the match and knocked UNM out of the tournament.
Senior Chelsea Sondrup led the Lobos with 14 kills and had three blocks. Fellow senior Nicole Ryan had five kills and five digs. Tanna Taylor, a freshman, led the team with 26 assists.
The Lobos end the season with a 14-14 record, 6-10 in the MWC. The 14 wins are the most head coach Kelley McKee has had while at UNM. The record also marks the first time since 1996 that UNM has not finished with a losing season.
