by Brandon Call
Daily Lobo
The UNM volleyball team almost completed a come-from-behind win Friday.
Unfortunately, the Lobos came short, falling to TCU 23-30, 24-30, 30-24, 30-22, 12-15 in Fort Worth, Texas.
UNM is now 15-8 and 6-5 in the Mountain West Conference.
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Head coach Jeff Nelson said the team started out slow in games 1 and 2.
"We played really streaky," Nelson said. "We came out really slow and didn't play well in the first two games. We had trouble getting started and came out kind of cold."
But the Lobos came out on fire after intermission, grabbing games 3 and 4.
"I told the team that we could do better during intermission," Nelson said. "They realized that we were stronger than what we were showing and that they had to pick it up."
In Game 3, the Lobos matched the Horned Frogs point by point to 13. Junior Jeanne Fairchild put down a kill, and freshman Kelsi Phillips served on a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 24-16 before capturing the game 30-24.
UNM didn't let up in Game 4, jumping out to a 17-12 lead. The Lobos held on for a 30-22 win to force a Game 5.
"We were executing, and we were in control of the game," libero Gayle Tripp said. "I thought that we were going to come from behind and win. We had the momentum going into the final game."
In the deciding game, UNM dropped the first six points.
"We started to play timid again," Tripp said. "We weren't executing, and it's really hard to recover from a six-point deficit, especially when you're only going to 15."
The Lobos battled back to within two at 12-14, but a TCU kill sealed the deal for the Horned Frogs.
"It was a long and tiring five-setter," Tripp said. "We gave it our all toward the end, and it was emotional coming up just short."
Tripp recorded 20 digs to move up to third place on the UNM career dig list. She has 1,060 digs and needs 54 more to move into second place, surpassing 1994 graduate Tania Gooley.
Fairchild, who has been UNM's go-to player this season, led the team offensively with 23 kills.
The Lobos had three other players with double-digit kills, as Lisa Meeter, Rose Morris and Kerri Beck made contributions
offensively.
"We had good play from a lot of players," Nelson said. "But I think we went into the matchup underestimating our opponent. As a young team, we want to learn from our mistakes and not to look past any opponent."
UNM is now 1-1 against TCU this season. The Lobos were a 3-0 winner at home on Sept. 28.
UNM also beat BYU 3-1 on Oct. 7. The Lobos will return home to face the Cougars and the Utah Utes this weekend.
Nelson said the team will have to step up its play to succeed.
"We haven't been playing our best the past couple of weeks," he said. "We have got to turn it around and play some good volleyball this weekend if we want to stay toward the top of the MWC. Our goal was to finish in the top half, and we can still do that this season."
Volleyball vs. BYU
Friday, 7 p.m.
Johnson Gym
