by Brandon Call
Daily Lobo
The UNM volleyball team concluded its regular season with a 3-0 loss to No. 17 Colorado State on Saturday.
The Lobos dropped the match 30-22, 30-27, and 31-29 at Johnson Gym.
With the loss, UNM is 16-12 on the season, the best record for the Lobo volleyball program since 1995. UNM finished 7-9 in the Mountain West Conference, the most wins since joining the MWC in 1999.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"From the beginning of the year to the end, I've felt like CSU is the best team in conference," head coach Jeff Nelson said. "They're a great team, and for a majority of the match, we were right there with them."
The Lobos started the match off slow, allowing CSU to jump out to an 8-4 lead. UNM battled back twice to tie the game at 11 and 14, but the Rams held on for a 30-22 win.
"We did a good job of blocking and digging their best hitter (Jaime Strauss) in Game 1," Nelson said. "But Strauss started hitting down the line, and we didn't make the adjustment."
In Game 2, the Lobos battled back from an 18-13 deficit to within one at 27-28. But two unanswered CSU kills gave the Rams a 2-0 lead.
"We know that CSU is a good team," junior outside hitter Jeanne Fairchild said. "When it came down to it, we didn't battle at the crucial points."
It looked like the Lobos would force a Game 4 as UNM led most of Game 3, but a service error and back-to-back setting errors at 28-27 gave the Rams the momentum and the match.
"We played not to lose," Nelson said. "We need to take it to the next level. I thought Games 2 and 3 were great games, but we didn't finish and get it done."
Freshman outside hitter Lisa Meeter led the Lobos offensively with a match-high 13 kills. Fairchild and sophomore outside hitter Rose Morris chipped in 11 kills each. Freshman setter Jade Michaelsen recorded 42 assists. Kelsi Phillips led defensively with 10 digs.
Junior libero Gayle Tripp had 6 digs, moving her into second place on the UNM all-time career dig list with 1,117. Tripp needs 387 more digs to surpass 1992 alumna Sharon Browning for the top spot.
"Statistically, it was a great match," Nelson said. "We were right there with them in blocks and kills. But I was disappointed in our defense."
The Lobos earned the No. 6 seed in the MWC Tournament and a first-round date with BYU on Wednesday.
"We're obviously disappointed with the sixth seed," Fairchild said. "In preseason, we had the intentions to go out and win the MWC Tournament. We wanted to be the No. 1 seed and beat all the top teams."
UNM topped BYU 3-1 on Oct. 6 in Provo, Utah. The Lobos then dropped a 3-0 match to the Cougars on Nov. 2 at home.
"There's not going to be any surprises against BYU," Fairchild said. "We've played them twice this year, and they're a good team. We just have to go out and focus on what we need to do in order to win."
Volleyball at MWC Tournament
Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Las Vegas
