It wasn't the prettiest win for the UNM volleyball team Saturday, but the Lobos overcame sluggish play to edge San Diego State 25-23, 25-23, 25-23 in front of more than 1,800 fans at Johnson Gym.
Unlike their previous win over the Aztecs on Sept. 25 - a 25-14, 25-22, 25-12 shellacking in San Diego - the Lobos had to dig deep for the 3-0 victory.
"To be honest, I think they surprised our team," head coach Jeff Nelson said. "Take nothing away from SDSU. They've improved a ton. They are doing a lot of good things that they weren't doing the first time we played them."
Fresh off their road-win against TCU, the Aztecs wanted to make it two straight.
But UNM was able to rely on All-American candidate Jeanne Fairchild in the clutch. The senior outside hitter finished with a game-high 15 kills, including the last point of each set.
"I love having Jeanne over there," setter Jade Michaelsen said. "I'll look at Jeff when it's a big point. If he just nods, I know what that means - the ball is going to Jeanne."
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In the first set, the Lobos and Aztecs battled evenly until 22-all. However, a service error by SDSU, an ace by Michaelsen and a blast by Fairchild off defending blockers gave UNM a 1-0 lead.
In the second, SDSU stayed close before a short run gave UNM a 17-12 lead. The Aztecs came back and even picked up a point on a scoring error by match officials to make it 23-22. But the Lobos responded with a solo block from Michaelsen and another bomb by Fairchild to close out the set.
"We kind of pulled it out at the end of each game," Nelson said. "We did the things you need to do to win games. We served and passed very well. Which, in this sport, you're out if you don't do that."
The Lobos had to rally back from a 19-16 deficit in the third set to close within one at 22-21. But two blocks by junior middle blocker Anna Lehne and a solo block from Fairchild turned into a 24-22 UNM advantage. Another Fairchild kill sealed the deal.
"Overall, I thought our blocking was slow and lacked intensity," Nelson said. "Our floor defense did as well. I was really disappointed."
Senior libero Gayle Tripp led UNM's defense with 13 digs, and Michaelsen finished with 36 assists. Sophomore outside hitter Lisa Meeter added 10 kills.
With TCU's 3-1 home win over UNLV on Saturday, the victory leaves UNM in sole possession of third place in Mountain West Conference standings. The Lobos improved to 17-4 overall and 7-3 in conference. The Lobos' 17 wins are the most since finishing 18-11 in 1996. UNM's seven conference victories ties the most for any UNM program since the MWC was formed in 1999.
Up next, the Lobos hit the road to face BYU and Utah. However, Nelson said coming back with two more wins won't be an easy task.
"I'm happy to get this win," he said. "But we are going to have to really crank it up a couple of notches in the coming weeks, or else we're going to get our fannies handed to us."
