The UNM volleyball team went toe-to-toe with No. 25 Colorado State on Saturday at Johnson Gym.
Despite junior outside hitter Taylor Hadfield’s career-high 21 kills, the Lobos dropped a 3-2 — 25-18, 18-25, 25-20, 20-25, 15-11 — heartbreaker.
The outcome brought tears of disappointment from several UNM players, but the hard-fought match drew a standing ovation from more than 2,000 fans in attendance.
“We battled for it,” head coach Jeff Nelson said. “But we relied too heavily on one hitter. Four of our five hitters were way below their averages. We just needed one or two more players to step up, and we probably would have beaten them.”
Four players recorded double-digit kills for CSU. Danielle Minch and Megan Plourde paced the Rams with 14 kills each.
UNM’s hitting numbers were less balanced. Sophomore middle Ashley Rhoades managed 11 kills, but hit only .036. Junior outside hitter Lisa Meeter hit .065, senior outside hitter Rose Morris hit .050 and senior middle Anna Lehne hit .000. Only Hadfield’s .359 impressed.
“Give CSU credit, they’re a really good blocking team,” Hadfield said. “But if you look at the numbers, we didn’t play up to our level. Our hitting was tentative, and we didn’t put down the balls when we needed to.”
Still, Nelson did find some positives in the match.
“We served and passed tough, which is great,” he said. “We stuck to our game plan, and never stopped fighting. I was especially impressed with our back-row defense, and I was happy to see us out-dig them.”
Sophomore libero Allison Buck had an outstanding match with 18 digs and four assists, while freshmen Melissa Rohr and Jordan Russell also made notable contributions. Rohr, who started in place of sophomore Amy Wong, had a career-high 12 digs and a service ace. Russell chipped in four digs and a service ace of her own.
“Our freshmen went out and played super aggressive,” Nelson said. “I loved it. They didn’t play like they were scared to lose to Colorado State again. They were the ones who were fearless.”
With the loss, UNM falls to 14-8 overall and 5-5 in the Mountain West Conference. Meanwhile, Colorado State moves to 17-4 and 9-1.
The loss all but eliminates the Lobos from MWC title contention and pushes their backs to the wall in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament berth.
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But Nelson said all is not lost.
“At this point, we’ve got to take it one game at a time,” he said. “We’ve got to play each game tough and pick up some more wins.”
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Volleyball vs. Air Force
Thursday, 7 p.m.
Colorado Springs, Colo. *
