Rally win bodes well for conference

It was a comeback of epic proportions for the UNM volleyball team.

Trailing 21-15 in the fourth game, the Lobos capped off a 10-2 run to defeat Utah 3-1 Saturday at Johnson Center.
With the win, UNM (13-8 overall, 5-3 Mountain West Conference) moved into a second-place tie with the Utes (10-11, 5-3), trailing league-leading, No. 15 Colorado State (19-2, 8-0) halfway through the conference schedule.

“This was a very important win for us,” head coach Jeff Nelson said. “We knew we’d have to win eight out of our last 10 to be competitive for postseason, and beating a quality team like Utah is huge for our regional ranking. We needed this.”

Senior setter Jade Michaelsen surpassed former Lobo Janelle Torres’ mark of 3,794 assists in the first game to become UNM’s all-time assist leader. Michaelsen finished the match with 46 assists, bringing her career total to 3,838.

Yet little went right for the Lobos in the first set, as they dropped a quick 25-14 decision.
“After the first game, we took a deep breath and collected our nerves,” Michaelsen said. “We knew that they weren’t beating us. We were beating ourselves.”

The Lobos cut down on hitting errors and knocked down an impressive 16 kills on 48 attempts en route to a 25-18 second-set win.
“In the locker room, I told the team the things we needed to keep doing to stay competitive,” Nelson said. “They were committing on one or two of our hitters, so we had to make sure we got the ball to our open hitters.”

Paced by Michaelsen and some spectacular back row defense, the Lobos pulled out two 25-23 sets to win the match.

Junior libero Allison Buck and freshman defensive specialist Mariah Agre made one diving dig after another, and their teammates seemed to build on the effort. Buck finished the match with a career-high 24 digs, while Agre chipped in a career-high 21. In total, the Lobos had 95 digs in the match, compared to Utah’s 74.

“Allison played an amazing match,” Nelson said. “A big part of our turnaround was our passing. In those last three games, we passed almost perfectly. You can wear teams down by consistently passing well.”

Senior outside hitter Lisa Meeter finished with 15 kills and 18 digs. Junior outside hitter Kelly Williamson notched 14 kills, while junior middle blocker Ashley Rhoades added 12 kills and eight blocks.

“It was an all-around team effort,” Meeter said. “Everyone played really well, and we pulled it off together.”
Up next, the Lobos hit the road for conference contests at UNLV and Air Force this week. UNM returns home for a rematch against TCU on Nov. 5.
“Right now we are playing really well as a team,” Meeter said. “We’re exactly where we wanted to be in conference. We didn’t start off league play the way we wanted to, but we’ve bounced back, and now we’re playing the best volleyball we’ve played all season.”