ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Utah State volleyball lost a four-set match at New Mexico on Wednesday night, opening Mountain West play for both schools. With the win, the Lobos moved to 7-6 and 1-0 in league play, while Utah State dropped to 2-10 and 0-1 in the Mountain West.
Sophomore outside
Gabbi Shumway recorded her second career double-double with a team-best-tying 12 kills, and added 11 digs. Fellow sophomore outside
Bailey Downing matched the attacking effort, logging 12 kills to round out the Aggies double-digit attackers. Senior middle
Lauren O'Brien was the most efficient hitter for the Aggies, hitting a team-best .368 (9-2-19) as Utah State hit .191 (47-21-136) overall.
Senior libero
Tasia Taylor led the Aggie back row with a team-best 12 digs, while O'Brien also paced the USU block with six.
New Mexico opened the first set with a 7-2 run, prompting a Utah State timeout. The Aggies came out of the break with a kill by Downing and later battled back to tie the frame, 12-12, following a Lobo attacking error. USU scored back-to-back points behind kills from Downing and senior setter
Kassidy Johnson to break a 15-15 tie and take a 17-15 lead. The Aggies held onto the advantage as late as 23-21, but New Mexico closed out the set with a 5-1 run to take it, 26-24.
The teams fought through seven ties in the early goings of the second set until the Aggies broke a 7-7 deadlock with a five-point run, including three straight blocks from Johnson and freshman middle
Corinne Larsen, to take a 12-7 lead. Utah State held the advantage throughout the rest of the set and evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-19 victory.
New Mexico flipped the storyline in the third set, breaking an 8-8 tie with a six-point run to take a 14-8 lead. The margin grew to double digits when the Lobos took a 20-10 advantage and then captured set point at 24-15. Downing prolonged the frame during the next rally with a kill, but a closing kill by New Mexico on the next rally punctuated the frame, 25-16, giving the Lobos a 2-1 lead.
The fourth set included five lead changes and nine ties, including a 15-15 deadlock that erased a lead by New Mexico following a block by O'Brien and junior right side
Izzie Hinton-Belnap. However, the Lobos broke the tie with back-to-back points and then capitalized when the Utah State attack stalled at 19-18 to close out the set on a 6-2 run to take the match, 25-20.
New Mexico was led offensively by Lauren Twitty and Tai Bierria with 19 kills apiece. The Lobos hit .253 (66-26-158) overall during the match.
Utah State returns to the court on Saturday, hosting UNLV on Kirby Court at the Wayne Estes Center at 1 p.m.
Follow the Aggie volleyball program on Twitter @USUVolleyball, on Facebook at USUVolleyball or on Instagram at @usuvolleyball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at @USUAthletics, on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics or on Instagram at @USUAthletics.
