RENO, Nev. – The New Mexico State volleyball team (18-7, 12-1 WAC) won in five sets for the second time this season, beating Nevada (11-12, 6-7) 3-2 as junior right-side hitter Kelli Goodan tallied a season-high 10 kills at Virginia Street Gym in Reno, Nev., Thursday, Nov. 6.
Goodan (Des Moines, N.M.), along with senior Lindsey Yon (San Antonio, Texas) and senior Amber Simpson (Quincy, Ill.) marked 10 kills on the night as NMSU hit .156 in the match compared to the .037 hitting percentage Nevada hit. Head coach Mike Jordan knew it would take a spark from someone like Goodan to get the Aggies going after dropping the first two sets.
“You have to give Nevada and their coaching staff a lot of credit tonight,” Jordan said. “Goodan did a lot of good things on the floor tonight and played with a lot of emotion.”
Yon finished the night with a double-double as she added 12 digs to her 10 kills, but senior libero Krystal Torres (Las Cruces, N.M.) had a match-high 20 digs in Reno. Torres also had seven assists and a service ace. Krista Altermatt (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) added seven digs on the defensive side of the net for NMSU on the evening.
“Lindsey (Yon) and Krista (Altermatt) got hot in set three and we got our confidence back after that,” Jordan said.
The Aggies fell short in set one 25-19 with Nevada out-blocking NMSU 8-1. The Wolf Pack held NMSU to a negative hitting percentage, while the Aggies didn’t really help themselves out marking 12 errors in the set. There were seven ties in the set with NMSU coming from behind to tie it at 18 all. Nevada took advantage of their home crowd to pull off the 25-19 win.
NMSU couldn’t gain any momentum in the second set as the Wolf Pack took an early 5-0 lead. In what seemed to be a set that was going to be filled with large scoring runs, NMSU came back to take a 6-5 lead after Yon slammed down a kill. After Nevada tied it again at six, they went on another 6-0 run, while the Aggies could only pull to within five points before eventually losing 25-17.
After the intermission, the Aggies found some momentum in set No. 3 and hit .289 as a team. After it was tied at 2-2, NMSU pulled away and got to 15 first for the first time in the match. Junior Kelli Goodan contributed at points 13 and 14 with a block and a kill respectively. Up 16-9, NMSU went on a 9-4 scoring run which was good enough for the victory.
NMSU kept the momentum going in the fourth set with some tough blocking and great attacking. The Aggies hit an awesome .423 hitting percentage and held Nevada to a -.083 hitting percentage in the set. NMSU went up 5-2 early on and pulled away for a 15-6 lead after a kill from junior middle hitter Erin Birmingham. Yon had a big-time kill to give NMSU a 16-7 lead before Torres picked up her 20th service ace of the year. Yon wrapped up the match with her 10th kill of the evening giving NMSU the 25-9 win.
The final set saw eight ties and five lead changes before NMSU scored two consecutive points to take a 10-8 lead. Yon served six straight points and Altermatt sealed the scoring run with a kill that went down the line. Up 13-9, Birmingham pounded down a big kill in the middle with NMSU coming out on top 15-10.
The Aggies now head to Fresno, Calif. to face the Bulldogs of Fresno State, Saturday, Nov. 8. The match will be aired on the radio at KSNM AM 570 with Kyle Doperalski giving the play-by-play action. Fans outside of the Las Cruces, N.M. can listen to the action on the Internet at www.NMStateSports.com for a fee.
Courtesy: Richard Chavez
