RENO, Nev. – Nevada volleyball opened Mountain West play with a five-set thriller, dropping the match 3-2 to the New Mexico Lobos Thursday evening at Virginia Street Gym, moving to 4-8 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
 
Sia Liilii earned her seventh double-double of the season with 19 kills and 11 digs. Jordan Schwartz recorded 11 kills, six block assists, and four digs, while Tehya Maeva registered 28 assists and 18 digs. Hannah Platt earned a career high .500 hitting percentage with seven kills.
 
The Lobos are 18-3 all-time against Nevada, having won nine of the last 10 meetings against the Pack. During last season's matchup, New Mexico swept Nevada 3-0 in a straight sets win in October 2022. Currently, the Lobos rank seventh nationally in digs per set with 17.44, and hold opponents to a .136 hitting percentage, ranking 10^th nationally in that category. The Lobos entered Virginia Street Gym on a three-game win streak and leave continuing that streak.
 
A back-and-forth rally started off things in the first set for the Pack and the Lobos. New Mexico went up by four over the Pack after a 4-1 run with two kills from Athina Dimitriadis, allowing the Lobos to lead 14-10 at the media timeout. New Mexico continued to defend their lead, going up 20-15 over the Pack, after two back-to-back kills by Kaitlynn Biassou forced Nevada to call their first timeout of the set. New Mexico continued to dominate, ultimately taking the first set 25-18. Clarke led the Wolf Pack through the first set, tallying four kills and two digs, with Liilii not far behind recording three kills and two digs. Maeva registered six digs before the end of the first set.
 
The Pack started off hot to begin the second set, going up on the Lobos 9-5 after a kill from Platt. After another back-and-forth rally between the Lobos and the Pack, Snyder ultimately took the point for Nevada, to continue their four-point lead over New Mexico. A 3-0 run by Nevada forced New Mexico to call timeout after the Pack earned their largest lead of the match and set, going up 18-11. The Lobos continued to fight back, adding two points to the board from kills by Biassou and Kali Wolf, but the Pack continued their reign on top 22-14. Clarke's sixth kill of the evening secured set two for Nevada 25-19.
 
New Mexico took the lead 8-6 to start the third set after a 3-0 run with two errors from the Pack and a kill from Uxue Guereca. Nevada bounced back, going on their own 4-0 run with kills by Liilii, Clarke, and McLaughlin's first service ace of the evening to take the lead 14-10 over the Lobos. After a called timeout by New Mexico, the Lobos answered once again with back-to-back kills from Biassou, her seventh of the evening. Nevada took the four-point lead over the Lobos 17-13 after Liilii's 13^th kill of the evening, forcing the Lobos to call timeout. New Mexico came within two to shorten Nevada's lead, but the Lobos fought back to tie things up at 20-20 a piece after two attack errors by the Pack gave New Mexico the advantage. Nevada reached set point over the Lobos 24-23 before New Mexico tied things up. The Lobos went on a 3-0 run to end the set 26-24, going up 2-1 overall on the match.  
 
The Lobos kicked off the fourth set with a 4-1 lead over the Pack in result of three attack errors from Nevada. New Mexico continued to extend their lead as they went up 9-3 over the Pack by kills from Wolf and Dimitriadis. The Pack tied it all up at 11-11 a piece after two back-to-back kills by McLaughlin and Schwartz. Nevada forced the Lobos to call timeout after Liilii's 16^th kill of the match put the Pack up by three, 17-14. A 4-1 run from Nevada resulted in a New Mexico called timeout as the Pack continued to lead by five points. Three kills in a row by Nevada's McLaughlin allowed the Pack to reach set point before ultimately taking the set 25-20, tying the match up at 2-2 heading to the fifth and final set.
 
Starting off the fifth and final set, the Lobos went up 2-1 early over Nevada before the Pack came within one from Schwartz's 11^th kill of the match. New Mexico led by four halfway through the set after an attack error by Nevada's Snyder and New Mexico's Wolf reaching her 15^th kill of the match. It continued to be all New Mexico, who forced Nevada to call timeout after putting two more points on the board to lead 11-5. A final 4-0 run by the Lobos allowed them to extend their lead, and take the final set 15-7, taking the match over the Pack 3-2.
 
Up Next:
The Pack return to Virginia Street Gym Saturday, Sept. 23 at 12 p.m. taking on the Air Force Falcons. The first 40 fans will receive a Crazy D's chicken sandwich. Tickets start at just $7 per match, and can be purchased when doors open or online at www.mynevadatickets.com