Broncos Rally From One Set Down to Win in Four Over Lobos

Thursday, October 10

Albuquerque, N.M.

7:00 p.m. (MT)

Boise State

New Mexico

5-12,0-5MWC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Boise State	21	25	27	25	3
New Mexico	25	17	25	22	1

Photo by: Boise State University

Broncos Rally From One Set Down to Win in Four Over Lobos

10/10/2019 10:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score FINAL BOX (pdf)

Duffy and Ohlinger combined for 40 kills to lead Boise State past New Mexico in Albuquerque.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Lauren Ohlinger and Shae Duffy combined for 40 kills Thursday night to lead Boise State from one set down to defeat New Mexico in four 21-25, 25-17, 27-25, 25-22. After dropping the first set by four points, Boise State regrouped to sweep the final three to claim a big Mountain West road victory in Albuquerque. The win improved the Broncos to 12-4 overall and 4-1 in MW play, New Mexico fell to 5-12 on the year and 0-5 in league.

S4 (BSU 3-1) | Donahue slams it down the middle for the match! Broncos take set four 25-22 over New Mexico!

Boise State improves to 12-4 overall and 4-1 in MW play.#BleedBlue @BroncoSports @BoiseStateLive @MW_OlySports pic.twitter.com/FpDhJUrW1K
— Boise State VB (@BroncoSportsVB) October 11, 2019

"I thought we started the match really slow and struggled in all phases of the game," said head coach Shawn Garus. "But I'm happy that we came out with a better effort in the final three sets for us to get out of there with a win. I thought that our outside hitters Lauren Ohlinger and Shae Duffy were really successful when they were aggressive and attacked the ball, that is good to see because we are going to need them to play well as we get further into conference play. We need them to stay aggressive. We played everyone tonight and I think it shows that we have been working hard as a team in practice everyday, that effort helps us get the results we're looking for on match day."

Ohlinger and Duffy both recorded career-highs for kills with Ohlinger tallying a team-high 22 while hitting 37 percent. She also recorded her fifth double-double of the season adding 17 digs to her kill total. In addition, the freshman had one service ace and two block assists for a team and career-high 24 points.

Duffy's career-high on kills was 18 while hitting 23.4 percent. She also had one service ace to finish the match with 19 points.

Janelll Walley finished the night with nine kills, a team-high two service aces, three block assists and eight digs. Jessica Donahue matched Walley in kills hitting 36.8 percent, she also had six blocks, two solos.

Danielle Boss led the team with a season-high 51 assists as the team hit 25.3 percent. The sophomore setter also had three kills, three blocks and eight digs. Freshman libero Allison Casillas tallied a career-high-tying 18 digs.

The Broncos lost the first set even though they hit a match-high 39.3 percent in the period, New Mexico hit 44.4 percent. Down one, Boise State dominated the second set winning it by eight points to tie the match at 1-1.

The third set was a battle as the teams traded six lead changes and saw eight ties. Boise State lead 19-15 but could not hold the lead as the Lobos came back and tied the set at 23-23. New Mexico had two sets points at 24-23 and again at 25-24 but was unable to close it out. Walley led a Boise State rally for the win on a 3-0 run. The senior tied the set at 25, then after a UNM error gave the Blue and Orange set point, Walley closed it out with a service ace.

The fourth set saw the Broncos break open a 14-13 lead with a 6-0 run to go up 20-13, Ohlinger had three kills during the decisive run. New Mexico came back again and closed within two points twice, the first made it 23-21. Boise State road Donahue's back late as she outscored the Lobos 2-1 with a pair of kills to hand the Broncos the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.

Boise State will now travel to Las Vegas, Nev., where they will close the weekend out with a 3 p.m. (MT) encounter against the UNLV Rebels.

OTHER NOTABLES

Boise State's rally from one set down was only the second time this season that the Broncos have won after dropping the opening set, they are 2-4 when falling in set one.
Ohlinger's 22 kills set a new career-high beating her previous high of 19 versus Idaho State earlier this season.
Ohlinger's 22 kills marks only the second match this season when a Bronco has tallied 20-plus kills ranking second behind Walley's 23 in the victory against Austin Peay.
Duffy's 18 kills was also a career-high, which was three better than her previous best of 15 that she had in the Middle Tennessee win.
Ohlinger's 37 percent hitting was her second-best performance of the season, she hit 67.9 percent with 19 kills in the Idaho State win.
Boss' 51 assists was a season high and gives her eight matches with 40 or more assists.
Donahue's team-high six blocks marks the 11th time this season that she has led the team in blocks ... it also gives the 21st-ranked player nationally for total blocks — now with 85 — 10 matches out of 16 with five or more blocks.
Tonight's win over New Mexico was Boise State coach Shawn Garus' 298th career victory as a collegiate head coach, two shy of his milestone 300th.
The match tonight was the first meeting between Garus and UNM's head coach Jon Newman-Gonchar, whom Garus coached in high school.
Boise State is now 7-9 all-time versus New Mexico and 7-8 in MW play.