Broncos Sweep Lobos to Clinch Winning Season

Saturday, November 9

Boise, Idaho

Noon (MT)

Boise State

16-9,8-6MWC

New Mexico

8-18,3-11MWC

New Mexico

Boise State

11/9/2019 4:31:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Final Box (pdf)

Broncos Sweep the Lobos to Clinch Winning Season

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho - Lauren Ohlinger hit 34 percent for a team-high 21 kills to lead Boise State in a sweep 25-19, 27-25, 25-22 over New Mexico in a Mountain West Conference volleyball match Saturday afternoon in Bronco Gym. The big factor in the match was Boise State hitting the ball well against the Lobos, finishing at 24.2 percent while holding UNM to 15.7 percent.

The win improved the Broncos to 16-9 overall to clinch their sixth-consecutive winning season, in addition to moving to 8-6 in conference play to stay in fourth. New Mexico who was coming off two straight wins, including a win at Utah State Thursday night, fell to 8-18 on the year and 3-12 in league.

"I'm proud of the team for bouncing back today after a tough loss Thursday," said head coach Shawm Garus. "We had a tough loss last timeout, but the team did a good job of keeping their heads up and focusing on getting better in practice yesterday. Today they came out with energy and played consistent against New Mexico. I thought Lauren (Ohlinger) did a really nice job for us offensively today and Dani (Boss) distributed the ball as well as she has in the last couple of matches, so our team hitting percentage was pretty good. Also, I thought Jordi Holdaway played really good defense and was scrappy in the back to extend some rallies for us. Overall, it was a really good team effort."

Ohlinger added one service ace and nine digs to her kill total. She was followed by Shae Duffy with nine kills. Alyssa Wissinger hit a team-high 53.8 percent with eight kills, while Jessica Donahue hit 28.6 percent with six kills and team-high six blocks.

"I thought the team did a really good job of bouncing back today after losing in five on Thursday," said Ohlinger. "We came together and fought hard to do what we needed to do to win. It feels really good."

Danielle Boss recorded the only double-double for Boise State with a team-high 36 digs to go with 11 digs. Jordi Holdaway recorded a team-best 13 digs.

The match was close throughout with 27 ties and 10 lead changes in the three-set contest. The Broncos hit 20 percent or better in all three sets with a match-high 26.2 percent in the third. New Mexico was held below 20 percent in all three with a match-high 17.2 percent in the third.

The second set was a battle that went back and forth with 12 ties and four lead changes. Trailing 15-14 Boise State rolled off a 3-0 run on a Duffy kill, blocks assists by Kiley Lewis and Wissinger, capped by a Boss service ace, though they would be tied a few more times the Broncos never trailed again. After the Lobos had fought off two Boise State set points and tied it at 25, the Broncos put it away with kills by Duffy and Boss, respectively, for the 27-25 win.

Like in set one, Boise State led most of the way. The third set saw the Broncos trail for the final time at 9-8. After taking a lead, New Mexico countered to tie the score at 12. The Blue and Orange then surged into the lead for good when they broke that 12-12 tie with a 3-0 run, they then maintained a small lead after that before winning it 25-22 to clinch the match.

In what is a rare occurrence this season, the Broncos were out blocked by the Lobos 14 to eight. Boise State had a solid performance in kills recording 49 to the Lobos 37. It also led in the dig department 50 to 42 with the back line keeping several rallies alive with clutch digs.

Boise State will hit the road for the final time in regular season play when the Broncos travel to the top-two teams in the MW playing at Wyoming and No. 13 Colorado State next week.

OTHER NOTABLES

Boise State's 16th win clinched its sixth-straight winning season and the ninth in coach Garus' 11 years at the helm.
Ohlinger's 21 kills marked the second time this season that she has had 20-plus, she had a career-high 22 at New Mexico on Oct. 10 ... it was also the ninth time this season she has led the team in kills.
Wissinger set a career-high for hitting percentage at .538, her previous best was 33.3 percent against San Jose State on Oct. 5.
Donahue's six blocks give her 17 out 25 matches with five or more blocks ... she has tallied six or more blocks in 11 of 14 MW matches.
Donahue recorded six blocks in each match this week giving her 12, which moves her to 143 on the year and into 12th-place on Boise State's single season list for most blocks, 26 shy of tying the record of 169.
Boss' double-double was her 11th of the season — a team high — and 12th in her career.
Boss' 36 assists gives her 939 on the season to rank 19th all-time at Boise State for a season, 61 short of 1,000.
Boise State is now 8-9 all-time against New Mexico and 8-8 in MW encounters.