Broncos Win Marathon Five-Set Match Over New Mexico

Thursday, September 22

Boise, Idaho

7 p.m. MT

Boise State

New Mexico

Photo by: Boise State University

9/22/2022 11:41:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Paige Bartsch tallied 21 kills to lead Broncos past the Lobos.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho – On the night of an Orange Out honoring Kayly Pau for her successful battle against leukemia, the junior outside hitter recorded the match-winning kill to hand Boise State volleyball a 3-2 win over New Mexico in the Mountain West opener for both teams. The match was a marathon that went three hours before the Broncos held on for the win 25-20, 20-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-9 to improve to 9-3 overall and 1-0 in the league, the Lobos moved to 9-2 and 0-1 in the conference.

Both teams struggled offensively against the other's defense as Boise State hit .184 percent for 61 kills while New Mexico hit .153 percent for 53 kills. The Broncos also held the advantage in service aces 11 to eight and blocks 12 to six.

The match saw 14 lead changes and 29 ties through the five sets with the Blue and Orange winning the first, third and fifth periods to claim the victory.

The first four sets were relatively tight and went back and forth. Boise State's largest lead came in set one when they were up seven before settling for the five-point victory.

Set two saw 10 ties and seven lead changes before New Mexico pulled away late breaking a 17-17 tie with a 5-0 run. The Lobos went on to take it by five at 25-20.

The Largest lead in set four was four by Boise State early on, then went back and forth with nine ties and two lead changes. With the score tied at 22, Boise State closed it out on a 3-1 run capped by a Pau kill to clinch the set and put the Broncos up 2-1.

The Lobos led by as many as six in set four before the Blue and Orange rallied to tie it at 22. Unfortunately, the UNM regrouped with their own 3-1 run to take the set 25-23 and tie the match at two sets apiece.

Set five saw the Broncos race out to an 8-3 lead and were never really threatened down the stretch as Boise State defeated the Lobos by six, 15-9, with Pau recording the match winner to hand the Blue and Orange the match victory.

QUOTABLES
Shawn Garus, Head Coach

On how the team responded to New Mexico rallying back all night. "I think the flow of this game was the biggest challenge, there were so many stoppages in play and so many changes in the momentum. I thought our team stayed focused late in the match and was able to execute down the stretch. I think it's a team that's very coachable and they showed a lot of maturity tonight."
On how big it is to start conference play with a win. "You know, I think New Mexico is really good. They're definitely a top-tier team in our conference, and so to get a win over them is fantastic. We want to protect the home floor, and we were able to squeak by tonight. It's going to look good in the standings for a while, but we still have to go to New Mexico to play."
On Kayly Pau having the last kill of the match. "I'm proud of everything that Kayly has been through and her being back on the court competing was the ultimate goal. So that's fantastic, she played really well. Tonight wasn't just ceremonial, this wasn't just throw her out there because of the cause (leukemia); she earned it."

Paige Bartsch, Outside Hitter

On recording 21 kills tonight. "I was just really thinking that I needed to play hard for my team because we were struggling in some areas. I felt like, as a teammate, that I needed to pick up some slack and so I just kind of went and hit as hard and as high as I could."
On how the team responded to everything that New Mexico threw at them. "I think we had great energy for a five-set match like that. It takes a lot of energy, and we had good energy the whole time. We were just encouraging each other, and when one person would get down, someone else would pick up the slack."

BRONCO LEADERS

Paige Bartsch recorded her third match of the year with 20-plus kills finishing with a team-high 21. She added two service aces and five block assists to end the contest with a team-best 25.5 points.
Lauren Ohlinger was next with 15 kills and added six services with one block assist to finish with 21.5 points.
Pau had a season-high 13 kills with a block solo and three block assists for a total of 15.5 points.
Kaminski hit a team-high .467 percent for eight kills to go with four block assists.

NOTABLES

Ohlinger finished the contest with career highs for service aces (6) and digs tallying a team-high 26. She also earned her fifth double-double of the season and 27th of her career.
Ohlinger moved into seventh place on the school's career kills list with 1,155.
Ashley Hayden also had a double-double, the fourth of the year on 34 assists and 10 digs.
Chey Day entered the match ranked second in the MW for total blocks; she finished the night with a team-high seven blocks to give her 64 on the year.

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