Cibola graduate Battle and Aggies blast ‘flat’ Lobos 3-0
LAS CRUCES —Tatyana Battle wanted this one.
The Albuquerque native and outside hitter for the New Mexico State University volleyball team took matters into her own hands late in Monday’s Rio Grande Rivalry match against visiting New Mexico. Battle recorded a match-high 19 kills — 11 in the clinching third set — and sparked the Aggies to a 3-0 sweep over the Lobos in front of a raucous announced crowd of 1,200.
The set scores were 25-18, 25-16 and 28-26.
It was a balanced effort for NMSU (14-7), which also got double-digit kills from Sasha-Lee Thomas (13) and Kassandra Tohm (11). But with UNM threatening to extend the match in set 3, Battle took over. The Cibola High grad twice blasted in kills with the Lobos on set point, and she later hammered a spike down to end the match.
“I was definitely screaming for the ball,” Battle said. “UNM is my hometown school and they beat us last year. I really wanted to show something against them tonight.”
UNM (11-10) got 15 kills from Lauren Twitty but received little production from its normally reliable middle attack. Mariessa Carrasco and Victoria Spragg combined for seven kills on 30 swings and a negative hitting percentage.
Freshman Hailey Rubino collected seven kills, 10 digs and gave the Lobos a spark in set 3, but with UNM’s middles not producing, New Mexico State’s defense made it difficult for Twitty and Rubino to find many openings.
“We started so flat,” Lobo coach Jeff Nelson said. “We finally started to play our way out of it in the third set but we got tentative on set points. This team can play good volleyball but it’s like (assistant coach Pauline Manser) told them, ‘You each need to take a teaspoon of cement and harden up.’”
Aggies coach Mike Jordan was pleased both with Battle’s dominant play and NMSU’s overall execution. The Aggies committed a slew of errors, particularly from the service line, in last season’s loss in Albuquerque. They played a much cleaner match Monday.
“Tatyana stepped up,” Jordan said, “and as a group we were pretty efficient. I’m starting to be pretty proud of this group.”
NMSU is trying to overcome the loss of two key starters to seasonending injuries. Senior outside hitter Jordan Abalos (knee) and freshman middle Brielle Sterns (ankle) both went down in recent weeks.
But freshman Lia Mosher (eight blocks) and Thomas helped the Aggies control the net for much of Monday’s match, while UNM could not sustain the momentum of a solid 3-1 win over Fresno State on Saturday.
“We’re still struggling to follow a game plan,” Nelson said. “We kept hitting and serving to (NMSU libero Ariadnne Sierra), and she’s their best ball-handler.”
Sierra finished with a matchhigh 23 digs.
NMSU finished set 1 on a 9-2 run and controlled nearly all of set 2. Set 3 was tight throughout, with 13 ties and seven lead changes. UNM fought off a match point at 24-23 on a Twitty smash and twice pushed the Aggies to set point at 25-24 and 26-25. Battle willed her team to the finish line, and gave NMSU an early edge in the Rio Grande Rivalry competition. The Aggies have defeated the Lobos in football, volleyball and women’s soccer this fall.
“All three of our teams swept UNM and UTEP,” Battle said. “That’s big at this school. I’m very proud of us.”