Pink perfection.

The University of New Mexico volleyball team celebrated Think Pink night in style on Thursday, rallying for a much-needed 3-1 victory over Utah at raucous Johnson Center.

The Lobos improved to 4-0 in their pink jerseys this season — uniforms worn only for breast-cancer awareness matches. UNM donned the pink for road matches at Utah, New Mexico State and Air Force before sporting them for Thursday’s 23-25, 25-13, 27-25, 25-20 triumph.

New Mexico (17-8 overall, 8-5 Mountain West Conference) completed its first season sweep of the Utes (15-8, 8-3) since 1996, much to the delight of 2,284 fans.

“It feels so good,” said senior Rose Morris, who had a team-high 16 kills and 10 digs for the Lobos. “This proves us winning (in Salt Lake City) was not a fluke, and to do it with such a big crowd behind us is even better.”

UNM’s win combined with TCU’s three-set sweep of BYU on Thursday moved the Lobos into fourth place in the MWC standings ahead of the Cougars (12-11, 6-5). BYU visits Johnson Center on Saturday night.

“I hope all these fans come back for that one,” Lobo coach Jeff Nelson said. “That’s such a big match for us, and a crowd like this helps so much.”

Thursday’s crowd received an entertaining show as UNM and Utah traded momentum through the first three sets.

Utah came from behind to win the first behind a strong middle attack. After a Lisa Meeter kill tied the score at 23, a net call against UNM and Jennifer Lanting’s spike gave the Utes the set.

New Mexico then dominated the second, rolling to a 12-3 lead and never letting up.

The pivotal third set was another story.

Some shaky play by UNM and a pair of kills by Chelsey Sandberg fueled a 6-1 run that gave Utah a 20-16 lead. The visitors were up 22-18 when the Lobos began to fire back.

Morris slammed in back-to-back kills to make it 22-20, then UNM’s Amy Wong and Anna Lehne teamed for what may have been the play of the match. Utah’s Karolina Bartkowiak hammered a cross-court spike that Wong somehow managed to dig with her left arm while falling backward. Lehne then popped the ball off the top of the net and it dropped in for a point that got the crowd roaring.

“That was a game-changer,” Nelson said of the point.

Wong, who finished with 12 of UNM’s 72 digs, was glad to be in the right place at the right time.

“Sometimes it just takes one point to get this team inspired and turn things around,” she said. “I hadn’t been playing that well the past couple weeks, so I’m really glad I was able to be part of this comeback.”

UNM still had to fight off two set points before kills by Taylor Hadfield, Lisa Meeter and a solo block by Ashley Rhoades sealed the 27-25 win.

“We had to work for that third set,” Morris said. “But even when we were behind, we didn’t feel like we were gonna lose. We didn’t panic, we just kept fighting. It’s good to see us maturing like that late in the season.”

After taking the third set, New Mexico led nearly all the way in the fourth. Setter Jade Michaelsen, who had 45 assists, mixed things up masterfully at the net and never allowed Utah’s defense to get comfortable.

“We were really disappointed to let the first set go,” Nelson said. “After that we really started going for it and got our confidence back. Even when we made some mistakes, we never stopped playing aggressively and going after points.”

Bartkowiak finished with a match-high 17 kills, but the Utes hit just .114 overall. Hadfield and Lehne had nine kills apiece for UNM. Meeter added eight kills and 18 digs. Allison Buck led the Lobo defense with 20 digs.

NOTES: Michaelsen climbed two notches on UNM’s career assists list Thursday, surpassing Monica Meihack and Karen Saavedra-Warnock to reach fifth place. Michaelsen, a junior, now has 2,885 assists. … Thursday’s crowd may also help New Mexico climb the national attendance rankings. The Lobos came into the week averaging 1,548 fans per game, good for 24th place.