Lobo sports roundup: Volleyball, soccer teams in action, golfer honored

Utah State beats UNM volleyball

The University of New Mexico volleyball team could not sustain a hot start and ended up on the losing end of a 3-1 decision to Utah State at Johnson Center on Thursday night.

Serve receive continued to be a problem for the Lobos (9-5, 1-2 Mountain West) as the Aggies (10-4, 3-0) posted 13 aces in a 16-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-13 win. Shelby Capllonch had 20 kills and four aces for USU.

Kaitlynn Biassou (14 kills, 14 digs) and Athina Dimitriadis (13 kills) paced UNM, which had more digs, blocks and a better attack percentage but was unable to match or handle the Aggies’ service game. UNM hosts Boise State on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Colorado College tops Lobo soccer

Visiting Colorado College picked up a pair of first-half goals and held on for a 2-1 victory over UNM in Mountain West women’s soccer Thursday night.

Kaelin Enga and Alexis Wessler netted tallies in the first 45 minutes to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead. UNM (3-2-4, 0-1-2) answered with a goal by Natalie DeGagne in the 70th minute but could not find an equalizer despite outshooting the Tigers (1-8-1, 1-2-0) by a 24-10 count.

UNM hosts Air Force on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Lobo named Golfer of Month

New Mexico senior Matthew Watkins was named the Mountain West Men’s Golfer of the Month for September, conference officials announced Thursday.

Watkins shot under par in all nine of his rounds, and has three top-10 finishes, to start the season. He opened the year with a sixth-place finish at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate in Scottsdale, shooting 68-66-65 for a 14-under total of 199, becoming the seventh Lobo to shoot under 200 for a tournament and the first to accomplish the feat since 2007. At the USF Intercollegiate in San Francisco, he shot 70-69-69 and tied for fifth.

Earlier last week at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, Watkins helped the Lobos win the team title at their home event by finishing tied for seventh with rounds of 70-71-67.