Oct. 10, 2008
Up Next For Lobo Volleyball
Match #18 — at No. 13 Colorado State
Sunday, Oct. 12 1 p.m. (MDT)
Moby Arena Fort Collins, Colo.
TV: CBS College Sports
Live Stats: Links available on www.GoLobos.com.
Television: Jason Knapp and Anne Marie Anderson will call the action from courtside for CBS College Sports Network. CBS C is on Comcast Channel 274 and DirecTV Channel 613.
UNM vs. Colorado State: The Lobos are 21-37 against Colorado State in a series that dates back to 1976. UNM is 8-19 in Fort Collins and have not won in Moby Arena since Oct. 7, 1994.
Up Next: The Lobos host Air Force on Saturday, Oct. 18. Match time at Johnson Center is set for 7 p.m. It will be the debut of the Lobos’ new scoreboard.
QUICK HITS
Fairchild Reaches 1,000 and Leads MWC … Senior All-America candidate Jeanne Fairchild continues to lead the Mountain West Conference in kills (4.67 ps) and points (5.05 ps) this season. Fairchild ranks sixth in the nation in kills per set this week. The Albuquerque native reached the 1,000-kill career mark at UNM on Oct. 4 against Utah with her final kill of the third set. Fairchild now has 1,019 kills at UNM.
Lobos Among Tops In Attendance … New Mexico jumped into the Top 30 in national attendance this week after two successful crowds last week against BYU and Utah. The Lobos had a season-high 2,236 fans on Oct. 2 and 2,028 on Oct. 4 in Johnson Center. UNM is averaging 1,266 fans over the first five home matches of the season which ranks 29th overall and second in the MWC behind Colorado State.
NCAA RPI Announced … The first official NCAA Volleyball RPI report was released on Oct. 2. The Lobos are currently ranked 70th. Colorado State is the top MWC school at 4th with Utah at 45th, UNLV at 60 and BYU at 65. Unofficially, RichKern.com has the Lobos ranked 68 and the Lobos’ Pablo ranking is 35.
Quickest to 30 … Head coach Jeff Nelson joined former UNM head coach Laurel Brassey Iverson by reaching his 30th win as a Lobo at Wyoming in his 46th match with the program, the quickest by a Lobo coach.
Lobo Volleyblog … This week’s blog is from freshman middle blocker Ashley Rhoades.
About New Mexico (14-3, 4-2 MWC) … The Lobos are tied for second place in the MWC with Utah, following Thursday’s 3-0 win over Wyoming … All-America candidate Jeanne Fairchild leads the Lobos with 4.67 kills per set, while sophomore Jade Michaelsen leads the setters with 10.76 assists per set … Defensively, junior Anna Lehne leads the front row with 1.29 blocks per set, while senior Gayle Tripp runs the back row with 4.75 digs per set … Lehne also has the best hitting percentage at .323 … Sophomore Lisa Meeter leads the team will 13 aces, while senior Sarah Kwasigroch, freshman Allison Buck and Michaelsen have 11 service aces each … UNM leads the Mountain West Conference in opponent hitting percentage, kills and assists … UNM did not drop a set to start the season at 24-0, a school record. The NCAA record is 105 consecutive by Florida in 2003 … The 8-0 season start ranks fourth-best in program history … UNM finished their 11-match September road trip with a 9-2 record … The Lobos are racking up travel miles this season. UNM will add 1,170 miles this week, traveling to Laramie and Fort Collins. The current mileage tally by the end of the week will be 9,545 miles. Add on the 13,790 miles from the trip to Argentina at the beginning of Summer Break and the Lobos have logged 23,515 miles from May 27-Oct. 12, 2008 … UNM ended an 8-match losing streak against UNLV on Sept. 27 and won for the first time in Vegas since 2000 with a 3-0 sweep … The Lobos won for the first time in Laramie since 2001 with a 3-0 sweep on Oct. 9.
About No. 13 Colorado State (15-1, 5-0 MWC) … The Rams are currently in first place in the MWC following Thursday night’s 3-1 win over TCU in Moby Arena … Head coach Tom Hilbert is in his 13th season with the Rams … CSU is led by 2007 MWC Player of the Year Mekana Barnes. Barnes has an attack percentage of .368 and 1.38 blocks per set … Jaime Strauss leads the Rams with 3.42 kills per set … Ashley Fornstrom leads CSU and the MWC with 11.00 assists per set … Katelin Batten leads the back row defense with 3.62 digs per set.
All-Time vs. Colorado State (21-37; H: 11-14, A: 8-19, N: 2-4)
Check out full list of results in Game Notes
Lobos on Television … The Lobos’ next televised match is set for Sunday, Oct. 12 on CBS College Sports Network when the Lobos travel to Colorado State. The third televised match is Nov. 1 at BYU on BYU-TV, with the final regular season televised match set for Nov. 6 vs. Colorado State on The Mtn. So far, UNM is 1-0 on television this season with a 3-0 win over BYU on Oct. 2.
Fairchild Pounds 1,000 Kills … Senior outside hitter Jeanne Fairchild reached the 1,000-kill career plateau with 24 kills against Utah on Oct. 4. Fairchild now needs 104 kills to crack the top five on the UNM career kills list.
UNM Career Kills
1. Tania Gooley – 1,579 – 1991-94
2. Maria Gurreri – 1,473 – 1987-90
3. Pauline Manser – 1,229 – 1988-91
4. Kim Hicks – 1,131 – 1980-81, `83
5. Amber Smith – 1,122 – 1996-99
Closing In: Jeanne Fairchild – 1,019 – 2006-present
Digging With Tripp … Senior libero Gayle Tripp needs 101 digs to become the Lobos’ career leader, moving past Sharon Browning (1,504; 1989-92). Tripp moved into second place on the New Mexico career digs list in 2007 during Game Two of the Nov. 17 match against Colorado State. Tripp joined the UNM 1,000-Dig Club on Saturday, Oct. 13, against UNLV. She now has 1,404 career digs.
UNM Career Digs
1. Sharon Browning – 1,504 – 1989-92
2. Gayle Tripp – 1,404 – 2005-present
3. Tania Gooley – 1,113 – 1991-94
4. Alicia Bergmann – 1,059 – 1992-95
5. Maria Gurreri – 1,048 – 1987-90
Gretchen Gegenfurtner – 1,048 – 1993-96
MWC Career Digs
1. Jada Walker, UNLV – 2,055 – 2004-07
2. Aimee Cordeiro, SDSU – 1,975 – 2004-07
3. Connie Dangerfield, Utah – 1,570 – 2003-04, `06-07
4. Gayle Tripp – 1,404 – 2005-present
5. Calli Corley, TCU – 1,351 – 2005-07