Oct. 21, 2008
Holding Court With … Melissa Middleton
Up Next For Lobo Volleyball
Match #20 — vs. UNLV
Thursday, Oct. 23 7 p.m. (MDT)
Johnson Center Albuquerque, N.M.
VOLLEY FOR THE CURE NIGHT
Live Stats, Audio and Video: Links available on www.GoLobos.com. Former Lobo Michelle Miller will call the action for the UNM webcast.
UNM vs. UNLV: The Lobos are 7-15 against UNLV in the relatively young series. The Lobos beat UNLV earlier this season with a 3-0 sweep on Sept. 27. The win ended a seven-match losing streak in Las Vegas. UNM is 4-7 playing at home against the Rebels and has not beaten UNLV in Albuquerque since Nov. 6, 2003.
Up Next: The Lobos host San Diego State on Saturday at 1 p.m. Next week will be the Lobos’ next to last road trip of the regular season as UNM heads to Utah and BYU.
QUICK HITS
Volley For The Cure … Fans can get into the match on Thursday night for $1 if they wear pink. There will be a silent auction during the first two sets of the match with great gift packages available. Fans will also be able to purchase a pink honor ribbon for $1 to put the name of a loved one. The ribbons will be displayed in the arena during the match. Proceeds from the auction and ribbon sale will go to the American Cancer Society.
Fairchild Ranks 3rd in NCAA and Leads MWC … Senior All-America candidate Jeanne Fairchild continues to lead the Mountain West Conference in kills (4.79 ps) and points (5.16 ps) this season. Fairchild ranks third 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 1,064 kills at UNM.
Lobos Among Tops In Attendance … New Mexico moved up to 22nd in the national attendance rankings this week after a great crowd of 2,086 showed up at Johnson Center to watch the Lobos beat Air Force on Oct 18. The Lobos’ season-high 2,236 fans showed up on Oct. 2 against BYU. UNM is averaging 1,403 fans over the first six home matches of the season. The Lobos are second in the MWC behind Colorado State in 10th with 2,587 fans per match.
UNM vs. NMSU … The Rio Grande Rivalry match at Johnson Center on Nov. 28 is set for 6 p.m
Lobo Volleyblog … This week’s blog is from sophomore outside hitter Melissa Middleton from Glendale, Ariz.
About New Mexico (15-4, 5-3 MWC) … The Lobos are tied for fourth place in the MWC with TCU, following Saturday’s 3-0 win over Air Force … All-America candidate Jeanne Fairchild leads the Lobos with 4.79 kills and 5.16 points per set, while sophomore Jade Michaelsen leads the setters with 10.69 assists per set … Defensively, junior Anna Lehne leads the front row with 1.38 blocks per set, while senior Gayle Tripp runs the back row with 4.68 digs per set … Sophomore Taylor Hadfield has the best hitting percentage at .311 … Sophomore Lisa Meeter leads the team will 13 aces, while senior Sarah Kwasigroch, freshman Allison Buck and Michaelsen follow with 12 each … UNM leads the Mountain West Conference in opponent hitting percentage at .136 … 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. The current mileage tally is 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 UNLV (13-8, 6-2 MWC) … The Rebels are tied for second in the MWC standings with Utah … UNLV upset No. 13 Colorado State last week, 3-1, in Las Vegas … UNLV leads the MWC in digs with 16.05 per set as a team … Camille Cunningham leads the league in digs by an individual with 5.18 per set … Cunningham leads her team in service aces with 19 … Jessica Walters leads UNLV with 3.47 kills per set … Melody Nua is the Rebels top setter with 9.86 assists per set.
All-Time vs. UNLV (7-15; H: 4-7, A: 3-8, N: 0-0)
Team comparison and complete series results are available in the Game Notes
Winning Ways … New Mexico’s 15 overall wins is the second highest total by a Lobo team since the Mountain West Conference formed in 1999. The Lobos recorded 16 wins in 2007 (16-13). UNM is 5-3 at the midway point of the MWC season, the same start the Lobos had in 2007. New Mexico needs three more conference wins to better last season’s finish of 7-9 in MWC action.
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 59 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 – 1,064 – 2006-present
Digging With Tripp … Senior libero Gayle Tripp needs 72 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 1,433 career digs.
UNM Career Digs
1. Sharon Browning – 1,504 – 1989-92
2. Gayle Tripp – 1,433 – 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, UNM – 1,433 – 2005-present
5. Calli Corley, TCU – 1,351 – 2005-07
Assists by Sarah … Senior setter Sarah Kwasigroch is currently ranked among the top-10 on the New Mexico list for career assists. Currently, Kwasigroch has 2,605 career assists, sitting at seventh on the career list. She needs 236 assists to pass Monica Meihack for sixth place. Kwasigroch started the season ranked 16th on the Mountain West Conference career assists list.
UNM Career Assists
1. Janelle Torres – 3,794 – 1996-99
2. Alicia Bergmann – 3,283 – 1992-95
3. Sharon Browning – 3,214 – 1989-92
4. Jocelyn Funk – 3,153 – 1983-86
5. Karen Saavedra-Warnock – 2,845 – 1985-88
6. Monica Meihack – 2,840 – 2002-04
7. Sarah Kwasigroch – 2,605 – 2005-present
8. Gretchen Gegenfurtner – 2,193 – 1993-96
Non-conference Record The Best … The Lobos’ 10-1 non-conference record currently ranks as the best in program history with two matches to go at the end of the regular season … 2007 was the first time since 1990 that New Mexico will have a regular season non-conference record over .700.
UNM Best Non-Conference Records (by percentage)
1. 2008 – .909 (10-1)
2. 1986 – .875 (14-2)
3. 1989 – .867 (13-2)
4. 1988 – .833 (15-3)
5. 1983 – .793 (23-6)
6. 1990 – .789 (15-4)
7. 2007 – .750 (9-3)
8. 1992 – .688 (11-5)
1994 – .688 (11-5)
10. 1993 – .667 (10-5)
2005 – .667 (8-4)