New Mexico Lobos Volleyball – Traveling to Fresno State
Friday: New Mexico at Fresno State, 8 p.m. MT
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The 2014 season is winding down quickly for the University of New Mexico volleyball team as it has just two matches remaining, including the last road trip this week to Fresno State.
Since the change to an 18-match conference schedule, the Lobos will have a rare one-match week this week and next week, playing Fresno State on the road Friday at 8 p.m. MT and returning home next Tuesday for Senior Day at 7 p.m. in Johnson Center.
Fresno State is 11th in the Mountain West with a 2-14 record and 7-23 overall. The Bulldogs are hitting .162 for the season and .134 in league play. They are averaging 12.24 kills per set, 11.47 assists per set, 13.23 digs per set and 1.52 blocks per set. They are coming off a big win at home against Utah State, defeating the Aggies in five sets by scores of 25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 12-25 and 15-11.
Zana Bowens is leading the squad in kills with a total of 328 for 2014 and 163 in conference action. She is averaging 3.01 kills per set while also picking up 2.88 digs per set which is second on the team. Jelena Jovanovic and Brooke Legaux have been splitting the setting duties as Jovanovic has 599 assists and Legaux claims 478 assist, respectively. Maggie Eppright leads the team in digs at 3.54 per set for a total of 386 on the season.
LOWDOWN ON THE LOBOS…The Lobos went 1-1 on the road last week, claiming a four-set victory over Wyoming and falling 3-1 to No. 9 Colorado State. Against Wyoming, the Lobos used a balanced attack at the net to win in four sets by scores of 25-22, 17-25, 25-16 and 25-23. The Lobos received 15 kills from senior Chantale Riddle, a combined 22 kills from sophomores Cassie House and Devanne Sours and a combined 14 kills from juniors Skye Gullatt and Simone Henderson. The Lobos also received a double-double performance from Hannah Johnson, her 16th of the season, with 45 assists and 12 digs. The Lobos out-blocked the Cowgirls 15-9 and outhit them .270-.204. On Saturday, the Lobos didn’t have their best match against No. 9 CSU but neither did the Rams. Both teams struggled in many categories. The Lobos dropped the match by set scores of 20-25, 25-18, 18-25 and 19-25. The Lobos held the Rams to a .207 hitting percentage but had a total of 24 attack errors that gave them a .139 hitting percentage for the match. UNM did out-block the rams 15-10 but four players from CSU had 10 or more kills to take a 55-43 advantage in kills. For the season, the Lobos are hitting .214 with 12.79 kills per set, 11.89 assists per set, 15.27 digs per set and 3.11 blocks per set.
RIDDLE BREAKS UNM’S ALL-TIME CAREER KILL RECORD…With her eighth kill against No. 9 Colorado State, Chantale Riddle became UNM’s all-time career leader in kills, which makes her UNM’s all-time leader in three categories: attempts (4,201), points (1,864.6) and kills (1,580). Riddle broke the attempts record on Oct. 9 at San Diego State with 44 attempts in the match. The points record was broken on Nov. 8 against San Diego State with her first kill of the match. Riddle is now just 41 kills away from breaking the Mountain West all-time career record in kills, which is within reach as Riddle has had three matches this season with 20 or more kills and in the past 10 matches she averaged 15.8 kills per match. She will need to average 20.5 kills per match in the last two matches against Fresno State and Air Force.
LOBOS IN THE NATION…For the season, the Lobos are hitting .214. The Lobos are fourth in the nation in blocks per set at 3.11. They also rank third in total team blocks with 332.5 blocks this season. The other top 20 category for the Lobos is opposing hitting percentage. The Lobos rank 15th as they hold their opponents to a .150 hitting percentage per match. Senior Chantale Riddle had been a huge threat in the national ranks as well as she is in the top 50 of three different categories. She ranks 45th in blocks per set at 1.27, 33th in total blocks with 133 and 46th in points per set at 4.60. Simone Henderson ranks 36th in blocks per set at 1.31 and Skye Gullatt ranks 40th at 1.29 blocks per set.
LOBOS IN THE CONFERENCE…In the conference the Lobos are ranked in the top 3 in three categories. They are ranked third with a .150 opposing hitting percentage, second in blocks per set at 3.11 and first in digs per set at 15.27. In conference matches only, the Lobos rank in the top 3 in five categories; second in opposing hitting percentage (.163), second in blocks per set (3.16), third in assists perset (12.42), third in kills per set (13.32) and first in digs per (16.11). Riddle is ranked in two categories for all matches. She is first in points with 4.60 per set, second in kills with 3.79 kills per set. Johnson is first in double-doubles with 16. For conference matches only, Riddle is first in two categories. She is first with 4.60 points per set. She is first in kills per set with 3.92. Julia Warren moves into second in digs per set at 4.21 and Johnson is first in double-doubles with 9.
CONSISTENCY IN THE BACK ROW…Julia Warren had never played in the Libero position until head coach Jeff Nelson switched her from the outside to a different colored jersey against No. 9 CSU on Oct. 16. Since then, the back row defense has been stable and Warren has become one of the best Liberos in the conference. Since the switch and 11 matches later, Warren is averaging 5.03 digs per set and is now second in conference stats at 4.21. She posted a career-high 32 digs in the 3-2 heartbreaking loss to UNLV on No. 6.
LOOKING AHEAD TO SENIOR DAY…Next week, the Lobos will be recognizing two seniors on Tuesday, November 25 against Air Force. Chantale Riddle and redshirt junior Elsa Krieg will finish their careers on Tuesday. Elsa Krieg tore her ACL against UNLV on Nov. 6 and will not be playing next year even though she still has one year of eligibility left.
JOHNSON MOVES UP TO 6TH ALL-TIME IN CAREER ASSISTS…With a total of 1,060 assists on the season, Hannah Johnson is now 6th on the all-time career assists list. She has a career total of 2,926 assists. She passed up Karen Saavedra-Warnock (1985-88). She is 228 kills away from moving into 5th, in front of Jocelyn Funk (1983-86).
ALL ABOUT THAT DOUBLE-DOUBLES…Junior Hannah Johnson has been a double-double machine this season with a total of 16 which ranks first in the MW. Last week, she recorded another with 45 assists and 12 digs in 3-1 win over Wyoming.