New Mexico Hosts San José State on Saturday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– New Mexico closes out its week homestand with a Saturday match against San José State. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Lobos have won three-straight conference games and currently sits in second with a 4-1 record. Their 4-1 start matches the best start to conference since 2014.
UNM Notes| SJSU Notes | Live Stream | Live Stats
New Mexico Edges Nevada in Five on Thursday
Lauren Twitty registered 19 kills and 11 digs to record her seventh double-double of the season to lead the Lobos to the 25-14, 13-25, 25-17, 21-25, 15-4 victory. Jaclyn Inclan had team highs in assists and service aces, with 25 and two, respectively. Victoria Spragg had another influential night at the net, tallying two solo blocks and three assisted blocks to go with two digs and six kills. It was the third-straight match that Spragg has been credited with two solo blocks. Mercedes Pacheco joined Twitty in double digits in digs, leading the Lobos with 16 on the night.
Going the Distance
Thursday night’s match marked the seventh time this season that UNM has played five sets, recording a 5-2 record. Their last two matches have been five sets, with the Lobos victorious in both. In last night’s win, the Lobos easily took the first set after hitting .500 as a team before the roles reversed and they dropped the second set. The third set went to New Mexico in a frame that although there were ties, they never trailed. Nevada used a late run to force a fifth set, where New Mexico scored the first five points en route to a dominating 15-4 set win. In the match at Air Force, the Lobos were unable to capture the fourth set but catapulted out to 10-2 lead in the fifth behind a 9-0 run. The Falcons made a late push to cut the margin to three at 14-11, but Tai Bierria notched the final point on a kill to seal the set and the match.
In the last non-conference match against CMU, and for the fifth time this season, UNM went the distance in a five-set victory. After the Chippewas rallied to force a fifth set, the Lobos scored the first three points of the set, closed the match on a 7-0 run, including four blocks in-a-row, en route to the 15-7 set win.
In the three matches played at the Idaho Volleyball Classic on opening weekend and the three matches at the UNF Invitational, the Lobos played five sets in two of each tournament, going 2-2. UNM lost a late lead in the fifth set to fall to Grand Canyon University to open the tournament, but finished with a five-set victory against host Idaho. At UNF, New Mexico was down to match point at 24-23 in the fourth set, with Lauren Twitty registering a kill to extend the set. The Lobos would go on to win 26-24. In the fifth set, the Lobos trailed 13-10 before fighting back to win the set 16-14.
Spragg Named MW Offensive Player of the Week
Redshirt-senior middle blocker Victoria Spragg earned her first career weekly conference play of the week honor after recording 20 kills, 30.5 points and hitting .529 on the week in the matches against UNLV and Air Force. Spragg averaged 2.22 k/s and 3.39 points per set for the Lobos.
She tallied her first career double-double at Air Force with a season-high 11 kills and a career-high 12 total blocks (two solo, 10 assisted) and hit a season-high .692 versus UNLV (9-0-13).
Setting the Tone
The Lobos have two new setters on the roster in freshman Sabrina Bianco and redshirt-freshman transfer Jaclyn Inclan. Bianco leads the team with 387 assists, averaging 5.53 per set, and Inclan is behind her with 298 assists (4.45 a/s). Combined, the duo has 685 of the team’s 780 assists. Bianco has started all 17 matches, registering double-digit assists in all 17, with a season-high 42 against UNF. Inclan recorded a season-high 32 in the match at Air Force, and averaged 5.89 assists per set on the week against UNLV and Air Force with 53 total assists. In Thursday’s match against Nevada, Bianco had 25 and Inclan had 27 assists, tallying 52 of the team’s 57 assists.
Serves You Right
Lauren Twitty (14) has the team high in service aces with Sabrina Bianco one behind her. Jaclyn Inclan (12) and Morgan Schreckler (10) round out the Lobos with double-digit service aces.
I’ll Have the Double-Double, Please
The double-doubles keep coming for the Lobos, as UNM has 21 on the season. Lauren Twitty recorded her team-high seventh versus Nevada on Thursday, while Tai Bierria has six on the season. Twitty recorded three double-doubles at the UNF Invitational.
In the last match at Air Force, UNM had three players with double-doubles with Victoria Spragg (11 kills, 12 blocks), Jaclyn Inclan (32 assists, 14 digs) and Mercedes Pacheco (10 assists, 21 digs). It was the first double-double of the season for Spragg and Inclan.
Versus Furman, three New Mexico players had a double-double, but in all three UNF Invitational matches, at least two Lobos had a double-double.
Against Idaho, four Lobo players registered double-doubles. Sabrina Bianco had 30 assists and 12 digs, Inclan had 23 assists to go with 11 digs, in addition to Twitty’s 20 kills and 14 digs and Bierria’s 12 kills and 12 digs.
Just Dig It
Lauren Twitty is pacing the Lobos in digs with 170 digs through 69 sets, an average of 2.46 digs per set. Mercedes Pacheco is second on the team with 160 digs at 3.48 digs per set, followed by Tai Bierria, who has 141 digs (2.07 d/s).
Joining the Rankings
Lauren Twitty is sixth in the Mountain West with 3.48 k/s, totaling 240 kills in 69 sets, the fourth-most kills in the conference, as well as fifth in points per set at 4.05 (279.5 points). Mercedes Pacheco is sixth in digs per set with 3.48.
In just conference matches, Spragg leads the MW in hitting percentage at .413 and is fifth in blocks per set (1.29) with the third-most total blocks at 22. Twitty is fourth in kills per set (3.81) and Tai Bierria is ninth (3.05). Twitty is fourth in points per set with 4.40 and Pacheco is fifth in digs per set at 3.71.
Nationally, Twitty is ranked in attacks per set (9.75), points (258), points per set (4.03), total kills (221), kills per set (3.45) and total attacks (624). Spragg is ranked in total blocks (72) and blocks per set (1.11), while Mariessa Carrasco ranks in total blocks with 59 on the year.
Road Block
Victoria Spragg leads the team with 77 total blocks (12 solo and 65 assisted), with an average of 1.10 block per set. Six of her solo blocks have come in the last three matches, with two in each match. In the matches against UNLV and against Nevada, she had two solo blocks and three assisted blocks. Mariessa Carrasco is second on the team with 56 total blocks, five solo and 56 assisted. Lauren Twitty is second on the team in solo blocks with eight.
Scouting the Opposition
About San José State
The Spartans are 1-4 on the road this season and are 5-4 in three sets, 0-2 in four sets and 1-2 in five sets. The Spartans lost to UNLV on Thursday in four sets.
Fernanda Vido leads SJSU in kills with 147 (2.94 k/s) and points (167), but is only hitting .119 on the season. Mamie Garard leads the team in assists (333, 6.66 a/s), while Luiza Andrade has a team-high 215 digs (4.30 d/s) and 28 service aces. Thaliana Grajeda (three solo, 33 assisted) has 36 total blocks to the lead the team.
Haylee Nelson is seventh in the conference in hitting percentage at .319 and Grajeda is tied for ninth at .313. Garard is ninth in assists per set. Andrade is second in service aces per set at .56, recording the fourth-most aces in the MW, and is third in digs per set.
San José State is second in the MW in service aces per set with 1.66.
Series vs. San José State
The Lobos and Spartans will be meeting for the 20th time, with New Mexico leading the series 14-5. UNM and SJSU split the series last season, with the Lobos dropping a 3-2 match on the road before defeating the Spartans in three in Albuquerque. UNM is 7-1 in three sets, 4-1 in four sets and 2-3 in five. In the last 10 matches, the Lobos are 8-2 and 3-2 in the last five meetings. From 11/6/98 to 10/29/15, UNM went 9-0 in the series. The Lobos have won the last six matches in Albuquerque, outscoring the Spartans 18-3 and includes four straight-set wins.