ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– The Lobos face the Falcons for the second time this year on Saturday at 1 p.m. UNM and Air Force played five sets in the first meeting, with the Lobos securing the victory.
Air Force enters the match 13-11, 3-7 in the Mountain West and has lost its last three matches, including a loss on Thursday night to UNLV in straight sets.
UNM Notes | Air Force Notes | Live Stream | Live Stats
Lobos Last Time Out
New Mexico volleyball team ended its four-match losing streak on the road at UNLV with a 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 straight-set victory.
Tai Bierria had a match-high 14 kills and hit .429, while Lauren Twitty had 13 kills. Sabrina Bianco (21 assists) and Jaclyn Inclan (17 assists) had 38 of the team’s 40 assists.
Mercedes Pacheco had a match-high 17 digs and Victoria Spragg had two solo blocks and two assisted blocks to lead the Lobo defense. Mariessa Carrasco had one solo and one assisted block. Makayla Tam had a season-high two service aces, which matched UNLV’s team total.
The Lobos outhit the Rebels .327 to .160 with 44 kills to their 34 kills. UNM had the advantage in assists (40-31), service aces (6-2), dig (43-36), blocks (7-5). New Mexico four solo blocks and six assisted blocks.
Last Time Out Versus Air Force
The Lobos gave the Falcons their first conference loss of the season with a 19-25, 25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 15-11 five-set win in Colorado.
UNM had three double-doubles in the match with a double-double from Victoria Spragg, the first of her career, that included 11 kills and a career-high 12 blocks- two solo and 10 assisted, a double-double from Jaclyn Inclan, including season-bests of 14 digs and 32 assists, and a double-double from Mercedes Pacheco with a career-high 21 digs as well as a career-high 10 assists.
Lauren Twitty and Tai Bierria had 18 and 17 kills, respectively, to lead the attack, with Twitty adding a solo block and four assisted blocks defensively to compliment Spragg at the net. Morgan Schreckler tallied the only service ace for the Lobos in the match.
As a team, the Lobos recorded 19 total team blocks for the third time this season, with Mariessa Carrasco recording six assisted blocks and Carly Beddingfield and Danica Rowan each having four assisted blocks.
Going the Distance
Eight times this season, UNM has played five sets, recording a 5-3 record.
In UNM’s match against Wyoming, the Lobos forced a fifth set with a 25-23 fourth set win, but were unable to pull out the victory as they fell behind 6-2 early on in the fifth set and lost 15-9.
In the win versus the Wolf Pack, 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, the Lobos 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 their 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.
The Closer
Junior outside hitter Tai Bierria has scored the final point in eight matches this season, six of which tallied the winning point. In MW play, Bierria recorded the final kill against Nevada, Air Force, UNLV (twice) and Utah State to clinch the victory, and recorded the final point scored by the Lobos against Boise State and San Diego State. She also had the winning point versus USC Upstate in non-conference play.
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 507 assists, averaging 5.57 per set, and Inclan is behind her with 392 assists (4.45 a/s). Combined, the duo has 899 of the team’s 1012 assists. Bianco has started 19 matches, and has registered double-digit assists in all 23 matches this season. Inclan recorded a season-high 32 in the match at Air Force, has recorded double-digit assists in all but one match. Inclan also made her first start of the season against the Spartans, and has started three of the five matches since.
Serves You Right
Sabrina Bianco (17) has the team high in service aces with LaurenTwitty second with 15. Jaclyn Inclan (12) and Morgan Schreckler (12) round out the Lobos with double-digit service aces.
Joining the Rankings
Lauren Twitty is fifth in the Mountain West with 3.48 k/s, totaling 313 kills in 90 sets, as well as sixth in points per set at 3.98 (358 points). Mercedes Pacheco is sixth in digs per set with 3.63. Victoria Spragg is 10th in hitting percentage with .291.
In just conference matches, Spragg is fifth in the MW in hitting percentage at .324 and is tied for ninth in blocks per set (1.07). Twitty is fourth in kills per set (3.64) and Tai Bierria is eighth (3.17). Pacheco is fifth in digs per set with 3.83 and Twitty is tied for fourth in points per set (4.07).
Nationally, Twitty is ranked in attacks per set (9.89), points, points per set, total kills (313), kills per set and total attacks (890). Bierria is ranked in total kills (271). Spragg is ranked in total blocks (95) and blocks per set (1.04).
I’ll Have the Double-Double, Please
The double-doubles keep coming for the Lobos, as UNM has 25 on the season. Lauren Twitty had four double-doubles in the last six matches for a team-high 10 on the season, as well as recording three double-doubles at the UNF Invitational. Tai Bierria has six for the second-most on the team.
In the 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 and the first of Spragg’s career.
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
Mercedes Pacheco is pacing the Lobos in digs with 243 digs through 67 sets, an average of 3.63 digs per set. Lauren Twitty is second on the team with 224 digs at 2.49 digs per set, followed by Tai Bierria, who has 159 digs (1.79 d/s). Pacheco had a career-high 21 digs at Air Force and matched it in the match versus Wyoming.
Road Block
Victoria Spragg leads the team with 95 total blocks (17 solo and 78 assisted), with an average of 1.04 blocks per set. Six of her solo blocks came in the matches versus UNLV, Air Force and Nevada. In the match at Air Force, she had a career-high 12 total blocks with two solo and 10 assisted. Mariessa Carrasco is second on the team with 77 total blocks, eight solo and 69 assisted. Lauren Twitty is second on the team in solo blocks with nine.
Scouting the Opposition
About Air Force
The Falcons have gone 3-7 in their last 10 matches and have lost their last three matches. Air Force is 1-7 on the road (0-5 in conference play), 5-3 in three-set matches, 5-2 in four sets and 3-6 in five sets.
Abigail Miksch leads the team in kills (307, 3.23 k/s) and points (339, 3.57 p/s). The senior outside hitter is hitting .203 on the season. Senior setter Shanleigh Conlan has 506 assists, averaging 5.33 a/s, while Andi Ahlers has 459 assists (5.22 a/s). Conlan and Ahlers are first and second on the team in service aces, with 24 and 21, respectively. Junior outside hitter Denise Ssozi leads the Falcons with 249 total digs, an average of 2.65 digs per set. Sophomore middle blocker Kathleen Medill has a team-high 89 total blocks, 14 solo and 75 assisted, an average of 0.93 blocks per set.
Miksch is sixth in the MW in kills per set with fellow Falcon Elizabeth Pennington eighth at 3.14. Miksch is also 10th in points per set with 3.57.
Air Force is third in the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.172) and digs per set (15.13), and fourth in assists per set (12.01).
Series vs. Air Force
The Lobos and Falcons will be meeting for the 42nd time, with UNM holding a 37-4 overall record against Air Force. In Albuquerque, the Lobos are 18-1. Last season, the Falcons won in five sets, snapping a 26-straight win streak for the Lobos in the series.
Other News and Notes
Saturday’s match will be a Howl-O-Ween theme, with fans in attendance encouraged to wear their Halloween costume and enter a Halloween contest.
During the match, the Lobos will recognize the 30th anniversary of the 1988 team that were crowned the High Country Athletic Conference champions with a record of 25 -5. It marked the first time UNM volleyball had won conference.