ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The University of New Mexico volleyball team look for season sweeps of San José State and Nevada as they head out for a two-match road trip. The Lobos (13-11, 7-5 MW) travel to San Jose for a Thursday meeting against the Spartans, with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m. MT at Spartan Gym. UNM defeated SJSU in three sets earlier this month, 25-12, 25-19, 25-22, in Albuquerque.
San José State enters the match 11-10 overall and 6-6 in the Mountain West and have gone 4-1 in its last five matches, winning its last two. The Spartans are 3-3 at home, with all matches occurring during conference play.
Historically, New Mexico is 15-5 against SJSU, 6-2 on the road.
Due to the Mountain West Women’s Soccer Championship, there will not be live video for the match.
UNM Notes | SJSU Notes | Live Stats
New Mexico Wins Both Matches in Week 10
New Mexico volleyball went 2-0 on the week with a straight-set victory at UNLV and a four-set win against Air Force in Albuquerque.
Last Time Versus SJSU
The Lobos defeated both the Spartans (25-12, 25-19, 25-22) with a three-set victory on Oct. 6 in Albuquerque.
Against SJSU, Lauren Twitty tallied a double-double, registering 12 digs to go with a match-high 12 kills. Sabrina Bianco had a team-high 17 assists. Mercedes Pacheco had a career-high four service aces as well as a team-high 14 digs on the afternoon.
Carrasco Named MW Player of the Week
Middle blocker Mariessa Carrasco has been named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week after leading the defense with 11 total blocks in the Lobos’ undefeated week.
This is the second time that the redshirt-senior has earned the conference honor in her career, but the first time that she has won on the defensive side after winning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week last season. It is also the second honor this season for Carrasco, who claimed a spot on the Husker Invite All-Tournament Team.
The San Angelo, Texas, native had one solo block and 10 assisted blocks on the week, including a match-high nine total blocks (all assisted) in Saturday’s win against Air Force, without producing a single blocking error in either match.
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 444 assists, averaging 5.55 per set, and Inclan is behind her with 342 assists (4.44 a/s). Combined, the duo has 786 of the team’s 890 assists. Bianco has started 17 matches, registering double-digit assists in all 20. 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 in the two matches since.
Serves You Right
Sabrina Bianco (14) and LaurenTwitty (14) are tied for the team high in service aces. Jaclyn Inclan (12) and Morgan Schreckler (11) 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 327 kills in 94 sets, as well as fifth in points per set at 3.98 (374 points). Mercedes Pacheco is sixth in digs per set with 3.63. Victoria Spragg is 10th in hitting percentage with .293.
In just conference matches, Spragg is fifth in the MW in hitting percentage at .324 and is ninth in blocks per set (1.11). Twitty is fourth in kills per set (3.63) and Tai Bierria is ninth (3.17). Pacheco is fifth in digs per set with 3.83 and Twitty is fourth in points per set (4.07).
Nationally, Twitty is ranked in attacks per set (9.94), points, points per set, total kills, kills per set and total attacks (934). Spragg is ranked in total blocks (101) and blocks per set (1.06) and Mariessa Carrasco is ranked in total blocks (86).
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 258 digs through 71 sets, an average of 3.63 digs per set. Lauren Twitty is second on the team with 232 digs at 2.47 digs per set, followed by Sabrina Bianco and Tai Bierria, who have 162 digs (1.71/ 1.74 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 101 total blocks (18 solo and 83 assisted), with an average of 1.06 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 86 total blocks, eight solo and 78 assisted. Lauren Twitty is second on the team in solo blocks with nine.
Scouting the Opposition
About San José State
The Spartans have gone 4-1 in their last five matches and have won their last two matches. SJSU is 3-3 at home (3-3 in conference play), 6-5 in three-set matches, 2-3 in four sets and 3-2 in five sets.
Fernanda Vido leads the team in kills (206, 2.75 k/s) and points (236, 3.15 p/s). The redshirt-junior outside hitter is hitting .117 on the season. Freshman setter Mamie Garard has 481 assists, averaging 6.17 a/s. Luiza Andrade has 41 service aces and 353 digs, an average of 4.53 digs per set, to lead the Spartans. Thaliana Grajeda has a team-high 58 total blocks, eight solo and 50 assisted, an average of 0.74 blocks per set.
Andrade is second in the MW in service aces per set at .53 and in digs per set. Grajeda is sixth in the conference in hitting percentage at .329 and Latahevai Lousi ranks ninth in kills per set with 3.12. Garard is ninth in assists per set.
SJSU is third in the conference in service aces per set with 1.63.
Series vs. San José State
The Lobos and Spartans will be meeting for the 21st time, with UNM holding a 15-5 overall record against San José State. In San Jose, the Lobos are 6-2. UNM is 8-1 in three sets, 4-1 in four sets and 2-3 in five sets against SJSU.