RENO, Nev.– The Lobos travel to Nevada to conclude the season series with the Wolf Pack on Saturday, Nov. 3 with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m. MT. UNM defeated Nevada in five sets in the first meeting, which also marked the first time in the all-time series between the two teams that the match reached five sets.
Nevada enters the contest 8-16 overall and 1-12 in the Mountain West, and have lost its last nine matches.
Historically, New Mexico is 10-2 against Nevada, 5-1 in Reno.
UNM Notes | Nevada Notes | Live Stream | Live Stats
Lobos Last Time Out
UNM dropped a hard-fought five-set match on the road at SJSU after rallying from nine points down to win the third set. The Lobos were two points away from taking the fourth set and the match, but lost 25-23 and went on to lose 15-11 in the fifth. It was the first time this season that the Lobos had a 2-1 lead going into the fourth set and ended up losing the match.
Tai Bierria had 15 kills, Jaclyn Inclan had 18 assists, Mercedes Pacheco had a career-high 23 digs and Victoria Spragg had nine total blocks, all assisted, to lead the Lobos in each category. Makayla Tam tied her career high of two service aces and had a season-best seven digs, Inclan had a season-best four kills, and Bierria and Inclan both had their best night of the season at the net with four total blocks (all assisted) apiece in the match. Sabrina Bianco had her fifth double-double of the season with 15 assists and 14 digs.
Last Time Versus Nevada
The Lobos defeated the Wolf Pack (25-14, 13-25, 25-17, 21-25, 15-4), with a five-set victory.
Twitty registered a double-double versus Nevada with 19 kills and 11 digs. Jaclyn Inclan had team highs in assists and service aces, with 25 and two, respectively. Victoria Spragg had two solo blocks and three assisted blocks to go with two digs and six kills and Pacheco joined Twitty in double digits in digs, leading the Lobos with 16 on the night. The five sets played between the Lobos and Wolf Pack was the first time the two teams had gone five sets in the series.
Going the Distance
Thursday night’s match marked the ninth time this season that UNM has played five sets, recording a 5-4 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.
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 537 assists, averaging 5.37 per set, and Inclan is behind her with 427 assists (4.40 a/s). Combined, the duo has 964 of the team’s 1094 assists. Bianco has started 21 matches, and has registered double-digit assists in all 25 matches this season. Inclan recorded a season-high 32 in the match at Air Force, and has recorded double-digit assists in all but one match. Inclan also made her first start of the season against the Spartans and started the following three matches after.
Serves You Right
Sabrina Bianco (17) has the team high in service aces with Lauren Twitty second with 15. Morgan Schreckler (14) and Jaclyn Inclan (12) round out the Lobos with double-digit service aces. Four times this season the Lobos have recorded seven service aces in a match.
Just Dig It
Mercedes Pacheco is pacing the Lobos in digs with 281 digs through 76 sets, an average of 3.70 digs per set. Lauren Twitty is second on the team with 240 digs at 2.42 digs per set, followed by Sabrina Bianco (176, 1.76 d/s) and Tai Bierria (165, 1.68 d/s). Pacheco had a career-high 23 digs at San José State, after previously setting a career high this season at Air Force and matching it in the match versus Wyoming with 21.
Road Block
Victoria Spragg leads the team with 110 total blocks (18 solo and 92 assisted), with an average of 1.10 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 90 total blocks, nine solo and 81 assisted. Lauren Twitty is tied with Carrasco for second on the team in solo blocks with nine.
Joining the Rankings
Lauren Twitty is fifth in the Mountain West with 3.42 k/s, totaling 339 kills in 99 sets, as well as sixth in points per set at 3.90 (386.5 points). Mercedes Pacheco is sixth in digs per set with 3.70. Victoria Spragg is 10th in hitting percentage with .287.
In just conference matches, Spragg is fifth in the MW in hitting percentage at .312 and is tied for sixth in blocks per set (1.18). Twitty is fourth in kills per set (3.51) and Tai Bierria is eighth (3.16). Pacheco is fifth in digs per set with 3.90 and Twitty is fourth in points per set (3.91).
Nationally, Twitty is ranked in attacks per set (9.94), points, points per set, total kills, kills per set and total attacks (984). Spragg is ranked in total blocks and blocks per set and Mariessa Carrasco is ranked in total blocks (90). Tai Bierria is also ranked in total kills (299).
I’ll Have the Double-Double, Please
The double-doubles keep coming for the Lobos, as UNM has 26 on the season. Lauren Twitty had four double-doubles in six matches, including three straight against Nevada, San José State and San Diego State, 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 and Sabrina Bianco recorded her fifth of the season in the last match versus San José State.
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.
Scouting the Opposition
About Nevada
The Wolf Pack is 1-5 at home, 4-6 in three-set matches, 1-6 in four sets and 3-4 in five sets. Nevada has lost its last nine matches dating back to its first meeting of the season against UNM on Oct. 4.
Kayla Afoa leads the team in kills with 294 (3.16 k/s) and is second on the team in service aces (24) and digs (286). The sophomore outside hitter has tallied 333 points, averaging 3.58 points per set and is hitting .178 on the season. Dalyn Burns has 683 of the team’s 1071 assists, an average of 8.33 a/s. Ashley Maki has a team-high 25 service aces and Mo Maluotoga leads Nevada with 346 digs, averaging 3.80 digs per set. Hailey Maniglia has 67 total blocks, eight solo and 59 assisted, an average of 0.72 b/s to lead the team in the category.
Afoa is seventh in the Mountain West in kills per set followed by Jamila Minor, who is 10th with a 3.07 average. Burns is fifth in the conference in assists per set. Maki is fifth in the MW in service aces per set (0.40). Maluotoga is fifth in overall digs per set and Afoa is ninth with 3.08 digs per set with 286 digs in 93 sets. Afoa ranks eighth in points per set.
Nevada is second in the MW in digs per set, averaging 15.25, but is last in blocks and blocks per set with 143 blocks and an 1.54 average.
Series vs. Nevada
This will be the 13th meeting between the two teams, with UNM holding a 10-2 edge. In Reno, the Lobos are 5-1 against the Wolf Pack. UNM is 6-0 in three sets and 3-2 in four sets and the two teams went five sets for the first time in series history in the last meeting, with UNM winning.