ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Junior outside hitter Lauren Twitty has been named to the Mountain West All-Conference team, as announced by the conference on Monday afternoon.
It marks the second-straight year that the Virginia native has earned the distinction, which is voted on by all 11 conference head coaches.
“Lauren continues to be one of the best six-rotation players in the Mountain West Conference and is a top point scorer and defender,” said head coach Jeff Nelson. “I am very happy that she has received this honor for the second year-in-a-row. I want to congratulate her on a really great recognition.”
In her junior campaign, Twitty led UNM in kills (407), averaging 3.36 kills per set, service aces (23) and points, accounting for 469.5 points and 3.88 points per set. She finished the season with the second-highest amount of digs on the team at 291 and with the third-most total blocks with 68 (11 solo and 57 assisted).
On the season, the Broadlands, Va., native recorded a team-high 13 double-doubles, while starting in every match and appeared in 121 of the 122 sets. In her career, the outside hitter has a conference-high 27 double-doubles. Twitty compiled 20-plus kills on four different occasions and reached double-digit kills in 21 different matches.
The honor accounts for just Mountain West play, where Twitty once again helped power the Lobo offense.
In just conference matches, Twitty tallied 247 kills (3.38 kills per set), 15 service aces, 11 assists, 171 digs (2.34 digs per set), 36 total blocks (five solo blocks and 31 assisted) and 282.5 points (3.87 points per set) while playing in all 73 sets. She had five matches in which she recorded multiple service aces, twice registering a season-best three aces (at Boise State and versus Fresno State).
Eight of her 13 double-doubles came against conference opponents, and she finished with double figures in kills in 13 of the 18 matches. The junior had three consecutive double-doubles two times this season, with double-doubles against Nevada, San José State and San Diego State and had three in the final five matches of the season against Nevada, Fresno State and San Diego State.
Twitty led the team in kills in 10 MW matches and tied for the team high in two. The junior also had match-high kills in six contests and tied for the match high in two additional matches.
Among the conference players, Twitty ranked fourth in kills per set and total kills and tied for fourth in points per set, producing the fourth-most points in the conference.
On defense, the outside hitter posted 10 matches with double-digit digs and a reception percentage of .950 on 598 reception attempts.
Twitty’s selection marks the 12th-straight year that New Mexico has earned at least one all-conference selection. Since Nelson arrived in 2007, the Lobos have compiled 33 all-conference plaudits. Twitty is the 21st player to earn multiple all-conference honors and the 10th player to do so in Nelson’s 12 years at the helm of the Lobos.