ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The 2018 season has come to a close for The University of New Mexico volleyball team, but not without some memorable moments.
Going into the season, the Lobos welcomed six newcomers in the form of four transfers and two freshmen. Joining the team were junior outside hitter Tai Bierria (from Memphis), redshirt-sophomore middle blocker Fiona Harding (from South Dakota State), redshirt-freshman setter Jaclyn Inclan (from Arizona), and junior outside hitter Makayla Tam (from Grossmont College), as well as freshmen Sabrina Bianco (setter, Austin, Texas) and Rachel Murphy (middle blocker, Menomonee Falls, Wis.).
In their first season in Albuquerque, Inclan and Bianco were given an immediate role of responsibility as the only two setters on the roster, without a single year of collegiate experience between them.
However, the Cherry and Silver were steadied by a strong nucleus of returning starters and a presence of four veterans in seniors Carly Beddingfield, Mariessa Carrasco, Mercedes Pacheco and Victoria Spragg. Pacheco, an Albuquerque native and libero/ defensive specialist, was tabbed as the lone team captain for 2018.
UNM returned a total of nine players from 2017 including its top three offensive and defensive threats in Carrasco, Spragg and Lauren Twitty.
Junior outside hitter Twitty came into the season as the team leader in kills and attempts in 2017, while Carrasco had the highest hitting efficiency on the 2017 team with a clip of .316. Defensively, Spragg entered her final season with the Lobos as the top blocker, leading the 2016 and 2017 teams in total blocks with 118 and 115, respectively.
Getting Started
UNM started its season at the Idaho Volleyball Classic, picking up its first win in the final match against host Idaho in a five-set tilt. Twitty earned her first honor of the season with a spot on the All-Tournament team after producing two double-doubles (17 kills and 11 digs versus Grand Canyon and 20 kills and 14 digs versus Idaho), tallying a total of 49 kills (3.77 kills per set) in the three matches of the tournament. In the opening match versus Grand Canyon, UNM tied a school record for total team blocks with 19 (five solo, 28 assisted), with Spragg credited for three solo and eight assisted blocks, a feat that the Lobos would achieve two additional times throughout the season. In the win against the Vandals, the Lobos set a would-be season high in digs with 74, with five players recording double-digit digs, and in kills with 67 where Twitty accounted for 20.
In her first three appearances with UNM, Bierria proved to be an immediate vital addition to the roster, recording two double-doubles with a balanced 12 kills and 12 digs against Idaho and 11 kills and 12 digs versus Grand Canyon. Four Lobos would finish the match against the Vandals with double-doubles, including the first for Bianco (30 assists, 12 digs) and Inclan (23 assists, 11 digs).
With three games in the rearview mirror, the Lobos hosted Eastern Kentucky, Florida Gulf Coast and New Mexico State in the Lobo Classic the following weekend, where they won the first two matches with a 3-0 victory over EKU and a 3-1 result over FGCU. Bierria picked up her third double-double in the win against FGCU at 13 kills and 10 digs and would finish with a team-high 32 kills in the three matches. The three-match win streak would come to an end versus the in-state Aggies, with the Lobos edged out in the first two sets by 26-24 and 25-23 before falling 25-18 in the third.
Beddingfield was named MVP of the Lobo Classic and Bierria was named to the all-tournament team. As a team, the Lobos finished runner-up in the tournament as three teams (Florida Gulf Coast, New Mexico and New Mexico State) finished the weekend with a 2-1 record.
UNM headed back on the road for its next non-conference tournament, traveling to Jacksonville, Fla., for the UNF Invitational. The Lobos faced three opponents for the first time in program history in Furman, USC Upstate and host North Florida.
In its first match of the tournament, New Mexico fought off set and match point in the fourth set at 24-23 to complete the five-set (25-20, 21-25, 20-25, 26-24, 16-14) comeback against North Florida. Twitty had a season-high 23 kills and notched another double-double with 16 digs. Bianco tallied a double-double of her own with a season-best 42 assists to go along with 13 digs.
Twitty recorded three double-doubles on the weekend with 11 kills and 12 digs against Furman and 22 kills and 14 digs to close out the invitational against USC Upstate. Offensively, Beddingfield had a season-best .462 hitting percentage in the five-set loss to Furman, followed by a season-high .459 hitting percentage from Bierria in the four-set win against USC Upstate. Three Lobos registered double-doubles in the match versus Furman, with Bianco (23 assists, 11 digs), Twitty (11 kills, 12 digs) and Bierria (13 kills, match- and season-high 20 digs). Once again, the Lobos finished runner-up in the tournament after going 2-1, with Twitty and Spragg both named to the all-tournament team.
To close out non-conference competition, UNM faced Missouri State, Central Michigan and then-No. 4 Nebraska in the Husker Invite in Lincoln, Neb. After dropping a three-set match to Missouri State to open the tournament, the Lobos faced the nationally-ranked and defending champions Nebraska Cornhuskers in front of an attendance of 8,043. UNM started off strong, silencing the crowd with a first set 25-23 victory, winning its first set against Nebraska after losing the last 13 sets against them across five matches. It was only the eighth set in the eight-match series between the two teams in which UNM won, with the last four meetings ending in sweeps by the Huskers. The momentum wouldn’t last and although the Lobos kept the third set close, the home team went on to win the match in four. Bierria would end the contest with a match-high 16 kills in the setback.
In their last non-conference match against CMU, the Lobos rallied from a deflating fourth set loss in which the Chippewas closed the set on an 11-0 run to take the set and won the fifth set 15-7 behind a 7-0 run that made a one-point set of 8-7 in favor of UNM to a set and match win for the Lobos. For the second time this season, the Lobos registered 19 total team blocks (one solo, 36 assisted) in the match versus the Chippewas, with Carrasco tying an all-time school record with 13 assisted blocks resulting in the middle blocker being named to the Husker Invite All-Tournament Team. Under the 25-point rallying scoring, Carrasco holds the record in total blocks and block assists.
Starting Off with Winning Ways in Conference Play
The Lobos headed into Mountain West play with a record of 6-6 and started off with a four-set victory over Utah State. Twitty and Bierria went for another double-double with 19 kills and 12 digs and 19 kills and 11 digs, respectively. UNM would get out to a 5-1 conference record with wins over UNLV (four sets), Air Force (five sets), Nevada (five sets) and San José State (three sets) to take hold of first place in the conference standings.
In doing so, Spragg was named MW Offensive Player of the Week- her first career weekly honor- following her first career double-double at Air Force, in which she had a career-high 12 total blocks (two solo, 10 assisted) and 11 kills.
At Air Force, three Lobos posted double-doubles- Inclan (a season-high 32 assists, 14 digs), Pacheco (21 digs and a career-high 10 assists for her first double-double of her career), and Spragg. UNM also recorded 19 total blocks (three solo, 32 assisted) for the third time in the season, and as previously mentioned, Spragg led the team with 12 of them.
The Ebbs and Flows of the Season
From there, the Lobos hit a bit of a slump, losing their next four matches against San Diego State, Fresno State, Colorado State and Wyoming.
Unfortunately, the loss at Fresno State also resulted in the loss of Beddingfield to an ankle injury but led to the opportunity for other players to emerge and step up. One such player was Yasmin Tan, who was inserted into the starting lineup and contributed with steady numbers in kills and blocks for the Lobos.
The tide turned with a straight-set road win at UNLV, which continued onto a home win against Air Force in four.
As a result of the Lobos’ undefeated week against the Rebels and the Falcons, Carrasco was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week behind 11 total blocks (one solo, 10 assisted).
UNM split a road trip to Northern California, dropping a hard-fought five-set match at SJSU in which the Lobos rallied from down nine to win the third set and came within two points of taking the fourth set and the match. The Cherry and Silver rebounded with a four-set win at Nevada in which Carrasco recorded the first double-double of her career with 11 kills and 10 total blocks (two solo, eight assisted) and Twitty tallying a match-high 20 kills.
Bianco recorded two double-doubles in the road trip, with 22 assists and 10 digs against the Wolf Pack and 15 assists and 14 digs against the Spartans, giving her a total of six in her first season at UNM.
In its final homestand of the regular season, UNM dropped fifth-set matches to Fresno State and San Diego State, including holding a 2-0 lead in the match and two match points in the fourth set against the Aztecs. Twitty posted two more double-doubles with 17 kills and 12 digs versus the Bulldogs and 19 kills and 13 digs versus the Aztecs, bringing her season total to 13 and giving her a conference-high 27 in her career.
Saving the Best for Last
To close the regular season, UNM finished on the road at Wyoming and Colorado State. The Lobos fell to the Cowgirls in three sets, but closed the regular season with perhaps their biggest win of the season with a five-set victory over the Rams. CSU entered the match having won the last 12 matches in the series and its last 12 matches in the season, which UNM snapped after getting out to a 2-0 match lead and fighting off match point in the fifth set at 14-13 to take the 16-14 fifth-set victory and the match. The win for the Cherry and Silver snapped the Rams’ 45-match Mountain West home winning streak that dated back to 2013 and was the first time that the Lobos had won in Fort Collins since Oct. 7, 1994, predating the lifetime of any current player on the volleyball team.
The Lobos finished the season with 12, five-set matches, compiling a 6-6 record. The 12 matches were the most five-set matches in a single season in program history, surpassing the precedent of 10 set in 2012.
Pacheco led the team with a career-best 378 digs, including 20 matches with double figures and six matches with 20-plus digs, including four of the last six matches. Her season total in digs were 136 more than her junior year, 264 more than her sophomore year and 187 more than her freshman year totals. The libero set a career high on Senior Day against San Diego State with 26. She finished sixth in the MW in overall digs per set and fourth in just conference matches, with 296 digs at 4.05 digs per set.
Spragg and Carrasco had stellar seasons at the middle blocker position, having the best season of their careers at the net.
Spragg compiled 22 solo blocks and 113 assisted blocks for a total of 135 blocks, which was a 20-block improvement from 2017 and 17-block improvement from 2016. Her 135 total blocks ranks third in program history in blocks in the 25-point rally scoring and sixth all-time. The 113 block assists ranks sixth all-time and fourth under the 25-point rally scoring, and the 22 solo blocks ranks tied for fourth in school history under the 25-point rally scoring. Her 1.11 blocks per set ranked 10th in the Mountain West, although her 135 was tied for the fifth-most in the conference. In conference play, the Belen, N.M., native accounted for 16 solo blocks and 69 assisted blocks, an average of 1.16 blocks per set that ranked ninth in the conference.
Carrasco tallied 113 total blocks with 15 solo and 98 assisted, which was also a career best for the Texas native. She recorded six more solo blocks and six more assisted blocks than in 2017 and had five more solo blocks and 12 more assisted blocks than in 2016.
Bianco and Inclan came into their roles as setters, with 641 and 520 assists, respectively. Collectively, the duo accounted for 1,161 of the team’s 1,316 assists on the season (88.2%). Bianco (20) and Inclan (16) also finished second and third, respectively, on the team in service aces, with Bianco third in digs with 212.
Bierria was a consistent player for the Lobos, appearing in 120 of the 122 sets and starting in 24 of 30 matches. The junior finished second on the team in kills (350) and fourth in digs (181), notching six double-doubles and posted a team high in kills in 10 matches and tied for the team high in three.
Twitty earned her second Mountain West all-conference selection after leading the team in kills, service aces (23) and points, registering 13 double-doubles on the season, eight of which came against conference opponents. She finished ranked tied for fourth in points per set with 282.5 points and 3.87 per set as well as fourth in kills per set with 3.38 after tallying 247 kills in conference play. Overall, her stats ranked sixth in kills per set (407 kills, 3.36 per set) and points per set (469.5 points, 3.88 per set). She also was third on the team in total blocks (68- 11 solo, 57 assisted) and second in digs (291, 2.40 d/s).
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.
With an overall record of 15-15 and 9-9 in the Mountain West, the Lobos finished the season with a record of .500-or-better in 11 of the last 12 years. It is the seventh-straight year that UNM has finished .500-or-better, which ties the longest stretch in program history of such results. The last time it happened was from 1988 to 1994.
Looking Ahead
Next year’s team returns all but four of the current roster and will have the addition of three newcomers in the form of the 2019 signing class, featuring two international players (a middle blocker and an opposite attacker) and an outside attacker from Reno, Nev., that will fill holes left by the departing senior class.