ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– For the 14th and 15th match this season, The University of New Mexico volleyball team will be on the road as the Lobos travel to California for a pair of matches.
The Lobos (5-9) start the road trip with a Thursday night match against Fresno State (9-5) with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m. MT before heading to Southern California for a Saturday match against San Diego State (8-5), scheduled for 3 p.m. MT.
Last season, the Lobos lost both meetings with both San Diego State and Fresno State. The Bulldogs and Aztecs bracket New Mexico in the MW Preseason Poll.
GAME NOTES | LIVE STATS (FS) | LIVE STREAM (FS) | LIVE STATS (SDSU) | LIVE STREAM (SDSU)
NEWS AND NOTES
NEW MEXICO DROPS TWO TO OPEN CONFERENCE PLAY
New Mexico volleyball fell in its first two matches of the conference schedule, falling to the top two teams in the preseason poll in Colorado State and Wyoming. The Lobos fell in three to the Rams before being narrowly edged out by the Cowgirls in five in their first home match of the season. The Lobos fought off three set points in the third set against Wyoming before winning 30-28 and rallied to fight off three match points in the fifth set to tie the set at 14 and fought off match point at 15-14 before ultimately dropping the set 17-15. Against the Cowgirls, four Lobos recorded double-doubles in Lauren Twitty, Tai Bierria, Jaclyn Inclan and Maddie Freiwald, while four Lobos also tallied double figures in kills (Bierria, Twitty, Danica Rowan and Rachel Murphy). Rowan and Murphy each had career highs in kills with 10 and 14, respectively.Murphy and Bierria also each had career highs in blocks, with eight total blocks (one solo) for Murphy and seven assisted blocks for Bierria.
On the week, Twitty led with 21 kills, Bierria led with six aces, Inclan had a team-high 35 assists and Alena Moldan had 30 digs. Murphy led with 10 total blocks, one solo).
ADDING TO THE MILESTONES
After already reaching one milestone this season, senior outside hitter Lauren Twitty added to her achievements at UNM. The senior co-captain played her 100th match at UNM against Wyoming on Saturday. Earlier this season, in the third set against OSU, Twitty became the 14th Lobo all-time to reach 1000 kills in a career. It took Twitty 94 matches and 314 sets to accomplish the feat.
SERVING UP A PERFECT 10
The Lobos served up 10 aces twice at the North Texas Challenge, setting season highs in the category. UNM first reached the mark against North Texas with five Lobos getting in the column. Freiwald and Inclan led with three aces each with Twitty accounting for two and Murphy and Bierria each having one. In the match against Kansas State, Bierria had a career-high four with Freiwald, Twitty and Moldan each tallying two. Twitty has recorded two service aces in eight matches this season and at least one in 10 and Bierria has recorded at least one ace in the last six matches.
UNM has four players with 10 or more aces led by Twitty with 18. Bierria is slightly behind with 15, Freiwald has 14 and Inclan has 10. Nine Lobos have at least one ace and seven have multiple.
MURPHY IN THE MIDDLE
Middle blocker Rachel Murphy has had a stellar sophomore campaign, setting several career highs through the first 14 matches of the season. The Wisconsin native has started every match thus far and played in all but one set, and currently leads the Lobos in total blocks with 57.0 (eight solo), averaging 1.10 b/s. She is fourth on the team in kills (57) and points (90.5).
In the match against Wyoming, Murphy set a career high in kills (14) and total blocks (8) and attacks (27) and hit .407, the second-highest hitting percentage on the team in a match this season. She recorded a career-high six digs at North Texas and tallied three solo blocks in the match against Kansas State.
STEPPING IN TO THE FIRE
Freshman Kaitlynn Biassou started her first collegiate match against UNC and had an immediate impact for the Lobos. The outside hitter played in all five sets and had 15 kills in the match, the second-highest total for UNM in the match. At the net, Biassou assisted on four blocks and recorded a solo block for a total of 18.0 in the match. The Nevada native is third on the team in kills this season with 104 and blocks at 31.0. Since then, she has started every match and has had double figures in kills in three matches. She broke out in the match against Oregon State with 23 kills, the first Lobo to reach 20 kills on the season and the most since Lauren Twitty had 25 in 2017.
Fellow freshman Alena Moldan has started all 14 matches at the libero position and played in every set, recording double-digit digs in 11 matches. She had a match-high 27 digs against GCU, a match-high 12 against Rutgers and produced 27 more digs against OSU to tie her season high. She currently leads the team with 216 digs, an average of 4.08 digs per set.
LONG TIME GONE
Of the first 14 matches of the season, UNM has played on the road in all but one.The Lobos spent their first four weekends of the 2019 season on the road in non-conference tournaments and opened the conference schedule at Colorado State before opening at home on Saturday, Sept. 28 against Wyoming. UNM traveled to Greeley, Colo., Las Cruces, Seattle, Wash., and Denton, Texas for its four tournaments, a total distance of 2779.61 miles (5559.22 roundtrip).
GOING THE DISTANCE
Fourteen matches in to the season, the Lobos have already played five, five-set matches, continuing a trend from 2018.
In 2018, the Lobos played a total of 12 five-set matches, the most five-set matches in a single season in program history, surpassing the precedent of 10 set in 2012.
Among those five-set matches, the Lobos staged a comeback against North Florida to force a fifth set and ended the season with a victory over MW champion Colorado State.
UNM had its most success in four-set matches, winning six of eight. However, this season the Lobos have played just one four-set match, playing eight, three-set matches and five, five-set matches.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
FRESNO STATE
Fresno State enters the match having won its last four matches and is 2-0 in the conference with wins over Nevada and San Jose State. The Bulldogs have won all four of their matches during their win streak in straight sets.
The Bulldogs have had one common opponent with the Lobos in the non-conference season in Ohio. Fresno State opened the season with a four-set win over the Bobcats.
Desiree Sukhov leads the team with 201 kills, an average of 4.10 k/s and with 229.5 points (4.68 pts/s). Madelyn Halteman has accounted for 506 of the team’s 605 assists (84 percent) and is averaging 10.33 a/s and leads from the service line with 19 aces. Defensively, Reagan Leonard has a team-high 222 digs (4.53 d/s) and Grace Doyle has had a total of 49.0 blocks (three solo).
Fresno State is 3-1 at home this season, 6-2 in three sets, 2-3 in four sets and 1-0 in five sets.
SERIES vs. FRESNO STATE
New Mexico and Fresno State have met 28 times previously with the Bulldogs leading the series 15-13. UNM is 3-11 at Fresno State and the Bulldogs have won the last three meetings. UNM’s last win was on Oct. 14, 2017 in four sets in Albuquerque and the last win in Fresno was Nov. 14, 2015 in three sets.
SAN DIEGO STATE
San Diego State started conference play 1-1 with a five-set win over San Jose State and a four-set loss to Nevada.
They have just one common non-conference opponent with the Lobos in Grand Canyon, which the Aztecs lost in three sets.
Victoria O’Sullivan leads the Aztecs with 181 kills on the season, averaging 3.55 k/s, while Hannah Turnlund is narrowly behind with 177 kills at 3.47 k/s. Camryn Machado has a team-high 546 assists, an average of 10.71 a/s, and has accounted for 88 percent of the assists on the team, as well as a team-high eight service aces. Loren Teter leads with 179 digs (3.51 d/s) and Lexie Hamrick leads in blocks with 47 total, 10 solo, an average of 1.02 b/s.
SERIES vs. SAN DIEGO STATE
UNM and SDSU have met 61 times prior with the Aztecs holding a 40-21 series lead. The Lobos are 7-22 in San Diego with the last win coming on Oct. 31, 2009 in four sets. The Aztecs have won the last four meetings, with UNM’s last win coming in straight sets on Oct. 19, 2016.
PRIDE PASS
The Lobos open their home schedule on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. at Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit. Fans can purchase Lobo Pride Passes for access to all home matches this season for $50 by clicking HERE. Other ways are directly through the Lobo Ticket Office in person or on the phone (925-LOBO). The Lobo Ticket Office is located in Dreamstyle Arena and is open 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.