Lobos Head to Las Vegas for Early Week Match
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– The University of New Mexico volleyball team returns to the road for an early week match at UNLV on Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. MT before beginning a three-match homestand against Air Force on Saturday. The start time for the match against the Falcons is now 10:30 a.m. in Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit.
Tuesday’s match will be UNM’s third match in six days, all on the road.
GAME NOTES | LIVE STATS | LIVE STREAM
NEWS AND NOTES
NEW MEXICO SPLITS WEEK EIGHT MATCHES
The Lobos earned their first conference win in a hard-fought five-set match against Nevada on Thursday before falling to San José State in four.
Against the Wolf Pack, the Lobos dropped a close first set 25-21 before taking the second set 25-22. UNM was unable to gain the upperhand in the third, dropping the set 26-24, but rallied to force a fifth set with a 25-22 fourth set win. In the fifth, the Lobos led from start to finish, capping the match with a 15-9 win.
Against the Spartans, the Lobos took the first set 25-21 but dropped the next two 25-19 and 25-17, respectively. The Lobos held the lead for most of the fourth set, even holding three set points, but SJSU rallied to win the fourth 27-25 and win the match.
On the week, Biassou led the team with 33 kills and hit an efficient .314 on 70 swings following 19 kills against Nevada and 14 against SJSU, while Jaclyn Inclan accounted for 63 assists, averaging 7.00 a/s, and had a team-high 39 digs with a career-high 26 against Nevada, recording two double-doubles. Yasmin Tan led in blocks with 16, all assisted, setting career highs with eight in each match. Abbey Willison had 11 total blocks, all assisted, as well a team-high four service aces, with three coming on consecutive aces against SJSU in the second set as she started both matches.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
The Lobos tallied several season highs in Thursday’s match at Nevada, leading to UNM’s first conference win of the year.
UNM produced its most kills (73), assists (70), and blocks (17.0) and the second-most digs (79) in a match this season against the Wolf Pack and hit .309. The Lobos got stronger offensively as the match unfolded, hitting .250 in the first, .262 in the second, .308 in the third, .361 in the fourth and .444 in the fifth.
Three Lobos finished with double figures in kills led by a match-high and season-high 20 from senior Lauren Twitty. Freshman Kaitlynn Biassou finished one behind her, hitting a team-high .359 on 39 swings in her return home to Reno and playing in front of friends, family and former teammates. In the fifth set, she tallied the last three kills for the Lobos to seal the win.
Two Lobos recorded double-doubles with Jaclyn Inclan leading with a team-high 35 assists to go along with a team-high as well as career-high 26 digs and Tai Bierria’s season-high 17 kills and 11 digs.
At the net, it took career highs in blocks from Abbey Willison, recording nine assisted in her second start at middle blocker, and a career-high eight assisted from Yasmin Tan. Maddie Freiwald finished with a season-high 29 assists as well as two service aces.
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 Rachel 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 eight of the last 10 matches.
UNM has five players with 10 or more aces led by Twitty with 21. Bierria is one behind with 20, Freiwald has 18, Moldan has 13 and Inclan has 12. Ten Lobos have at least one ace and eight have multiple.
MURPHY IN THE MIDDLE
After missing the last three matches due to injury, middle blocker Murphy looks to make her return to the lineup this week.
Murphy has had a stellar sophomore campaign, setting several career highs throughout the season. The Wisconsin native has started every match but one and played in 63 sets, currently leading the Lobos in total blocks with 67.0 (eight solo), averaging 1.06 b/s. She is fourth on the team in kills (74) and points (112.5).
In the match against Wyoming, Murphy set a career high in kills (14), total blocks (8) and attacks (27) and hit .407, the fourth-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 points in the match. Since then, she has started every match and has had double figures in kills in eight matches, including the last five. 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. The Nevada native is third on the team in kills this season with 188 and attack percentage (.193) and fourth in blocks at 44.0 (three solo).
Fellow freshman Alena Moldan has started all 20 matches at the libero position and played in every set, recording double-digit digs in 14 matches and 20-plus digs in six, including twice in the last three 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 by over 100 digs with 296 digs, an average of 3.79 digs per set.
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, Sept. 28. 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.
Next on the milestone watch is setter Jaclyn Inclan, who is nearing 1000 career assists as a Lobo. The redshirt-sophomore has 972, just 28 shy of the milestone.
INSTANT CONTRIBUTOR
After transferring from Memphis, outside hitter Tai Bierria made an immediate impact for the Lobos in 2018, finishing with the second-highest kill total as well as point total on the team behind Twitty.
Bierria had 359 kills and 377.0 points, appearing in 120 sets, starting in 24 of the 30 matches, and registered double-digit kills in 22 matches.
This season, Bierria leads the team in hitting percentge (.203), is second on the team in kills (204), points (237.5), and service aces (20) and third in digs (180) with four double-doubles and has recorded a service ace in 13 matches including at least one in nine of the last 12. She had a career-high four against Kansas State. The Georgia native has also tallied double-digit kills in 11 matches, including the last three and seven of the last 10.
INCLAN CAN DO IT ALL
Jaclyn Inclan, a redshirt-sophomore setter, is averaging 5.87 assists a set, tallying a team-high 452 this season (54 percent of the team’s total). She also contributed with 18 kills, 191 digs (second-most on the team), five blocks (one solo) and 12 service aces. She had a career-high 42 assists against GCU and a career-high 26 digs at Nevada and has had six matches with 30 or more assists. The Arizona native has also registered eight double-doubles, including two in the last two matches, to tie for the team high.
AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE (OI, OI, OI!)
Middle blocker Yasmin Tan is finding her role in the starting lineup and making an impact at the net. The junior has started in all 20 matches and played in all but one set. The Melbourne, Australia native is currently second on the team in total blocks with 60 (three solo) and fifth in kills with 59 and points (95.5). In week eight, Tan recorded 16 block assists, eight in each match which set a career high.
LONG TIME GONE
Of the first 20 matches of the season, UNM has played on the road in all but three.
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.
During the non-conference portion of the schedule, UNM travelled 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
Twenty matches in to the season, the Lobos have already played seven, 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 four four-set matches, playing nine, three-set matches and seven, five-set matches. UNM is 3-6 in three-set matches, 1-3 in four sets and 2-5 in five sets.
ABOUT UNLV
UNLV enters the match having won its last six matches after starting conference 0-2. In week eight, UNLV beat SJSU in three sets and Nevada in four. The Rebels are 3-5 on the season at home.
The Rebels had just one non-conference opponent with the Lobos in Pacific, which UNLV lost in four.
Shelby Capllonch leads the team with 232 kills, an average of 2.83 k/s, 266.0 points (3.24 pts/s) and digs at 255 (3.11 d/s). Antonette Rolda has accounted for 481of the team’s 990 assists (49 percent) and is averaging 5.87 a/s with Lauryn Burt slightly behind her with 405 assists (4.94 a/s). From the service line, Mariena Hayden leads UNLV with 35 aces. Defensively, Kate Brennsn leads with a total of 72.0 blocks (13 solo).
UNLV is 2-1 in three sets, 3-4 in four sets and 5-4 in five sets. They are also 7-3 in their last 10 matches.
SERIES vs. UNLV
The two teams have met 42 times previously with UNLV leading the series 24-18. UNM won both meetings in 2018, a 3-1 win in Albuquerque and a 3-0 win in Las Vegas. The Lobos have won the last three matches, but both teams are 5-5 in the last 10 meetings.
TICKETS
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.
UNM’s next home match on Saturday, Oct. 26 against Air Force has been announced as a 10:30 a.m. start time. The match will be held in Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit. Tickets can be purchased HERE.