ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– The second half of Mountain West Conference play begins on Thursday for The University of New Mexico volleyball team with the Lobos hosting San Diego State at 7 p.m. and Fresno State on Saturday at 1 p.m. Both matches will be played at Johnson Gym.
As part of it being Halloween, there will be a $2 ticket price for those who wear a costume and there will be a costume contest between the second and third sets.
On Saturday, the Lobos are hosting a dad and daughter day with a special combination ticket price of $5.
GAME NOTES | LIVE STATS (SDSU) | LIVE STREAM (SDSU) | LIVE STATS (FS) | LIVE STREAM (FS) | TICKETS
NEWS AND NOTES
NEW MEXICO DROPS TWO IN WEEK NINE
The Lobos fell to UNLV on Tuesday night in Las Vegas in four sets (12-25, 25-19, 16-25, 19-25) before being swept by Air Force on Saturday morning at home (21-25, 19-25, 18-25). On the week, Lauren Twitty led the team with 19 kills while Maddie Freiwald accounted for 40 assists, averaging 5.71 a/s. Alena Moldan led in digs with 26, an average of 3.71 d/s, and Rachel Murphy led in blocks with five, one solo and four assisted. Abbey Willison recorded a team-high three service aces.
DOUBLE-DIGIT HITTERS
The Lobos are getting consistent and even contribution from their three outside hitters with three exceeding 200 kills on the season. Lauren Twitty leads the group with 267 kills and has recorded double figures in the category in 14 of the 22 matches and in six of the last seven matches. In the last 10, Twitty has reached double digits in eight, led by a season-high 20 in the win at Nevada. Tai Bierria has recorded 216 on the season with 10-plus in 11 matches, including three of the last five and six of the last 10. Her season high of 17 also came at Nevada. Freshman Kaitlynn Biassou has caught fire as of late to be a key contributor to the Lobo offense, recording 10 or more kills in five of the last seven matches and hit an efficient and season-high .438 against Utah State with 18 kills on 32 swings. She followed that up with 19 kills at Nevada, hitting .359 and has tallied 202 in her rookie campaign.
MILESTONE ALERT
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.
INCLAN CAN DO IT ALL
Jaclyn Inclan, a redshirt-sophomore setter, is averaging 5.77 assists a set, tallying a team-high 467 this season (52 percent of the team’s total). She also contributed with 20 kills, 201 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 a team-high nine double-doubles, including three in her last three matches.
STEPPING IN TO THE FIRE
In their first season of collegiate volleyball, Kaitlynn Biassou and Alena Moldan have proven to be key contributors and key pieces for the Lobos.
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 five of the last seven. 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 202 and attack percentage (.193) and fourth in blocks at 45.0 (three solo).
Moldan has started all 22 matches at the libero position and played in every set, recording double-digit digs in 16 matches and 20-plus digs in six, including fifth in the last six 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 321 digs, an average of 3.78 digs per set.
MURPHY IN THE MIDDLE
After missing three matches due to injury, middle blocker Murphy looks to get back in to the swing of things after returning to the starting lineup against Air Force. 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 85 sets, currently leading the Lobos in total blocks with 72.0 (nine solo), averaging 1.01 b/s. She is fourth on the team in kills (85) and points (126.5).
In the match against Wyoming, Murphy set a career high in kills (14), total blocks (8) and attacks (27) and hit .407, the third-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.
LONG TIME GONE
Of the 22 matches of the season, UNM has played on the road in all but four.
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-two 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 five four-set matches, playing 10, three-set matches and seven, five-set matches. UNM is 3-7 in three-set matches, 1-4 in four sets and 2-5 in five sets.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
SAN DIEGO STATE
Since the Lobos played the Aztecs on Oct. 5, SDSU has gone 1-5 with a 1-3 record in three sets and 0-2 in five sets. SDSU is currently 3-7 in conference play and enters the week on a one-match win streak.
Hannah Turnlund leads the Aztecs with 286 kills on the season, averaging 3.53 k/s, while Victoria O’Sullivan is narrowly behind with 253 kills at 3.12 k/s. Camryn Machado has a team-high 815 assists, an average of 10.19 a/s, and has accounted for 84 percent of the assists on the team, as well as a team-high 14 service aces. Loren Teter leads with 287 digs (3.54 d/s) and Tamia Reeves leads in blocks with 70.0 total, 10 solo.
SDSU is 0-8 on the road this season, 3-6 in three sets, 4-2 in four sets and 3-3 in five sets. They are also 3-7 in their last 10 matches.
SERIES vs. SAN DIEGO STATE
The Aztecs took the first meeting of the season in four sets (25-18, 18-25, 25-18, 25-2) as three Lobos finished with double-digit kills behind a match-high 17 from Lauren Twitty. Jaclyn Inclan led with 27 assists and Maddie Freiwald contributed 22. At the net, Yasmin Tan aided on six assisted blocks for a match high.
UNM and SDSU have met 62 times prior with the Aztecs holding a 41-21 series lead. The Lobos are 14-14 at home. The Aztecs have won the last five meetings, with UNM’s last win coming in straight sets on Nov. 19, 2016 in Albuquerque.
FRESNO STATE
Since the Lobos played the Bulldogs on Oct. 3, Fresno State went 2-5, going 2-3 in three sets, 0-1 in four sets and 0-1 in five sets. FS is currently 5-5 in conference play and enters the week on a one-match losing streak.
Desiree Sukhov leads the team with 285 kills, an average of 4.07 k/s and with 328.5 points (4.69 pts/s). Madelyn Halteman has accounted for 772 of the team’s 922 assists (84 percent) and is averaging 10.16 a/s and leads from the service line with 33 aces. Defensively, Reagan Leonard has a team-high 353 digs (4.64 d/s) and Grace Doyle has had a total of 68.0 blocks (four solo).
Fresno State is 2-5 on the road this season, 9-5 in three sets, 2-4 in four sets and 1-1 in five sets.
SERIES vs. FRESNO STATE
The Bulldogs swept the first meeting of the season with scores of 25-14, 25-22, 25-21, although the Lobos led in all three sets but were unable to stave off the rallies by the Bulldogs. In the first set, UNM got out to a 7-2 lead before the Bulldogs limited the Lobos to just seven more points in the set. In the second set, the Lobos led 18-13 before Fresno State responded with a run to tie the set at 21 and would go on to win 25-22. In the third set, UNM led 16-10 and again there would be a Bulldog rally to tie the set at 21. Fresno State would close with the next four points to win the set and the match.
Tai Bierria led with 10 kills in the match and Jaclyn Inclan was credited with 17 assists. Alena Moldan had a team-high nine digs as well as a team-high two service aces and Danica Rowan led at the net with five total blocks, one solo.
New Mexico and Fresno State have met 29 times previously with the Bulldogs leading the series 16-13. UNM is 8-4 at home and the Bulldogs have won the last four meetings. UNM’s last win was on Oct. 14, 2017 in four sets in Albuquerque.
PRIDE PASS
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.