ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The goal for every collegiate program is to be playing volleyball in the month of December in a postseason tournament, but while the Lobos fell short in 2019, if the way the 2019 season ended is any indication, it won’t be long until The University of New Mexico Lobos will be in the field.
Returning just two starters from the 2018 roster and incorporating seven newcomers in to the program including six freshmen, the Lobos were tested with four non-conference tournaments and a total of 13 matches on the road before hosting their first home match of the season.
Adding to the mix was a completely new coaching staff who had implemented a new way of practicing, of preparing, of studying and playing the game.
As with any new philosophical and coaching change, it took some time for the Lobos to find their footing, but the Cherry and Silver found their identity late to finish strong and build a platform for the future.
Head Coach Jon Newman-Gonchar earned his first win at the helm of the Lobos in the opening match of the season against Rutgers in a straight-set win(25-17, 25-12, 25-22), but UNM would go 1-2 on the weekend at the Northern Colorado Classic to begin the season.
It was a trend that would continue the next two weekends in Las Cruces and Seattle before the Lobos closed out the non-conference portion of the schedule winning two of three at North Texas.
After dropping the first match to Ohio in close straight sets (26-24, 25-23, 25-22), UNM turned the corner with a hard-fought five-set victory against the host Mean Green (13-25, 25-20, 24-26, 27-25, 15-13) and finished with a win over Kansas State in four sets (30-28, 17-25, 25-17, 25-23). That weekend the Lobos recorded their season high in service aces with 10 against North Texas and Kansas State, as well as 101 digs versus UNT.
The win over the Wildcats (from the Big 12) gave UNM two wins over Power 5 schools (the other being Rutgers from the Big Ten) in the same season for the first time since 2016 when the Lobos defeated Arizona State (Pac-12) and Arkansas (SEC).
Entering Mountain West play 5-7, the Lobos faced a daunting task with the top two teams in the conference, at defending champion Colorado State and against Wyoming. UNM would lose in three to the Rams before dropping a five-set decision to the Cowgirls in its first home match of the season.
UNM continued to search for its first conference win in its next four matches before registering its first conference win at Nevada on Oct. 17 in five sets (21-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-22, 15-9). In the match against the Wolf Pack, the Lobos recorded a season-high 73 kills, 70 assists and 17.0 total blocks. Jaclyn Inclan (26 digs, 35 assists) and Tai Bierria (17 kills, 11 digs) each finished with a double-double and Reno, Nev.- native Kaitlynn Biassou produced 19 kills, including five kills in the final set on seven swings and three of which resulted in the final three points of the match.
However, the Lobos would fall in their next four matches before embarking on a 5-2 run in the final seven matches, including two, two-match win streaks with wins over Fresno State (five sets) and at Utah State (four sets) as well as San José State (four sets) and Nevada (three sets) to close out the season. In the final match of the season at Air Force, the Lobos had their most efficient hitting percentage of the season with .337, winning in straight sets (25-14, 25-14, 25-19).
In the final seven matches, UNM found its identity with seven straight matches recording double-digit blocks, out-blocking its opponents in all seven. The Lobos had three outside hitters contribute balanced scoring in that frame with over 70 kills each and two middle blockers with 40 total blocks.
UNM finished the season 11-19 overall, 6-12 in the Mountain West.
On the season, the Lobos had a balanced offense with close to three outside hitters recording 300-plus kills.
Senior captain Lauren Twitty led the Lobos in kills for the third consecutive year with 352 kills, averaging 3.06 k/s, followed by senior Bierria with 302 kills (2.63 k/s). UNM had a welcomed emergence of freshman Biassou who contributed 293 (2.66 k/s) in her rookie campaign, playing in 110 sets and starting in all but the opening match against Rutgers. The freshman tied Bierria for the team high in attack percentage with .211 and against Oregon State reached 23 kills, the first Lobo to eclipse 20 since Twitty did it against North Florida in September 2018.
All three accounted for over 330 points for the Lobos with Twitty registering a team-high 421.5, Bierria at 349.0 and Biassou at 335.0.
Twitty led the team in kills in 12 matches, tying for the team high in six, while Bierria led in four and tied in four and Biassou led in seven and tied in four.
Bierria and Twitty were first and second in service aces with 27 and 26, respectively.
At the net, UNM had two players record over 100 total blocks, led by sophomore middle blocker Rachel Murphy’s 120, of which 11 were solo and 109 assisted. Junior Yasmin Tan also surpassed the century mark with 108, eight solo and 100 assisted, season-bests for both blockers. Murphy’s total placed her tied for sixth in the 25-point rally scoring single-season individual record at UNM and just outside of the top-10 all-time.
When it came to the setter position, Inclan finished with her best season as a Lobo after becoming a regular starter, with a team-high 662 assists, an average of 5.96 a/s, recording 20-plus assists in 18 matches, 30-plus in seven matches and a season-high 42 in the second match of the season against Grand Canyon. She had double-digit assists in all but three matches and led the Lobos in assists in all but five matches that she appeared in. Her 662 placed her 10th in assists in UNM history in the 25-point rally scoring era.
Inclan posted a team-best 13 double-doubles on the year, three more than the second-most on the team (Twitty). In addition, the setter from Arizona finished second on the team in digs with 274 and fifth in service aces (15) while also recording 11 total blocks, two solo, and 34 kills.
Needing to fill the libero position in 2019, freshman Alena Moldan stepped in and started all 30 matches and appeared in every single set for the Lobos. The Minnesota native recorded double figures in 22 matches, finishing with a team-high 422, and also finished fourth in service aces with 22. Moldan led the team in digs in 20 matches while tied for the team high in one and five times posted 20-plus digs.
Of note, the Lobos had two significant milestones on the year with Twitty registering her 1,000th- career kill on Sept. 13 against Oregon State and Inclan registering the 1000th assist of her career on Oct. 31 versus San Diego State.
Additionally, the Lobos also placed one on the MW postseason award list with an honorable mention for Twitty and Bierria closed the season with her first conference honor after being named MW Offensive Player of the Week on Nov. 25.
Looking ahead to the future and the 2020 roster, the Lobos graduated three on the 2019 roster in Bierria, Twitty and graduate student and setter Maddie Freiwald, who contributed 421 assists (4.17 a/s), 23 service aces (third-most on the team), 157 digs and two assisted blocks. While the loss of Twitty and Bierria will be big holes to fill, Newman-Gonchar and his staff added depth at the outside hitter position with the signing of Kali Wolf from Minnesota with potential further additions still to come.
As Newman-Gonchar stated following the final match of the season, “The future is so incredibly bright for this program and we can’t wait to get back to work to build on the end of the season momentum we built this season.”