Lobos Open Long-Awaited Season at Nevada Friday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— In a little less than 24 hours, The University of New Mexico volleyball team will take the court for its season opener at Nevada.
The Lobos will face Nevada in a two-match series starting on Friday at 2 p.m. MT/ 1 p.m. PT and again on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT/ noon PT.
To get to this point has been a long time coming, 442 days to be exact. In that timespan, the Lobo roster has undergone a complete renovation with 11 newcomers joining the program. Among the 11 are three freshmen who enrolled in January 2021 who will be eligible to compete this season given the unique volleyball schedule.
UNM returns two starters from the 2019 roster in sophomore co-captains Kaitlynn Biassou and Alena Moldan and two more returners in sophomore Chloe Clark and redshirt-freshman Uxue Guereca.
Biassou is expected to build on her freshman success and be a leader among the outside hitter position group after appearing in 30 matches in 2019 with 29 starts and finishing third on the team in kills (293), points (335) and blocks (79). Moldan returns as the floor general at the libero position, leading the team in digs with 422 and as the top returner in assists (98) from a year ago.
Clark joins Moldan at the libero spot and appeared in 17 matches and 50 sets as a freshman, accumulating 13 digs, two aces and an assist.
For the rest of the group, the Lobos had two players enroll in January 2020 in freshman outside hitter Kali Wolf and junior outside hitter and New Mexico native Hayley Torres and were able to learn the system in the two months of offseason. Six more joined in fall 2020 and the newest aforementioned additions to the roster rounded out the team.
The Lobos gained needed depth at the middle blocker position in transfers Avital Jaloba and Milica Djukic and freshmen Emma Smith and Elizabeth Woods, with all four standing 6-feet or above.
At the outside hitter position, the Lobos lost two go-to producers in Lauren Twitty and Tai Bierria, but added reinforcements in Abby Thigpen, Tori Tua, Torres and Wolf.
The setter position will be a two-person job with freshmen Kara Erfurth and Riley White and Jazlynn Soriano will join Moldan and Clark at the libero position as another option for the Lobos.
On the other side of the matchup is Nevada, who finished 7-11 in conference in 2019 and 17-13 overall. The Wolf Pack lost their main setter in Dalyn Burns, but returns Kayla Afoa, who led the team in kills (375), points (438.5) and digs (377) in 2019, as well as their top two blockers in Sydney Petersen (147) and Kassie McGill (98).
Last season, the Lobos defeated the Wolf Pack in both meetings, with the first a 3-2 victory in Reno followed by a 3-0 win in Albuquerque.
Both matches will be streamed on the Mountain West Network with live stats available.