Lobos Travel to California for Final Road Matches of Season
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– The University of New Mexico volleyball team travels to Northern California for its final two road matches, scheduled to face San José State on Thursday and Fresno State on Saturday.
Thursday’s match will start at 4 p.m. MT/ 3 p.m. PT and Saturday’s match will be at 1 p.m. PT/ 2 p.m. MT, with both matches streamed on the Mountain West Network.
The Lobos last played March 6 at Boise State, what will be 19 days by the time the Lobos take the court on Thursday, and have played all 10 matches to date on the road.
GROW THROUGH WHAT YOU GO THROUGH
With a large turnover in the roster and limited ability to practice as a team to start the season, the Lobos have had to learn on the fly, utilizing different lineups along the way.
While Kaitlynn Biassou, Kali Wolf and Alena Moldan have started in all 10 matches this season, UNM has shuffled its starters in each series. Milica Djukic has started in eight matches, missing the SDSU series, Kara Erfurth has started in eight matches, missing the Boise State series, Emma Smith has started in seven matches, Tori Tua has started in six matches, Chloe Clark in three matches and Jazlynn Soriano starting in the Boise State series.
Freshmen Emma Smith and Tori Tua not only made their first appearances as Lobos at Wyoming, they also made their first career starts. Smith earned the nod in Friday’s match and finished with four kills on nine attempts with no errors. On Saturday, Tua got the start and went on to have a match-high 10 kills, a service ace, two digs and a team-high five total blocks. Both freshmen played in both matches, with Tua finishing the series with 11 kills, a service ace, three digs and five total blocks for 15.0 points and Smith finishing with seven kills, two digs and four assisted blocks for 9.0 points. Also making their first appearance of the season was Hayley Torres, who finished with a kill and four digs.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
The Lobos finished with a season-high 13.0 total blocks in the second match against SDSU, with freshman Emma Smith one of three Lobos to finish with six total blocks, joined by Avital Jaloba’s six assisted and fellow freshman Tori Tua matching Smith with one solo and five assisted. In the same match, the Lobos registered a season-high nine service aces, matching that in the second match at Air Force. In the second match against the Falcons, UNM matched its season high in digs with 73. The Lobos however have not been able to replicate the success of the first two matches in which they finished with a season-best 61 kills in the season opener and a .403 hitting percentage in the second match.
TALK ABOUT STATS
To date, Kaitlynn Biassou is sixth in the conference in kills per set at 3.19 and is sixth in points per set at 3.76 with 135.5 on the season. Additionally, Kara Erfurth is third in the conference in assists per set at 8.80. Alena Moldan is 10th in the conference in digs per set with 3.36.
About San José State
The Spartans’ four conference wins have come over Air Force (3-2), Nevada (3-1 and 3-0) and Colorado State (3-2). SJSU has been swept by UNLV, Fresno State and Boise State and are 1-3 in three sets, 1-4 in four sets, and 2-1 in five sets. The Spartans have had similar results to the Lobos against the same opponents: both teams swept Nevada, split with Air Force and were swept by Boise State.
Haylee Nelson leads the team in kills with 168, averaging 3.57 per set, and in service aces with 18. Like the Lobos, the Spartans are led by a freshman setter in Mia Schafer, who has accounted for 375 of the team’s 554 assists (68 percent) and is averaging 7.98 assists per set. Defensively, Sarah Smevog leads in digs with 170 (3.62 per set) and Ryann Thomison has 30.0 total blocks (seven solo) for the team high. Allyson Alden is ninth in the conference in hitting percentage (.318) with Nelson fourth in kills per set and Latahevai Lousi fifth in kills per set (3.30). Schafer is fifth in assists per set and Smevog is eighth in digs per set.
As a team, the Spartans are fourth in the MW in assists per set (11.74) and fifth in kills per set (12.57) and service aces per set (1.72) but does have the second-most aces in the conference at 81.
Series vs. San José State
UNM has a 16-7 advantage in the series, and is 6-4 on the road. The Lobos are 8-1 in three sets, 5-2 in four sets and 2-4 in five sets. In 2019, the Lobos lost to the Spartans in San Jose (21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 27-25) but won in four sets at home (25-22, 25-14, 22-25, 25-23).
About Fresno State
Fresno State’s six wins have come over San Diego State (3-1), a sweep of San Jose State (3-0 and 3-2), Utah State (3-1), Air Force (3-2) and Wyoming (3-2). The Bulldogs have either swept or split every series this season. The Bulldogs are 4-2 at home with a 1-1 record in three sets, 2-4 record in four sets, and 3-0 record in five sets.
Desiree Sukhov leads the team with 141 kills (3.13 per set), 167.5 points and with 19 service aces. Amilya Thompson has 280 assists on the season (7.37 per set) with Julia Handy at 109 assists. Jocelyn Rodriguez leads with 184 digs (4.49 per set), one of two Bulldog players with 100-plus digs on the season as Sukhov has 104. Grace Doyle and Rebecca Rendahl are the top two blockers on the team with 44.0 and 43.0, respectively, with Doyle having seven solo.
As a team, Fresno State leads the conference in digs per set (15.0) and is third in service aces per set (1.76).
Fresno State was picked to finish sixth in the MW preseason poll.
Series vs. Fresno State
Fresno State leads 16-14 in the all-time series and is 4-1 in the last five matches. The Lobos however did win the last meeting, a 3-2 win at home with Kaitlynn Biassou finishing with 15 kills and a career-best eight total blocks.