Woods Chosen as MW Freshman of the Week
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— With success, comes awards. Two weeks into the 2021 season, the New Mexico Lobo volleyball team has earned a third Mountain West weekly conference honor as freshman middle blocker Elizabeth Woods has been named MW Freshman of the Week.
The honor comes for the Texas native after Woods led the Lobos with 12 total blocks, two solo and 10 assisted, for 1.33 blocks per set at the Wildcat Classic.
Woods has been a consistent contributor for the Lobos, starting all six matches and playing in all 18 sets to date, while recording a team-high 22 total blocks that includes a team-best five solo and 17 assisted, and 22 kills.
Returning to her home state, Woods posted a weekend-best two solo blocks and five assisted blocks, with three kills (hit .300) against host Abilene Christian, hit .429 against Texas Southern with four kills and two assisted blocks, and hit .364 with four kills and had three assisted blocks against Green Bay. On the weekend, the middle blocker had just one attack error on 28 swings with 11 kills.
Although just a freshman, Woods has shown her ability to step up in big moments, providing a pivotal block or kill.
Among her many highlights against ACU, Woods had an assisted block and a solo block in the span of three points in the first set, and in the final five points of the set had a kill immediately followed by an assisted block to get UNM to set point. In the second set against ACU, the freshman of the week gave the Lobos the lead at 8-7 on a kill and tallied a kill that put UNM ahead 14-12, and finished the third set with another solo block that gave the Lobos a 16-15 lead and two assisted blocks, one which gave UNM a 13-11 lead and another one that gave UNM the final point of the match at 25-21.
In the third set against Green Bay, Woods had two assisted blocks and a kill in the first five points of the set to give UNM a 4-1 lead. Later in the set, she had a kill followed by an assisted block as part of a 5-0 UNM run that turned the set from 14-13 UNM to 19-13 UNM. She ultimately finished with two kills and three assisted blocks in the 25-18 set win.
Against TSU, Woods continued to be impactful, recording an assisted block that gave UNM a 4-2 lead, a kill that tied the set at seven, followed by a kill that pushed the Lobo lead to 19-11 in the first set. Further, her kill in the second set against the Tigers clinched the set at 25-11.
Woods is currently ranked in the top 10 in blocks and hitting percentage in the MW.
The Lobos earned their third conference weekly honor of the year, with Woods joining Alena Moldan and Kaitlynn Biassou, who earned defensive player of the week and offensive player of the week, respectively, last week. In the last two years, the Lobos have had multiple players receive the accolade, while 2017 was the last time that UNM has had more than three (finishing the season with four).
Woods and the Lobos (6-0) host Southeast Louisiana, Seattle and UCSD on Friday, Sept. 10 and Saturday, Sept. 11 at The Pit. The first UNM match is set for 12:30 p.m. against Southeast Louisiana followed by a Friday night match against Seattle (6:30 p.m.) and a Saturday match against UCSD at 1 p.m.
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