ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—The University of New Mexico volleyball team picked up two more Mountain West weekly conference honors following two monumental wins last week over Wyoming and Colorado State.
Alena Moldan earned her third MW Defensive Player of the Week award of the season and Elizabeth Woods was named MW Freshman of the Week for the second time this season.
Monday’s announcement also marks the third time this season that the Lobos have earned multiple awards in the same week and brings the season total of awards to seven for New Mexico, the most in the Mountain West by any school.
In addition, Moldan now holds the most defensive player awards in the MW this season after receiving the accolade the first week of the season (Aug. 30) and three weeks ago (Oct. 11).
Entering a crucial week in the conference with matches against conference-leader Colorado State and Wyoming, with the Cowgirls entering the match one game behind the Lobos, the junior libero led the Lobos with 31 digs between the two matches, averaging 4.43 per set and was a perfect 1.000 in service receptions on 35 total attempts. Against the Cowgirls, Moldan finished with a team-high 14 digs as the Lobos swept Wyoming, and tied for the match high in digs against Colorado State with 17 while holding the team high.
The Lobo co-captain flew all over the court, keeping plays alive for the Lobos as the team closed in on the win in both matches. In the third set against Wyoming, Moldan registered eight digs, accounting for half of UNM’s team total. In the closely contested 25-22 second set against the Rams, Moldan recorded seven digs, while CSU had eight total digs as a team in the set. In the final set against the Rams, Moldan tallied two digs on the 23-13 point that led to a Lobo kill to reach match point, with New Mexico ultimately winning the set 25-14.
As a team, the Lobos held both the Cowgirls and the Rams below .200 hitting, with Wyoming finishing at .115 and Colorado State at .161, and recorded more digs than the Cowgirls (48-42) and the Rams (62-46).
For Woods, the middle blocker had a balanced 14 kills and 13 total blocks on the week, with one solo and 12 assisted, and an average of 1.86 blocks per set. The Rowlett, Texas, native also hit .433 between both matches, hitting .471 against CSU (8-0-17) and .385 (6-1-13) against the Cowgirls.
Woods set a season high in block assists against Wyoming with seven and finished with one solo and five assisted blocks against CSU, recording match highs in both contests. As a team, UNM recorded more blocks than both of its opponents, outblocking CSU 11.0 to 5.0 and Wyoming 10.0 to 7.0, with Woods a large contributor to that feat.
The freshman started off the week with four assisted blocks in the first set against Wyoming, with three assisted blocks in the span of four plays as the Lobos led 5-3, 6-3 and 7-4. Woods further contributed to UNM’s first set win with an assisted block for the 21-17 UNM advantage and a kill that stopped Wyoming’s run to make it 22-19 UNM. In the second set, Woods recorded consecutive early kills to put UNM ahead 4-3 and 5-3, breaking the final tie in the 25-23 set win. To close the match against the Cowgirls, Woods had a balanced three kills and three block assists.
Against CSU, Woods recorded the final two kills in the match as UNM won 25-14 in the fourth set to clinch the match. In the opening set, the freshman added an assist early on in the match as UNM got out to an early 7-1 lead, ultimately hitting .750 with three kills on four attacks as the Lobos led from start to finish in the 25-16 set win. In the second set, Woods contributed an assisted block as part of a 4-0 run that closed the gap to one at 8-7, and a kill that tied the set at 11.
The distinctions cap off a memorable week for the program as UNM’s win snapped CSU’s seven-match win streak and was the first win at home against the Rams since Sept. 20, 2012 and the first win overall against the Rams since Nov. 17, 2018. Saturday’s win also extended UNM’s win streak to three matches, dropping just one set in the last three matches. New Mexico’s win over Wyoming snapped a seven-match losing streak to the Cowgirls dating back to 2017, with the last home win occurring on Sept. 26, 2013, both times also happening in three sets.
UNM heads back on the road to face Boise State and Utah State on Nov. 4 and Nov. 6, respectively.