Biassou and Guereca Earn MW All-Conference Distinction
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Mountain West coaches recognized Kaitlynn Biassou and Uxue Guereca as among the best in the Mountain West Conference on Wednesday, selecting the duo for the All-Conference Team.
The Lobos were two of the 18-person team that earned the all-conference distinction. It is the second all-conference honor for Biassou and the first for Guereca, and of note, the first time that UNM has had two players make all-conference since 2017. However, in 2017 that included an honorable mention. The last time that UNM had two on the “first team” all-conference team was in 2015.
Biassou’s accolade comes after the junior co-captain finished second in the Mountain West in points and points per set in Mountain West matches, with 290.5 and 4.40, respectively. The outside hitter was also third in the conference in kills and kills per set with 252 kills and 3.82 kills per set.
Playing in all of UNM’s 66 sets in conference, Biassou hit .251 with 20 service aces, 85 digs and 36 total blocks. Of the 18 conference matches, the Reno, Nev., native recorded 10-plus kills in 13, including 20-plus kills in three and a career-high 26 kills in the win over Utah State. Her 26 kills were the second-highest total by a Mountain West player in a match this season and her 21 against Nevada were the second most by a player in a three-set match. In addition, her 30 points against Utah State and 26.5 points against Nevada were the second and third highest points scored by a player this season. Biassou had two of the five highest point totals produced this season.
She also hit over .400 in five matches, over .500 in three and hit a career-best .606 in the win at Nevada. From the service line, Biassou registered at least one service ace in 10 matches, finishing with four aces in two matches. In addition, she recorded one double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs against UNLV while also having four service aces.
The Lobo was named Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week twice overall, once as a result of MW competition.
Guereca and Biassou proved to be the perfect pair with Guereca registering 202 kills, an average of 3.21 kills per set, 154 digs for 2.44 digs per set and 236.0 points for 3.75 points per set while hitting .275. The outside hitter finished with double-digit kills in 11 conference matches and 20-plus in the last two matches of the regular season. As a result of her performance, Guereca was named Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week earlier this week, her first career offensive weekly award.
The Mexico native had a career-best 23 kills in the match at Air Force and her 22 against Fresno State was tied for the second highest by a player in four sets.
She also tallied seven double-doubles during conference play and finished eighth in the conference in kills per set but with the seventh-most kills, and eighth in points per set but with the sixth-most points.
The outside hitter hit .400 or better in five matches and .500 or better in two matches, which included hitting .545 and .452 twice in the last three matches.
The duo were the top-two leaders on the team in kills and kills per set, as the only two to register triple digits in the category, as well as in points and points per set, with Biassou leading in service aces and Guereca second in digs.
Guereca, Biassou and the Lobos return to the court on Wednesday in the quarterfinal against UNLV.