ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Week four of the Mountain West schedule sends the Lobo volleyball team back on the road for a matchup with San José State on Thursday and Nevada on Saturday.
First serve for Thursday evening in San Jose is set for 7 p.m. MT with first serve on Saturday in Reno set for 2 p.m. MT. Both will be available on the Mountain West Network with live stats available.
New Mexico (11-5, 2-4 MW) split its matches last week, beating Air Force in four before falling to UNLV in three.
Kaitlynn Biassou led the team with 26 kills, averaging 3.71 per set, and in points with 30.5, an average of 4.36 per set, while second in total blocks with 8.0 (one solo). Avital Jaloba led with 12.0 total blocks, two solo, and had eight total blocks against Air Force. In her return, Anilee Sher finished with 63 assists on the week, averaging 9.0 per set, and came close to two double-doubles with nine digs in each match. Uxue Guereca led in total digs with 30 (4.29 per set) and was second in kills with 20 (2.86 per set), registering a double-double against UNLV with 13 kills and 15 digs.
Guereca has 10 double-doubles on the season, with three in her last four matches, while Biassou has recorded 20-plus kills in five matches and is third in the Mountain West in overall kills per set (3.96) and second in points per set (4.64). Jaloba is fourth in the MW in blocks per set (1.13) on the season.
As a team, in MW matches, the Lobos are third in the MW in opponent hitting percentage (.183) and leads in digs per set (16.9).
When it comes to just conference matches, Alena Moldan leads the conference in digs per set (4.38) and Biassou in kills per set (4.25) and kills (102). Jaloba leads in conference matches at 1.42 blocks per set with a conference-best 34 total blocks.
Co-captains Moldan and Biassou are both on the verge on moving up in the all-time program ranks with Moldan currently sitting at 1,321 career digs and Biassou at 1,320 points. Biassou is 16 points away from joining the top-10 career list and is ninth all-time in career kills at 1,132, 11 kills from eighth. Moldan is now sixth all-time in career digs in program history and 76 away from fifth.
The Spartans enter Thursday’s match 12-4 on the season, 6-0 in the MW with wins over San Diego State (3-1), Fresno State (3-2), Boise State (3-1), Utah State (3-1), Wyoming (3-1) and Colorado State (3-2). SJSU is 3-0 at home. SJSU is 2-1 in three sets, 8-2 in four sets, and 2-1 in five sets.
Amethyst Harper leads the Spartans with 207 kills on the season, 3.23 per set, and in conference matches with 84 kills (3.23 per set). Harper also leads with 22 service aces, half of which have come against MW opponents. Both Mia Schafer and Carly Aigner-Swesey have over 300 assists at 377 and 311, respectively, on the season. Defensively, Sarah Smevog leads with a team-high 260 digs and 4.06 per set, with Jiana Lawson having a team-best 55.0 total blocks (seven solo, 48 assisted).
As a team, SJSU is third in the conference in hitting percentage (.244) and service aces per set (1.67) and second in assists per set (12.77) and kills per set (13.63). In just conference matches, the Spartans are second in blocks per set (2.58), hitting percentage (.250), service aces per set (1.65) and kills per set (13.65) and lead in assists per set (12.81).