Lobos Host Spartans Saturday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Following a sweep of Nevada on Thursday, The University of New Mexico volleyball team looks to continue its win streak on Saturday against San José State.
First serve is set for 1 p.m. with tickets still available to purchase at golobos.com/tickets. For those unable to attend, the match will be streamed on the Mountain West Network with live stats available.
Sitting at 14-7 on the season and 5-6 in the Mountain West, the Lobos have won their last three matches, with the last two in straight sets.
Since the Lobos last faced the Spartans two weeks ago, SJSU has gone 2-2 and enter Saturday’s match on a two-match losing streak. San José State lost to Air Force in three on Thursday and currently sit at 15-6 on the season and 9-2 in conference.
Amethyst Harper continues to the lead the team in kills with 269 (3.32 per set), followed by Haylee Nelson at 228 and Blaire Fleming at 224. Mia Schafer has a team-high 476 assists (5.88 per set) and Carly Aigner-Swesey also has over 400 assists with 423 (5.22 per set). Schafer also leads in service aces with 29, one more than Harper. Sarah Smevog has a team-best 347 digs on the season with Jiana Lawson leading with 67 total blocks (11 solo).
Saturday’s match will be a test of offensive power versus defensive prowess, with SJSU leading in numerous offensive categories and UNM leading in numerous defensive categories.
As a team, SJSU is third in conference matches in hitting percentage (.244) and lead in kills per set (14.42) and assists per set (13.37), while the Lobos lead the conference in opponent hitting percentage at .176 and digs per set (16.76). During UNM’s three-match win streak, the Lobos held their opponents to a .148 hitting percentage and are averaging 17.6 digs per set.
On an individual level, SJSU and UNM have the top-two leaders in digs in the MW in Smevog (4.51 digs per set) and Alena Moldan (4.36 per set). Kaitlynn Biassou leads the MW in kills per set (4.19) and in points per set (4.73), with Avital Jaloba second in the conference in blocks per set (1.29).
On a national level, Biassou is 14th in the NCAA in points (392) and 38th in points per set (4.61) and 17th in total kills (339). Jaloba is 42nd in total blocks (96) and Moldan is 53rd in total digs (381) and 64th in digs per set (4.48). UNM is 31st in digs per set (15.98) and 46th in total digs (1358), and 54th in opponent hitting percentage (.178).
After finishing with a match-high 18 kills on Thursday, Uxue Guereca enters the match having registered double-digit kills in the last four matches and in five of the last six. In the last three matches, Guereca is averaging a team-best 3.9 kills per set and is producing 4.2 points per set. Middle blockers Lea Zurlinden and Jaloba are also hitting exceptionally well in the last three matches, with Zurlinden at .452 with 23 kills and Jaloba at 21 kills. Jaloba hit .409 with 10 kills against Nevada, while Zurlinden has hit an efficient and clean .750 (7-1-8) ad .583 (7-0-12) in the last two matches.
Following Saturday’s match, the Lobos will be on the road for the next four matches before closing out the regular season at home with two matches.