ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—The 2023 schedule for The University of New Mexico volleyball team is set and features 13 home matches, hosting a non-conference tournament plus a home exhibition.
Entering his fifth season as head coach at UNM, Jon Newman-Gonchar has constructed a schedule that will have the Lobos facing teams from seven different conferences and two new opponents.
After hosting New Mexico Highlands in an exhibition on Aug. 19, UNM opens the season on Aug. 25 against Seton Hall in the first-ever meeting all-time between the two teams followed by UC Irvine in Irvine, California. The Lobos will close the opening weekend tournament against San Francisco.
The Lobos return to The Pit for the Lobo Invitational the weekend of Aug. 31- Sept. 2 for three matches against Cal State Bakersfield, St. John’s and another first-ever match against Utah Tech.
UNM concludes its tournament schedule in North Dakota, starting out the tournament with the host before matches with Montana and Green Bay. UNM closes its non-conference schedule the following week in a home-and-home with Northern Arizona for the third-consecutive season with the match in Albuquerque set for Sept. 15.
Conference play begins on the road at Nevada (Sept. 21) and Fresno State (Sept. 23), and at home against Utah State (Sept. 28) and Boise State (Sept. 30). Following two matches on the road to open October at UNLV (Oct. 5) and San Diego State (Oct. 7), the Lobos will have five of their next six matches at home, beginning with a three-match homestand with Wyoming (Oct. 12), Colorado State (Oct. 14) and Air Force (Oct. 17). A road match at San José State on Oct. 19 provides a brief pause to the homestand with October closing with two more matches at the Johnson Center against San Diego State (Oct. 26) and UNLV (Oct. 28). UNM will face Air Force and San José State just once in the season.
On the flip side, the Lobos close Mountain West competition with four of their final six matches on the road with Boise State (Nov. 2) and Utah State (Nov. 4), Colorado State (Nov. 16) and Wyoming (Nov. 18). The final two home matches take place Nov. 9 against Fresno State and Nov. 11 against Nevada.
The top six teams in the conference qualify for the Mountain West Tournament scheduled for Nov. 22-24, with the Lobos qualifying for the tournament each of the last two seasons that its been held.
The Lobos return nine players from a season ago, including three starters in Kaitlynn Biassou, Uxue Guereca and Kali Wolf, and bring in seven new Lobos including three grad transfers.
Tickets for the season will be available at a later date on golobos.com/tickets.