Lobos Picked to Finish Fourth in MWC Preseason Poll
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Ahead of the 2023 volleyball season, New Mexico tied with San Diego State for fourth in the Mountain West Preseason Coaches’ Poll with 64 points.
Ahead of UNM, Utah State and UNLV both tied for the top spot with 92 points each, with the Aggies receiving five first-place votes to the Rebels’ three. UNLV won the regular season conference title in 2022 with a 17-1 record, but was upset by fourth-seeded Utah State in Las Vegas as the Aggies played their way to an MWC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth.
2023 MW PRESEASON POLL
| Place | Team | Points |
| T1. | Utah State (5) | 92 |
| T1. | UNLV (3) | 92 |
| 3. | Colorado State (3) | 86 |
| T4. | New Mexico | 64 |
| T4. | San Diego State | 64 |
| 6. | Boise State | 59 |
| 7. | Air Force | 38 |
| 8. | San José State | 35 |
| 9. | Nevada | 32 |
| 10. | Wyoming | 28 |
| 11. | Fresno State | 15 |
The Lobos enter the fall coming off their second straight winning season, going 17-12 on the season and 8-10 in conference in 2022 en route to a fifth-place finish and UNM’s second straight MWC Tournament berth. The last two seasons have been the winningest campaigns of Newman-Gonchar’s four-year tenure in Albuquerque – the Lobos have posted a 62.7% win percentage over that span, with 20 wins in 2021 marking the most for the program since 2013.
UNM’s nine returners combined for 70% of the Lobos’ points last season, with 2022 All-MWC Outside Hitter Kaitlyn Biassou along with fellow 2022 starters Uxue Guereca (338 kills, 393.5 points) and Kali Wolf (228 kills, 276 points) highlighting the Lobos’ experience on the outside. Lauryn Payne, Madison Blanco, Melissa Walden and Elizabeth Woods all look to play bigger roles after combining for 239 set appearances in 2022, and seven newcomers – four freshmen and three graduate transfers – augment UNM’s depth all over the court.
New Mexico hosts New Mexico Highlands in an exhibition on Saturday, Aug. 19 at 1 p.m. before opening up the season in Irvine, Calif. with matchups against Seton Hall and UC Irvine on Aug. 25 and San Francisco on Aug. 26.
The Mountain West portion of the schedule begins on the road at Nevada on Sept. 21, with the Lobos’ first conference home match against Utah State on Sept. 28 at 6:30 p.m.
To purchase season tickets, please go to golobos.com/tickets and click on the Lobo Pride Pass.