Lobos Open Season at UCI Invitational

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico Volleyball looks to start off its 2023 nonconference slate on the right foot at the UC Irvine Invitational Aug. 25-26, with a road matchup against the Anteaters as well as a pair of neutral-site games with Seton Hall and University of San Francisco.

Entering the season, Head Coach Jon Newman-Gonchar’s Lobos are picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West Coaches’ Poll – the highest they’ve been slated to finish in Newman-Gonchar’s four seasons at the helm in Albuquerque. UNM is coming off its second consecutive winning season, going 17-12 overall and 8-10 in conference in 2022 en route to a fifth-place finish and the Lobos’ second straight MWC Tournament berth. Newman-Gonchar has posted a 62.7% win percentage over the last two seasons, with 20 wins in 2021 marking the most for the program since 2013.

UNM returns 70% of its point output from 2022 –  including two-time All-MWC outside hitter Kaitlynn Biassou and fellow starters Kali Wolf and Uxue Guereca – as well as adding three impact grad transfers to offset the loss of middle blocker Avital Jaloba, libero Alena Moldan and setter Anilee Sher to graduation.

Friday’s matchup with UC Irvine will be live streamed via ESPN+, with live stats for all three games available via GoLobos.com/vbstats. Follow @UNMLoboVB on X, Facebook and IG for gameday updates, highlights and more.

SCOUTING THE FIELD

NEW MEXICO VS. SETON HALL – Aug. 25, 11 a.m. MT
Live Stats

NEW MEXICO @ UC IRVINE – Aug. 25, 8 p.m. MT
Live Stats | Stream (ESPN+)

NEW MEXICO VS. SAN FRANCISCO – Aug. 26, 2 p.m. MT
Live Stats

ALL-TIME SERIES

UNM is undefeated against the field this weekend – the Lobos are 2-0 all-time against UC Irvine and 4-0 all-time against San Francisco. They last faced the ‘Eaters in 2014 – a 3-1 win at home – and haven’t played the Dons since 2000, another 3-1 win at home. Friday will be the first ever matchup between UNM and Seton Hall as well as the first time the Lobos play Irvine on the road.

EARLY RETURNS

Jon Newman-Gonchar’s Lobos are picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West Coaches’ Poll – the highest they’ve been slated to finish in Newman-Gonchar’s four seasons at the helm in Albuquerque. 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.

UNM is coming off its second consecutive winning season, going 17-12 overall and 8-10 in conference in 2022 en route to a fifth-place finish and the Lobos’ second straight MWC Tournament berth. Newman-Gonchar has posted a 62.7% win percentage over the last two seasons, with 20 wins in 2021 marking the most for the program since 2013.

A LOOK AT THE ROSTER

UNM’s nine returners combined for 70% of the Lobos’ total 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. The Lobos also added four freshmen and three impact grad transfers to offset the loss of middle blocker Avital Jaloba, libero Alena Moldan and setter Anilee Sher to graduation.

 

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. Walden played in 26 of UNM’s 29 matches last season at setter, and ranks No. 2 among active MWC players in career assists per set (6.56).

Grad transfer middle blockers Athina Dimitriadis (692 kills and 215 blocks over four seasons at Hofstra and FIU) and Mattison Matthews (career .312 hitting % over four seasons at Virginia) both bolster the Lobos’ front line, while St. John’s transfer libero Angela Crosetti looks to play a significant role in her first collegiate action since 2021. Dimitriadis has 313 set appearances to her name, with Matthews appearing in 192 over her time at Virginia.

GOOD, BETTER, BEST, BIASSOU

In her fifth and final season at UNM, Kaitlynn Biassou has continued to get better each year. This year, she sees the Lobos making a similar jump.

Biassou put up career-high numbers for the third straight season in 2022, with 431 kills (3.68 per set) to go with 33 service aces and 504.5 points – all team-highs for UNM. The Reno, Nev. native ranked No. 4 in the Mountain West in kills and No. 3 in points per set (4.31) while also picking up 227 digs (1.94 per set) and tallying 75 total blocks. Currently at No. 4 on UNM’s all-time kills list at 1,298, she’s 326 away from moving ahead of Chantale Riddle for the top spot.

Among active MWC players, Biassou ranks No. 2 in kills per set (3.35) and points per set (3.91).

In MWC play last season, Biassou cracked double-digit kills in 14 out of 18 conference matchups, matching a career-high twice with 26 kills vs. Wyoming (Sep. 29) and at Nevada (Oct. 15). Those two performances were the third-highest total by a MWC player in a conference game last season, with her 31 points in that Wyoming match ranking as the most in a single game in MWC action. Additionally, Biassou’s 21 kills against Utah State (Sep. 24) ranked as the second-most in a three-set match.

Biassou is also a threat at the service line, with four matches with three or more service aces — including five against Abilene Christian — and eight matches with multiple aces in a match.

In 2021, Biassou contributed 391 kills (3.65 per set), 36 service aces, 459.5 points and hit .256, all season bests for the Reno, Nevada native. In addition, defensively, the senior recorded 170 digs and 63 total blocks.

Biassou finished the season with 10-plus kills in 20 matches, which included 10-straight matches with double-digit kills. Further, Biassou reached 20-plus kills in three matches last season with a season-high 26 in the five-set win over Utah State.

Down the stretch, Biassou finished with 10-plus kills in the last three matches and in four of the final five.

The outside hitter finished with a hitting percentage over .400 in eight matches, and recorded a career-best .606 with 21 kills to one error on 33 attempts at Nevada.

She was named Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week twice (Aug. 30 and Oct. 11) that season on her way to being selected to MW All-Conference for the second time.

EXPERIENCE ALL OVER

A total of seven seniors (4 grad seniors, 1 redshirt senior, 2 true seniors) combine for 1,652 sets played — the most seniors Newman-Gonchar has ever had on a roster during his time at UNM.

Co-captains Kaitlynn Biassou, Kali Wolf and Uxue are the first trio to record at least 200 kills and 20 service aces each in the same season under Newman-Gonchar, and first since 2016.

UXUE LEADS THE WAY

The redshirt-junior recorded 16 double-doubles in total, registering 10-plus kills in 19 matches — with a season-high 23 at Wyoming — and picked up double-digit digs in 21. She opened the 2022 season with four straight double-double performances and cracked double-digit kills in nine of the final 12 games of the season.

Guereca touts the fourth-highest kills per set average amongst active MWC players (3.11) and fifth-highest digs per set average (2.83). She also ranks No. 4 in points per set (3.61).

STIFLING EFFORT

The Lobos held 16 opponents below a .200 hitting percentage last season, with one opponent (Portland State) below .100 (.089).

In 2022, UNM held opponents to a .187 hitting percentage, which ranked No. 1 in the Mountain West. In MW matches in 2022, UNM led the league in digs per set (16.14) and finished 2nd in opp. hitting % (.188)

In 2021, the Lobos held seven opponents below a .050 hitting percentage, and 19 below a .200 hitting percentage.

GROWING BUZZ

The Lobos have seen an increase in attendance in each season since 2019 — not counting the 2020-21 season that limited attendance — and UNM’s average attendance of 841 per home game last season is its highest since 2016 and most since Newman-Gonchar took the reins.

RECORD WATCH

Earlier last season, Biassou became the 15th Lobo all-time to reach 1,000 career kills. Currently at No. 4 on the program’s all-time kills list at 1,298, she’s 326 away from moving ahead of Chantale Riddle for the top spot — a feat she’s surpassed in each of the last two seasons.

Biassou joined the top-10 career points list against Nevada last season, and currently sits at No. 4 all-time with 1514. She’s 90 points from third-place and 396 from the top spot — also held by Riddle — and has scored at least 450 points in each of the last two seasons.

Biassou is also 10 service aces away from entering the program’s all-time Top 10 and 33 away from the No. 2 spot.

THE MATCHUPS

Irvine went 20-10 overall in 2022 and 13-7 in Big West conference play, good for fifth overall. The Anteaters won four in a row to end the season, but came one win short of a tie for third place as Hawaii (22-7, 19-1) ran away with its third straight outright conference championship and NCAA Tournament bid. They’re picked sixth in the Big West Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

The Dons improved considerably in their second season under coach Diego Silva, going from 0-25 in 2021 to 14-15 in 2022. In a three-bid WCC won by Final Four finisher San Diego (31-2, 18-0 in WCC), USF finished seventh.

Seton Hall finished at .500 on the season in 2022, going 6-12 in Big East action but going 15-15 overall. But the Pirates have posted an improved winning percentage in each of the last four seasons:

– .250 in 2019
– .364 in 2020
– .438 in 2021
– .500 in 2022

They are picked to finish 9th in the Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll a season after being picked to finish 14th.