UNM Hosts Lobo Invitational Aug. 31-Sep. 2
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – After a 2-1 weekend to start the season at the UCI Invitational in Irvine, Calif., New Mexico Volleyball returns home to host the Lobo Invitational at The Pit, featuring matchups with St. John’s (2-1), Utah Tech (1-2) and Cal State Bakersfield (3-0).
The Lobos (2-1) are picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West Coaches’ Poll – the highest they’ve been slated to finish in Head Coach Newman-Gonchar’s five 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 completed seasons, with 20 wins in 2021 marking the most for the program since 2013.
They’re coming off a 2-1 weekend in Irvine that saw them sweep Seton Hall (25-15, 27-25, 25-13) and rally to knock off Irvine in five (24-26, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 15-12) on day one before falling to San Francisco (23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 19-25) in four on Saturday. After winning more sets than any other 2-1 team in the field, they were named Tournament Champions, with Uxue Guereca and Athina Dimitriadis named to the All-Tournament team and Angela Crosetti earning MW Defensive Player of the Week honors after leading the conference in digs (68) and digs per set (5.67).
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.
“We’ve got to replace some key people who stopped the ball at the net or kept it from hitting the floor,” Coach Newman-Gonchar said. “But we’ve got some really talented players battling to fill those spots — and we’ve got firepower.”
Grad transfer Middle Blocker Athina Dimitriadis has proven up to the task in just three games last weekend in Irvine, Calif., earning All-Tournament honors with 34 points, 25 kills, 9 blocks and 3 aces. Fellow grad transfer Angela Crosetti picked up MW Defensive Player of the Week honors after leading the league in total digs (68) and digs per set (5.67) through week one as the Lobos’ Libero. Melissa Walden has produced a career-high 9.67 assists per set in the same span while starting all 12 at setter, proving to be a sneaky offensive tool with 10 kills to her name.
Meanwhile, Guereca and Biassou have both picked up right where they left off in 2022 – they’ve combined for 83 kills and 84 digs over 12 sets, both recording double-doubles in UNM’s four-set finale on Saturday against San Francisco. They rank 1-2 on the team in kills and points, with Guereca also picking up All-Tournament honors after recording 20+ kill double-doubles against Irvine and USF.
Thursday’s matchup with Cal State Bakersfield is set for a 6:30 p.m. start, with streaming available via the Mountain West Network and live stats at golobos.com/vbstats.
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The Lobo Invitational will feature three other neutral-site games, all streamed on the Mountain West Network with live stats available via GoLobos.com. See the full event schedule here.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
NEW MEXICO VS. CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD (3-0) – Aug. 31, 6:30 p.m. MT
NEW MEXICO VS. ST. JOHN’S (2-1) – Sep. 1, 6 p.m. MT
NEW MEXICO VS. UTAH TECH (1-2) – Sep. 2, 1:30 p.m. MT
ALL-TIME SERIES
UNM is 1-1 against its Day One opponent CSU Bakersfield, having last played the Roadrunners twice in the 2012 season with a 3-1 win on the road and a five-set loss at home. This weekend will be the first time the Lobos face Utah Tech (formerly Dixie State) and St. John’s.
GUERECA, DIMITRIADIS NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Uxue Guereca and Athina Dimitriadis were both named to the adidas/UCI Invitational All-Tournament Team on Sunday for their performances over the weekend as the Lobos won the tournament – Dimitriadis was the Lobos’ top hitter by average (.444) in game one and provided three late kills in set five against Irvine to seal a comeback, and Guereca recorded two double-doubles with 20+ kills in her final two games.
LATE-NIGHT THRILLER IN IRVINE
Friday night’s five-set comeback win over Irvine was the longest ever played in UCI’s Bren Events Center, going 3 hours and 10 minutes in total. Double-doubles from Uxue Guereca (20 kills, 20 digs), Kali Wolf (12 kills, 11 digs) and Melissa Walden (41 assists, 19 digs) led the way as the Lobos rallied from down 2-1, ripping off a 4-0 run down 12-11 in the final set with four straight kills – three from Dimitriadis – to seal the deal. Kaitlynn Biassou added 13 kills and 7 digs, serving up a pair of aces.
CROSETTI NAMED MW DEFENSIVE POTW
After a highly productive weekend in her first collegiate action since 2021, New Mexico Libero Angela Crosetti has been named the first Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week for the 2023 season.
A grad transfer by way of St. John’s, Crosetti leads the MW in total digs (68) and digs per set (5.67) after appearing in all 12 sets for the Lobos at the UCI Invitational, where they went 2-1 overall and finished as tournament champions. UNM currently leads the MW in total digs (239) and digs per set (19.92), while holding opponents to a .182 hitting percentage. She also tallied 35 errorless receptions and generated 15 assists in the process.
Along with Crosetti, Boise State junior Paige Bartsch was named the Mountain West Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week, while Nevada’s Tehya Maeva was named the Freshman of the week. Lobos volleyball players earned MW weekly honors four times last season, including a sweep of all three awards — Offensive Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week — for the week of Nov. 6.
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.
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).
Woods started each match for UNM, providing 10 kills in 10 sets with a team-high 10 total blocks.
TERRIFIC TRANSFER TRIO
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.
Dimitriadis and Crosetti have appeared in every set so far for UNM. Dimitriadis made a splash over the weekend with 25 kills — including a match winner against Irvine — while tallying nine blocks and a team-high four service aces. She delivered three late kills – including the game-winner to seal a five-set win at Irvine on Friday. Meanwhile, Crosetti leads the MW in digs (68) and digs per set (5.67) and earn conference defensive player of the week honors for her performance.
In three sets against San Francisco, Matthews was efficient at the net, producing 6 blocks and three kills without an error.
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.
“This is the most depth we’ve had since I’ve been here, and I’m super excited about our potential,” Biassou said. “We made it to the (MWC) tournament the last two years and lost in the first round both times. This year I want to get back and win the tournament. That’s what I’m focused on.”
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.
Over the past weekend, she racked up 33 kills and 33 digs (2.75/set).
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. She served up three aces last weekend in Irvine.
EXPERIENCE ALL OVER
A total of seven seniors (4 grad seniors, 1 redshirt senior, 2 true seniors) combined 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
After a big junior year that saw her record 16 double-doubles in total, outside hitter Uxue Guereca shows no signs of slowing down. Over the Lobos’ three games in Irvine, she recorded two more double-doubles, surpassing 20 kills twice. She’s currently leading UNM in kills (50), points (55.5) and ranks second in attack % (.371), and ranks No. 9 in the MW in hitting and No. in kills per set (4.17)
In 2022, Guereca touted the fourth-highest kills per set average amongst active MWC players (3.11) and fifth-highest digs per set average (2.83). She also ranked No. 4 in points per set (3.61).
STIFLING EFFORT
Over their first weekend, the Lobos held opponents to .182 hitting while hitting .194 themselves over that span – they held Seton Hall to .083 hitting and Irvine to .193. UNM 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).
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 1,331 after 33 last weekend, she’s 293 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 90-51.5 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 7 service aces away from entering the program’s all-time Top 10 and 30 away from the No. 2 spot.