Lobos to Face Northern Arizona in Home-and-Home Sep. 13 and 15
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Fresh off a third-straight winning weekend in tournament action, New Mexico Volleyball closes out its nonconference slate with a pair of matchups with Northern Arizona (3-6) on the road Sep. 13 and at home Sep. 15.
The Lobos (6-3) went 2-1 last weekend at the UND Classic in Grand Forks, N.D., defeating North Dakota in four (17-25,25-21,25-21,25-19) and Green Bay in straight sets (26-24, 25-19, 25-13) and dropping a tight four-set match to Montana (21-25,25-21,22-25,20-25). They’re looking to keep building momentum ahead of conference play, which opens up Sep. 21 on the road at Nevada.
Wednesday’s matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Friday’s home match on the Mountain West Network. All live stats and streaming options will be available via GoLobos.com – follow @UNMLoboVB on IG, X and Facebook for match day updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.
ALL-TIME SERIES
UNM is 16-10 against the Lumberjacks all-time — they’re 8-0 at home, 4-4 on the road and 2-1 in neutral-site matchups. They’ve faced each other twice in each of the last two seasons and have won three straight — all of which going to at least four sets — dating back to Sep. 18, 2021.
Over the last six matches between the two in the past three years, UNM is 5-1.
UNM Head Coach Jon Newman-Gonchar is an alumnus of NAU, earning his bachelor’s degree in health sciences in December 2005.
WEEKEND RECAP
After a 2-1 weekend in Grand Forks, N.D., the Lobos earned at least a share of a tournament championship for the third consecutive weekend, knocking off North Dakota in four (17-25,25-21,25-21,25-19) before falling to Montana in Game Two (21-25,25-21,22-25,20-25) and closing out the weekend with a straight-sets win over Green Bay (26-24,25-19,25-13). Uxue Guereca’s 48 kills and 55 points over the weekend were the most in the MWC over the last week, and she earned MW Offensive Player of the Week and All-Tournament honors for her efforts along with Athina Dimitriadis (19 kills, 15 blocks, 13 digs, 2 aces).
NATIONALLY SPEAKING…
The Lobos rank No. 1 in MW in digs per set and No. 14 nationally, in no small part thanks to the efforts of Angela Crosetti (5.09 digs per set), Uxue Guereca (2.75) and Kaitlynn Biassou (.240). Crosetti ranks No. 22 nationally in that category.UNM is holding opponents to .141 hitting, good for No. 24 nationally. They’re also Top-10 in the nation in blocks. Uxue Guereca ranks No. 34 in kills per set and No. 39 in points per set nationally.
GUERECA NAMED MW OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After leading the conference in kills and points over New Mexico’s 2-1 weekend at the UND Classic, Uxue Guereca has been named the Mountain West’s Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Sep. 4-10.
The Mexican national by way of Guadalajara, Jalisco led the Lobos in kills (48) and points (55.0) in all three matches over the weekend as UNM was named Tournament Champions for the third straight week, including a double-double with 19 kills, 10 digs and six blocks against North Dakota in Thursday’s tournament opener. After following that performance with another double-double (18 kills, 11 digs) against Montana on Friday, she’s up to four double-doubles on the season – 27 in her career – and cracked double-digit kills in seven matches. Guereca also led the conference in kills per set (4.36) and points per set (5.0) in that same span, coming up with 7 blocks and serving up a pair of aces in a sweep of Green Bay on Saturday.
The honor is the second weekly award for a Lobo player this season after Angela Crosetti was named Defensive Player of the Week following Week One, and the fourth weekly award of Guereca’s career. She was named Defensive Player of the Week last season as well as Offensive Player of the Week in 2021-22 after becoming the first UNM freshman to win Defensive Player of the Week (2020-21) since the award was created in 2015.
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 (6.87). She has finished with 30+ assists in seven of UNN’s nine games, averaging a career-high 8.43 assists per set.
Woods started each match for UNM, providing 133 kills in 30 sets with a team-high 35 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 prior to her time in Albuquerque, with Matthews appearing in 192 over her time at Virginia.
Dimitriadis and Crosetti have appeared in every set so far for UNM. Crosetti has nearly twice as many digs (173) as any other Lobo while producing 30 assists and serving up 5 aces. Dimitriadis was named to the All-Tournament Team at all three weekend tournaments the Lobos have taken part in — over 35 sets of action, she’s racked up 67 kills and 33 blocks.
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.
On the season, she’s racked up 93 kills (2.66/set) as well as a team-high 13 aces and 22 block assists. Among active MWC players, Biassou ranks No. 3 in kills per set (3.30) and points per set (3.86).
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’s served up 13 aces over 35 sets so far this season.
LIZ ON THE BLOCK
Elizabeth Woods had a breakout game in UNM’s Lobo Invite opener against CSU Bakersfield, recording a career-high 11 blocks (2 solo, 9 BA) while putting down 8 kills on team-high .571 hitting. Her 35 total blocks on the season (1.17/set) leads the Lobos and ranks No. 5 in the Mountain West, and she had the second-most blocks of any MWC player over week 2 (13). UNM’s 15 team blocks against CSUB was the third-most in a single game among MW teams that week.
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.
STIFLING EFFORT
Over the first three weeks of the season, the Lobos have held opponents to .141 hitting — over the last week, their .107 opponent average was the best among MWC teams, and they forced a conference-best 79 attack errors in that span while committing just 57 themselves. The Lobos have yet to allow a team to hit above .300 against them — San Francisco (.248) was the only team to crack .200, with three opponents hitting below .100.
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.
Over UNM’s first weekend slate at The Pit for the Lobo Invitational, the Lobos averaged 862 fans in attendance per game, including over 1,100 fans at UNM’s three-set win over St. John’s last Friday.
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 1,391 after 27 last weekend, she’s 233 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. 3 all-time with 1631. She’s 279 from the top spot — also held by Riddle — and has scored at least 450 points in each of the last two seasons.
Biassou entered the program’s all-time Top 10 in service aces last weekend and is now 20 away from the No. 2 spot. She’s one away from cracking 100 total aces in her career.
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 was named the first Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week for the 2023 season.
A grad transfer by way of St. John’s, Crosetti led 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. She also tallied 35 errorless receptions and generated 15 assists in the process.