Guereca Named MW Offensive POTW for Oct. 2-8
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – After a pair of efficient outings that helped lead New Mexico Volleyball to a huge 2-0 week with victories over UNLV and SDSU, Uxue Guereca has been named the Mountain West’s Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 2-8. This is Guereca’s second Offensive Player of the Week hono4 so far this season and the fifth weekly conference honor of her career.
The Mexican national by way of Guadalajara, Jalisco led the Lobos (12-5, 4-2 MW) in points (30.0) in all over UNM’s huge 2-0 week on the road, hitting .311 in that span. The Lobos defeated preseason MW favorite UNLV in straight sets (25-18, 25-16, 25-18) and SDSU in four (19-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-9) – the first time UNM has defeated both teams on the road in the same week since 2008.
Congrats to the #MWVB Players of the Week 🙌🏐
🐺 @UNMLoboVB
🐴 @BroncoSportsVB
🤠 @WYO_Volleyball pic.twitter.com/pN6BbTXQEg— Mountain West (@MountainWest) October 9, 2023
Guereca served up the third-most aces in the league over the last week (5, 0.71/set), including four against UNLV. She averaged 3.00 kills and 3.00 digs per set in those two matches to go with 4.28 points per set, ranking fourth in the conference over the last week. Her 19.5 points in UNM’s big win over UNLV were the most by an individual in a three-set match last week.
UNM was one of just four teams to go undefeated in league play last week, and the only one that did it on the road. The Lobos led the league in hitting this week (.288) and ranked Top Four in the league in a variety of opponent averages, including opponent hitting (.145, No. 2), aces allowed (0.57/s, No. 2), kills allowed (11.86, No. 4), assists allowed (9.86, No. 3) and blocks allowed (1.43/s, No. 2).
The honor is the third weekly award for a Lobo player this season after Angela Crosetti was named Defensive Player of the Week following Week One and Guereca was named OPOTW for the first time following Week Four. It’s also the fifth 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.
Along with Guereca, Boise State Sophomore Libero Bella McGirr was named the Mountain West Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week, while Wyoming’s Sierra Grizzle 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.
UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
UNM returns home to the Johnson Center this week to play host to Wyoming on Oct. 12 (6:30 p.m.) and Colorado State on Oct. 14 (1 p.m.). Both matches will be streamed, with live stats available via golobos.com/vbstats. Follow @UNMLoboVB on socials for scores, highlights, gameday content and more.