Lobos Finish Off Broncos in Four in Boise
BOISE, Idaho – New Mexico Volleyball completed a season sweep of Boise State to open this week’s Mountain West road trip, finishing off the Broncos in four (25-20, 21-25, 25-16, 25-16) to solidify the Lobos’ grip on second place in the league standings.
With the win, the Lobos (17-7, 9-4 MW) get their first season sweep of the Broncos (11-12, 7-6 MW) since 2014 after defeating them in four in Albuquerque on Sep. 30. They remain in sole possession of second place in the conference standings ahead of Colorado State (17-7, 9-4) and Fresno State (14-10, 8-5) going into a matchup with conference No. 1 Utah State (19-5, 12-1) on Saturday. They improve to 8-1 in true road games, a mark that ranks No. 12 nationally, and 6-1 following a loss.
“There is no quit in the Lobo team and we absolutely stepped up in a massive way tonight in what was a great battle,” said UNM Head Coach Jon Newman-Gonchar. “So impressed with the Never Back Down mentality we showed tonight but the next test is coming at us as we prepare for a great Utah State team.”
UNM hit a match-high .552 in the first and poured on the offense over the final two sets at a .320 clip to stifle a comeback, getting a double-double from Uxue Guereca (17 kills, 15 digs) on .319 hitting to pace the offense while the Lobos held the Broncos to .196 hitting on the match with 25 attack errors to hand them their third straight loss.
🏐 Highlights from @UNMLoboVB‘s 3-1 win over Boise State! #MakingHerMark | #MWVB | #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/EqVilan2Bt
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 3, 2023
RECORD WATCH
With her seventh kill tonight, Kaitlynn Biassou moved into No. 2 on the UNM all-time list for career kills, finishing with 12 kills and a pair of service aces to go with four total blocks and three digs. After tonight, she’s now up to 1,585 kills and 1.855.5 points in her career – 38 kills and 54.5 points from unseating Chantale Riddle for the No. 1 spot all-time in both. She also ranks in the Top Five in program history in aces with 112 in total.
With her seventh kill of the night, @KBiassou is now No. 2⃣ in program history in kills and total points with five games left in the regular season!
Just another fitting accomplishment for an all-time Lobo.#GoBos pic.twitter.com/xhQF3Ukpqd
— New Mexico Volleyball (@UNMLoboVB) November 3, 2023
BY THE NUMBERS
Guereca’s big night led three Lobos with double-digit kills as Biassou and Athina Dimitriadis both finished with 12 kills and four total blocks each. Three other Lobos – Kali Wolf (6 kills), Elizabeth Woods (6 kills) and Lauryn Payne (4 kills) finished with at least four kills each, and six different Lobos in total hit above .300 on the night.
For the second game in a row, both Madeleine Miller (18 assists, 5 digs) and Melissa Walden (26 assists, 7 digs) finished with double-digit assists while splitting duties at setter, with
UNM went 70.5% on sideouts while outblocking them 9-6, with Dimitriadis, Biassou and Woods all finishing with four total blocks to round out the defensive effort. At Libero, Giselle Groe finished with the second-most digs (12) – the seventh match in her last nine that she’s picked up double-digit digs.
The Lobos committed a total of four attack errors in Sets One, Three and Four as they finished with at least 13 kills in each, but committed seven in Set Two as the Broncos tied things up early.
The first three sets all began with one team taking a 4-1 lead – the Broncos jumped out to early leads in the first two before UNM scored three of the first four in the third.
Mood heading into the weekend with a W 😤#GoLobos pic.twitter.com/atKcuBluAE
— New Mexico Volleyball (@UNMLoboVB) November 3, 2023
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
With the win, UNM is 12-13 against Boise State and within a match of tying things up all-time, but up until Sep. 30 the Lobos hadn’t defeated them since 2021. UNM is now riding a multi-match win streak against the Broncos for the first time since 2014. Prior to UNM’s win at home over the Broncos in September, the Lobos hadn’t beaten them since 2021.
UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
It’s a matchup of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the Mountain West when the Lobos get a rematch with Utah State (19-5, 12-1 MW) on the road Saturday at 1 p.m. Live stats and streaming options are available via GoLobos.com and the MW Network — follow @UNMLoboVB on socials for matchday updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.