COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — New Mexico was voted to finish eighth in the Mountain West Preseason Poll by the league’s coaches ahead of the 2024 season, the league announced Wednesday.
Colorado State collected eight first-place votes en route to being voted as the preseason favorite to win the conference with 98 points total — the Rams finished the 2023 season with a 19-12 overall record and a 12-6 mark in Conference action and were the MW tournament runners-up, taking eventual tournament champ Fresno State to five sets in the Championship match.
Utah State (84 points) received two of the three remaining first-place votes to clock in at second in the preseason poll, followed by Boise State in third (77 points) and Fresno State in fourth (71 points). UNLV tallied the final first-place vote while sitting in fifth place (65 points), with Wyoming following in sixth (56 points) and San Diego State in seventh (47 points). Behind the Lobos in eighth (39 points), San José State (9th, 32 points), Air Force (10th, 25 points) and Nevada (11th, 12 points) round out the rest of the conference.
The Lobos are set to get things started exhibition against D-II New Mexico Highlands at the Johnson Center next Friday (Aug. 23) before opening up the season in earnest with matchups against Tulane, UC Irvine and North Dakota at home as part of the Lobo Invitational (Aug. 30-31). UNM begins the conference portion of its 2024 schedule at home with a pair of matchups against UNLV and San Diego State on Sep. 26 and 28, respectively.
Head Coach Jon Newman-Gonchar’s Lobos are coming off their third-straight winning season and Mountain West Tournament appearance, most recently breaking through with a run to the conference semis after finishing the season tied for fourth in the standings – their best finish since 2015. UNM’s five-set win over host UNLV in the First Round of last year’s conference tournament was the Lobos’ first semifinals appearance under the current format as well as their first win in the conference tournament since 2006.
UNM has elevated to another level of consistency in the past three seasons under Newman-Gonchar, winning 62.2% of its matches overall and 53.7% in conference matchups, with a 25-13 (.658) record at home in that span. Finishing 2023 at 19-12 overall and 10-8 in MW play, Newman-Gonchar moved up to No. 3 among UNM coaches (tenured five or more seasons) in winning percentage (.530) and No. 2 in conference win percentage (.453) since the Lobos joined the Mountain West.
Last year’s Lobos led the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.180) and digs (1,823 total; 15.58 per set) while ranking second in blocks (286 total; 2.44 per set), making it back-to-back years in which they pace the MW in opponent hitting and digs.
But this time around, they’ll be doing it without five of last year’s starters, bringing in a variety of experienced transfers to bolster a group of returners with expanded roles. UNM’s new-look roster features 11 newcomers and six returners – Woods (107 sets played in 2023) and sophomore Libero Giselle Groe (75 sets played) both return after becoming pivotal rotation pieces in 2023.
Among six transfers joining the Lobos for the 2024 season, four already have three or more seasons of D-I experience under their belts:
- Senior outside hitters Jada Bouyer (Toledo) and Kialah Jefferson (VCU) bring 576 combined set appearances to Albuquerque, coming off a 2023 season in which Bouyer racked up 286 kills to go with 71 total blocks and Jefferson finished with 280 kills and 294 digs.
- Senior setter Sohila Wafeek (UIC) finished her four-year UIC career ranked ninth in program history in assists (3,047) and averaged 8.28 assists per set in 368 set appearances there.
- An 2020 AAC Libero of the Year during her time at Temple, Falanika Danielson joins the Lobos as a fifth-year transfer with 408 set appearances across 108 matches under her belt – she averaged 3.71 digs per set (1,471 total) across four seasons of play at Temple.
- They’ll be joined by junior transfer Naomi Chankoumi – who accumulated 250 kills across 121 sets in two seasons at CSU Bakersfield – as well as redshirt sophomore middle and Norwegian national Liepa Levickyte (Oregon State).
Alongside them, returning letterwinners Lauryn Payne, Madison Blanco and Angela Crosetti all look to play bigger roles this fall, with five true freshmen giving the Lobos depth all over the court.