Lobos Picked Eighth in MW Preseason Coaches' Poll
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.
2024 SCHEDULE
This year’s slate includes 13 home games at the Johnson Center, including this year’s Lobo Invitational, a multi-team event that will feature games between and against Tulane, North Dakota and UC Irvine Aug. 30-31. Last season, UNM had the highest average attendance at home volleyball games over a single season at the Johnson Center since 2016 (956), with the Lobos’ Senior Day matchup with Nevada last season becoming the highest-attended UNM VB home game since 2016. The Lobos have won at a .622 clip over the past three seasons and is 25-13 at home in that span.
It’ll also be the first season since 2019 that the Lobos square off with in-state rivals New Mexico State – they’ll play twice in the span of a week, with one match in Albuquerque (Sept. 17) and one in Las Cruces (Sept. 19). UNM is 17-12 against the Aggies at home.
“The 2024 Schedule is going to test us each and every match in unique ways – we’re thrilled it came together the way it did,” said Newman-Gonchar. “We know this schedule will prepare us for the incredibly challenging 2024 Mountain West Conference slate. We can’t wait to see our Lobo nation out in full force this fall!”
NONCONFERENCE
After UNM welcomes Tulane, North Dakota and UC Irvine to open up the season at home as hosts the Lobo Invitational (Aug. 30-31), UNM heads to Houston for more tournament action hosted by Houston Christian, facing UMKC (Sept. 5) and Howard (Sept. 6) in neutral-site matchups before taking on the Huskies on Sept. 7.
They’ll be in Flagstaff the following week for a true road match with Northern Arizona (Sept. 12) and their final neutral site game of the regular season against Tarleton (Sept. 13) before closing out the nonconference slate with a pair of matchups with New Mexico State.
MOUNTAIN WEST PLAY
Conference play will include an 18-match format with each MW team playing nine home contests and making nine road trips during league action. League play begins on Tuesday, Sept. 24, and concludes Saturday, Nov. 23.
Last year, Head Coach Jon Newman-Gonchar led UNM to its best finish since 2015 in MW play in 2023, finishing tied for fourth with a 10-8 mark in conference matchups.
The Lobos — who advanced to the Semifinals of the MW Tournament last season for the first time under Coach Newman-Gonchar — will being conference play at home with matchups against UNLV (Sep. 26) and San Diego State (Sep. 28) in the Johnson Center. UNM went 3-1 against the two teams last season, the Lobos’ best record against the two foes since 2008.
Next up, the Lobos are on the road for back-to-back weekends, heading to Air Force (Oct. 1) and Boise State (Oct. 5) before facing Utah State (Oct. 10) and Nevada (Oct. 12) the following week. UNM swept the season series with Boise State last season for the first time since 2014.
UNM returns home for three matchups, starting with San Jose State on Oct. 17 and Fresno State on Oct. 19, followed by UNM’s lone meeting this season with Colorado State on Oct. 24. Next up, the Lobos complete the week with their lone matchup with Wyoming (Oct. 26) before heading to Fresno State on Oct. 31 and rematching with San Jose on Nov. 2.
The Lobos’ longest home stretch of the season takes place from Nov. 7-14, with UNM hosting Nevada, Utah State, Air Force and Boise State in that span, with the matchup with the Broncos bring the final home game of the season at Johnson. The Lobos close out the season with the same two teams they started against — San Diego State and UNLV — on Nov. 21 and 23rd, respectively.
If they manage the qualify for the MW Tournament for a fourth consecutive year, they’ll be staying in Vegas again the following week. League play will determine the seeding for the 2024 MW Volleyball Championship, which will start Wednesday, Nov. 27, and conclude Saturday, Nov. 30, in Las Vegas at the Cox Pavilion on the UNLV Campus.
UP NEXT
Lobo fans will get their first chance to watch this year’s team in action on Aug. 23 at the Johnson Center, when UNM plays host to D-II New Mexico Highlands in an exhibition match. Admission is free, with an opportunity for fans to meet the team and get autographs postgame. The event will not be streamed, with live stats available via GoLobos.com/VBStats.
Following next Friday’s exhibition, UNM welcomes Tulane, UC Irvine and North Dakota to the Johnson next weekend (Aug. 30-31) to open the regular season as hosts of the Lobo Invitational – the first multi-team event held at the Johnson Center since 2017. Fans can snag tickets to all three UNM home matches next weekend for the price of two with the Lobo Invitational Tournament Pass, available via the single-game tickets link at GoLobos.com/VBTickets.
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