This time around, the Lobos will be looking to repeat their success 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.
POSITION BREAKDOWN
OUTSIDES/OPPOSITES
Last fall, the Lobos leaned on the All-Conference outside duo of Kaitlynn Biassou (382 kills, 267 digs, 31 aces) and Uxue Guereca (393 kills, 342 digs, 30 aces) to keep the offense humming – Biassou and Guereca combined for 54% of UNM’s kills in their final season before graduating.
The Lobos’ only returning outside from last season, Junior Lauryn Payne will look to see her role grow in 2024 after appearing in 119 sets in her first two seasons in Albuquerque. Payne heated up down the stretch in 2023, finishing with multiple kills in seven of the final 11 games after only doing it four times in her first 15 appearances.
Three D-I transfers give UNM new attacking options with real experience – grad transfers 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. They’ll be joined by junior transfer Naomi Chankoumi, who accumulated 250 kills across 121 sets in two seasons at CSU Bakersfield. Chankoumi notched a career-high 12 kills against the Lobos last season at The Pit on August 31, going on to finish the season with the third-most kills on the team (117) while averaging 2.06 kills per set.
A pair of true freshmen – Amanda Tremeroli (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Seenane Brewer (Lawrence, Kan.) – round things out, with both in the mix to compete for spots in the rotation.
LIBEROS
The Lobos have no shortage of options to fill out the back row, either – they return both their Liberos from last season in Giselle Groe (25 matches played, 181 digs, 55 assists) and Angela Crosetti (19 matches played, 246 digs, 42 assists) while bringing in an all-conference grad transfer in Falanika Danielson (Temple) and getting junior Madison Blanco (32 sets played in 2022) back after an injury redshirt last season.
Groe made her first appearance as a Libero in UNM’s 3-0 sweep on UNLV on Oct. 5 and was the first Libero off the bench for the rest of the season, averaging 2.68 digs per set in conference matches and finishing with double-digit digs in nine of UNM’s final 16 matches. Crosetti appeared in 60 sets on the season, earning MW Defensive Player of the Week honors and finishing the season with a team-high 4.10 digs per set.
A 2020 AAC Libero of the Year during her time at Temple, 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.
SETTERS
It’s shaping up to be quite the battle for the starting setter spot this fall, with rising sophomore Madeleine Miller and incoming grad transfer Sohila Wafeek (UIC).
Miller saw her role grow throughout the season as a true freshman off the bench in 2023, appearing in 61 sets over 23 matches — she surpassed double-digit assists six times in the Lobos’ final 11 games, averaging 3.19 assists per set in matches in which she saw action in three or more sets.
Meanwhile, Wafeek brings a bevy of experience at the position to Albuquerque for her final collegiate season — the Egyptian national finished her four-year UIC career ninth in program history in assists (3,047) and averaged 8.28 assists per set in 368 set appearances there.
The Lobos’ third setter is a local product — true freshman Marian Hatch of Rio Rancho. The five-year letterwinner for Cleveland HS and four-time All-Metro selection gives UNM a different look at setter after she graduated early to practice with the Lobos in the spring.
MIDDLES
Replacing the contributions of 6-5 senior Athina Dimitriadis, who ranked among the best in program history in blocks and hitting efficiency in her one season as a Lobo in 2023, will be a tall order (no pun intended). But after a breakout year in which she ranked No. 4 in the MW and No. 82 in the nation in blocks per set (1.14), Elizabeth Woods looks poised to lead the Lobos at the net alongside Norwegian transfer sophomore Liepa Lavickyte (Oregon State) and a pair of highly-touted true freshmen in Reagan Miller (Birmingham, Ala.) and Zoe Leonard (Phoenix, Ariz.).
