Lobos Dispatch Host HCU in Four, Complete 3-0 Weekend in Houston

HOUSTON, Texas — New Mexico Volleyball outlasted host Houston Christian in four sets (25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 25-20) to complete a 3-0 weekend at the Molly Howard-Gerwig Memorial Tournament on Saturday afternoon, serving up a season-high nine aces and putting away 31 kills over the final two sets to finish off the Huskies (2-4) on their home court.

The Lobos are now 5-1 through the first two weeks of the season — UNM has won at least five of its first six matches to start the season only five times since 2010.

“Very proud of this squad — the Lobos had to fight for each and every win this weekend,” said UNM Head Coach Jon Newman-Gonchar. “Very proud of the team for scratching and clawing our way to a tournament championship … We found success with several different lineups and most importantly, we took steps each set to continue to get 1% better!”

Jada Bouyer (16 kills), Kialah Jefferson (15 kills) and Lauryn Payne (13 kills) all surpassed double-digit kills to lead a Lobo attack that posted 14.75 kills per set on .248 hitting to overpower the Huskies, with Madeleine Miller producing a career-high 42 assists in the process. Sohila Wafeek added 14 more assists off the bench, the fourth time she and Miller have both surpassed double-digits in UNM’s first six matches. Naomi Chankoumi supplied four more kills and Reagan Miller added two to round out a 59-kill effort for the Lobos.

Both Madeleine Miller and Jefferson served up three aces each, a new career-high for Miller and the third-straight match in which she’s served up multiple. Giselle Groe (7 digs), Falanika Danielson (20 digs) and Elizabeth Woods (8 kills, 3.0 TB, 2 digs) all served up one each to get the Lobos to nine in total — the most in a single match since they served up 11 against UNLV in the MW Tournament (Nov. 22, 2023) and most in a four-set match since Oct. 12 of last season against Wyoming.

Danielson’s 20 digs are a new season-high — her career-high from her time at Temple (2020-2023) is 32 on Feb. 26, 2021 vs. Delaware. Miller’s 42-assist outing is the first time she’s surpassed 40 in her career.

ON THE WEEKEND

• Jada Bouyer was named Tournament MVP for her efforts after producing a team-high 35 kills over the weekend, with Kialah Jefferson and Falanika Danielson both named to the All-Tournament Team.
• In UNM’s three matches in Houston this weekend, the Lobos held opponents to .200 hitting while hitting .233 themselves — they outblocked opponents 27-19 in the process, led by 13 TB from Elizabeth Woods and 11 from Kialah Jefferson.
• UNM led all Mountain West teams in digs per set (17.45) over Week 2, with Danielson (4.91 digs per set) ranking third amongst MW players in that span. The Lobos also ranked third in the conference in assists per set (13.00), fourth in blocks per set (2.45) and fifth in kills per set (13.55).
• The Lobos served up the most total aces among MW teams last week (21), with the second-most aces per set (1.91). Madeleine Miller’s 7 aces on the week tie for the most of any MW player in that span.
• Not counting errors, UNM outscored opponents 197-184 this week, scoring 23.7 points per set overall.

ALL-TIME SERIES
With the win, the Lobos improve to 3-0 against Houston Christian (formerly Houston Baptist) all-time, having defeated them in a pair of neutral-site meetings in 2014 (3-0) and 2016 (3-1). This was the first meeting between the two teams since the Huskies adopted their new name in 2022.

UP NEXT
New Mexico (5-1) heads to Flagstaff, Ariz. for one last weekend of tournament action — they’ll face host Northern Arizona on Thursday evening before matching up with Tarleton in a neutral-site match on Friday. Fans can follow live stats along with other matchday info at GoLobos.com/FollowVB. Follow @UNMLoboVB on socials for match coverage, promotional information, updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.

This story will be updated.