Lobos Picked Ninth in MW Preseason Coaches' Poll

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — New Mexico was voted to finish ninth in the Mountain West Preseason Poll by the league’s coaches ahead of the 2025 season, the league announced Wednesday.

Utah State is favored to win the 2025 MW regular-season title having earned 114 points and seven first-place votes. Under the direction of head coach Rob Neilson, the Aggies finished the 2024 season 15-14 overall and 12-6 in Conference action and appeared in the Mountain West tournament for the fourth consecutive year since the event was brought back in 2021.

For the 2025 season, the Mountain West will expand to 12 members thanks to the late addition of Grand Canyon to the conference.

Colorado State has been tabbed the runner-up with 106 points and three first-place votes followed by San Diego State in third with 96 points and the final two first-place votes. In fourth is Fresno State (86 points) and predicted to finish fifth is Boise State (73). UNLV and Wyoming are tied to finish sixth with 72 points each. In eighth is the league’s newest member, Grand Canyon (61), followed by New Mexico with 37. Behind the Lobos are Nevada (32), San José State (31) and Air Force (12).

Fresno State senior Addison Haluska was tabbed the MW Women’s Volleyball Preseason Player of the Year, joined by Boise State’s Bre Mitchell, San Diego State’s Taylor Underwood, UNLV’s Basia Latos, Utah State’s Tierney Barlow and Kayliee Kofe and Wyoming’s Paige Lauterwasser on this year’s Mountain West preseason team.

The Lobos are set to get things started exhibition against D-II New Mexico Highlands at the Johnson Center next Saturday (Aug. 23) before opening up the season in earnest with matchups against Manhattan, Northern Arizona and Houston Christian at home as part of the Lobo Invitational (Aug. 29-30). UNM begins the conference portion of its 2025 schedule at home with a pair of matchups against Utah State and Boise State on Sep. 25 and 27, respectively.

Season tickets for all 13 regular-season home matches are now available at GoLobos.com/VBTickets, with single-game tickets going live on August 18.

Heading into Head Coach Jon Newman-Gonchar’s seventh year at the helm, the Lobos are looking to return to the Mountain West Tournament after missing out in 2024 to snap a streak of three consecutive tournament appearances. In 2024, UNM found its rhythm late in the season, winning four of their last six after weathering a nine-match skid. The Lobos led the conference in digs per set (15.77) for the third year in a row and ranked second in blocks per set (2.53) in 2024, finishing ninth in the conference standings at 13-15 overall and 6-12 in MW play.

They’ll need to replace a significant number of contributors to move up in the standings this year, with four starters from last season graduating. The Lobos return eight players that saw real action in 2024 and bring in two freshmen and four transfers – two with D1 experience at previous institutions.

Under Head Coach Jon Newman-Gonchar, UNM has won at a .585 clip over the past four seasons and is 33-18 at home in that span. Last season, the Lobos averaged over 800 fans a game for the third season in a row, with a season-high 1,387 fans in attendance vs. New Mexico State on Sept. 16.

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 that starts at 1:30 p.m. 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 Saturday’s exhibition, UNM welcomes Manhattan, Northern Arizona and Houston Christian to the Johnson Center the following weekend (Aug. 30-31) to open the regular season as hosts of the Lobo Invitational. 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 that goes live on August 18.

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