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by Connor Gilbert

Lobos Sweep Nevada on Pink Night

Lobos Sweep Nevada on Pink NightLobos Sweep Nevada on Pink Night

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Volleyball (10-12, 3-8 MW) got back in the win column with its most dominant win in conference play this season, putting away Nevada in straight sets (25-14, 25-14, 25-21) thanks to a season-high hitting performance and a stifling defensive effort that limited the Wolf Pack (7-14, 3-8 MW) to just .126 hitting on the match.

Lauryn Payne (13 kills) and Addison France (10 kills) paced the Lobo attack – Payne’s fourth match in her last five with double-digit kills and France’s fourth in a row – with Gioia Riccato (9 kills) and Reagan Miller (7 kills) both coming up big down the stretch to round out a 43-kill team effort. Riccato put down eight of her nine kills in the final two sets, with six in the third – Miller connected on five of her seven in the same span.

All four Lobos hit above .300 on the night, with Miller’s .636 hitting performance leading the way. All in all, UNM outdug the Wolf Pack 42-30 and outblocked them 9-4 while converting on 68% of sideouts. Nevada's .126 hitting average is the Lobos' lowest opponent average in conference play this season.

Camila Canedo led the Lobos in digs with 16 – her 10th match in a row in double figures – with Riccato and Madison Blanco both finishing with six and Madeleine Miller and Anna Johannson both adding five more each.

Madeleine Miller finished with 33 assists – an average of 11 per set – to go with two kills and a block. Canedo dished out two assists of her own, while five other Lobos finished with one each.

UNM hit for a season-best .368 average on the match, holding Nevada to just 0.072 hitting in the first two games as they raced to a pair of 25-14 set wins and a commanding 2-0 lead. The Wolf Pack kept things interesting in the third set, taking a 16-14 lead before UNM ripped off six straight to retake control.

ALL-TIME SERIES
• With the win, UNM improves to 21-4 in the all-time series against the Wolf Pack – the Lobos are now 11-1 at home against Nevada and Coach Newman-Gonchar is 10-2 against UNR in his tenure. 

UP NEXT 
The Lobos (10-12, 2-9 MW) stay home for their first meeting of the season with Air Force on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT. All of this week’s action at home will be free to stream via the MW Network at GoLobos.com/Watch, with live stats at GoLobos.com/VBStats. Follow @UNMLoboVB on IG, X and Facebook for match updates and coverage, promotional information, behind-the-scenes content and more.