ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Volleyball responded early in each set but couldn’t hold off UNLV down the stretch as the Lobos (10-14, 2-11 MW) fell in straight sets (20-25, 17-25, 23-25) Thursday night at the Johnson Center.
UNM returns for its final home match of the season Saturday when the Lobos host San Diego State (13-11, 8-5 MW) on Senior Day.
Gioia Riccato paced the offense with 11 kills – including five each in the first and third sets as UNM made late runs – while Lauryn Payne put away five and Addison France, Reagan Miller and Solia Angilau all finished with three.
Madison Blanco led the Lobos in digs with eight while serving up a pair of aces, adding a pair of assists – Uliana Yastrub (2 kills, 1 dig) and Seenane Brewer (2 assists, 2 digs) also served up an ace each. Madeleine Miller dished out 24 of UNM’s 31 assists while picking up seven digs and an errorless four kills on six attempts, while Riccato matched her with seven digs of her own and Camila Canedo finished with five.
SET ONE - UNLV 25, NEW MEXICO 20
UNM struggled to contain the Rebels’ offense in the opening set, never leading after a 5-0 start for UNLV. The Lobos got five of their 12 kills from Riccato – four of which coming in the final 15 points of the set – but was held to .136 hitting as a team while the Rebels put away 14 kills at a .289 clip.
A 5-0 run that included three kills from Riccato and an ace from Blanco trimmed the deficit to 19-16 and forced a UNLV timeout, but the Lobos couldn’t equalize before the Rebels scored four of the last six to win 25-20.
SET TWO - UNLV 25, NEW MEXICO 17
The Lobos picked up some momentum early in the second, going up 4-2 after a kill from France and an emphatic block from Riccato and Leonard in succession – the Rebels scored six of the next seven in response, but the ‘Bos ripped off a 5-1 run of their own as Payne’s fourth kill tied things up at 9-9.
Twice more the Rebels went up by three and the Lobos reeled them back within one with runs in response, but the Lobos couldn’t recover from a 7-0 push to close the set as UNLV took set two 25-17.
Payne led the way with three of UNM’s nine kills in the second and the Lobos held the Rebels to nine kills on .143 hitting, but UNLV outblocked them 7-3 and held them to -.057 hitting in the same span.
SET THREE - UNLV 25, NEW MEXICO 23
Thanks to another five kills from Riccato and three more from Solia Angilau, the Lobos hit at a match-high .267 clip in the third set and gave the Rebels their toughest challenge of the night.
UNM scored the first two points of the set and tied it at 4-4 with Riccato’s seventh kill but didn’t lead again until a late 3-0 run – capped off by an ace from Uliana Yastrub – that gave the Lobos a 22-21 edge.
ULI ACE for the lead!
— New Mexico Volleyball (@UNMLoboVB) November 7, 2025
S3 | Lobos 22, UNLV 21 pic.twitter.com/OYFjW16LRw
But UNLV closed out strong yet again to avoid a fourth set, scoring four of the last five with three kills in that span to end the match.
UP NEXT
New Mexico’s Senior Day matchup with San Diego State on Saturday is set for a 12 p.m. MT first serve. The match will be free to stream via the MW Network at GoLobos.com/Watch, with live stats at GoLobos.com/VBStats. Find parking and gameday information at GoLobos.com/VBGameday. Follow @UNMLoboVB on IG, X and Facebook for matchday updates, highlights, promotional information, behind-the-scenes content and more.