Lobos Set to Close Out MW Play on the Road

New Mexico Volleyball looks to secure a Mountain West Tournament berth for the third consecutive season over its final week of conference play when the Lobos (18-9, 10-6 MW) face Colorado State on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Wyoming on Saturday at 5 p.m. – both on the road.

A win over the Rams (16-11, 10-6 MW) would clinch a spot in the six-team tournament, but the Lobos can also clinch with a Boise State loss on Thursday. UNM is one of three teams tied for second place in the league standings at 10-6 along with CSU and Fresno State (16-11, 10-6).

Both matches will be broadcast via the MW Network, with live stats available via golobos.com/vbstats — follow @UNMLoboVB on socials for scores, highlights, gameday content and more.

NEW MEXICO (18-9, 10-6 MW) vs. COLORADO STATE (16-11, 10-6 MW)
Thurs, Nov. 16 | 7 p.m. MT | Fort Collins, Colo.
Live Stats | Stream (MW Network)

NEW MEXICO (18-9, 10-6 MW) vs. WYOMING (18-9, 7-9 MW)
Sat, Nov. 18 | 5 p.m. MT | Laramie, Wyo.
Live Stats | Stream (MW Network)

ALL-TIME SERIES
UNM has won three of the last four against Wyoming but trail the all-time series against the Cowgirls 37-52. They trail Colorado State 26-61. UNM has taken at least one match against both in each of the last two seasons, but prior to that hadn’t beaten Colorado State since 2018 and Wyoming since 2017. Under Jon Newman-Gonchar, UNM is 3-5 against Wyoming and 2-5 against CSU – JNG-coached Lobos teams are 1-3 against Wyoming on the road and 1-2 against CSU on the road.

CLINCHING SCENARIOS
The winner of Colorado State/New Mexico clinches a spot in the tournament. If Colorado State, Fresno State, or New Mexico win Thursday, they are in the tournament. If Boise State loses at Nevada on Thursday, Colorado State, Fresno State, and New Mexico are in the tournament. If Boise State loses at Nevada and Air Force/UNLV win on Thursday, Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, New Mexico, and UNLV are in the tournament.

KAIT’S RECORD-BREAKING NIGHT
Kaitlynn Biassou put on a show for Lobo fans in the final home match of her five-year career while leading the Lobos to their second five-set win over Nevada this season. She only needed 9 kills and 20 points to break the record and finished with 21 kills, 8 digs, 9 total blocks and a total of 25.5 points to surge past UNM All-American Chantale Riddle for the No. 1 all-time spot.
With her first service ace of the match against Northern Arizona, Biassou notched her 100th ace of her career. She entered the program’s all-time Top 10 in service aces two weeks ago and is now No. 5 on the all-time list (114), 2 away from taking the No. 5 spot and and 6 away from taking sole possession of the No. 2 spot.
Biassou still has two regular season games left to play next week, and if the Lobos win one of them, they’ll clinch a spot in the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas on Nov. 22-24.

FIRST TIME AROUND
The Lobos topped Wyoming in four at home on Oct. 12, at that point the fourth consecutive Top-150 RPI opponent. UNM served up a season-high 10 aces in the win, getting double-doubles from Kaitlynn Biassou (15 kills, 15 digs) and Uxue Guereca (14 kills, 12 digs) as well as a dominant night on both sides of the ball from Athina Dimitriadis (9 kills, 7 TB) in the process.
After rolling to a 25-18 win in the first set thanks to 14 kills on .297 hitting, the Cowgirls threatened to become the first team to wrest momentum away from the Lobos in their last four matches, holding them to 0.050 hitting in the second to tie things up and battling through six set points in the third before the Lobos could pull away. Set Four was all Lobos, with UNM hitting a match-high .345 and ripping off a 9-0 run — the Lobos’ longest run of the night — to take control late.
UNM faced the Rams on Oct. 14, falling in straight sets for the first time this season (15-25, 19-25, 23-25). UNM got double-digit kills from Kaitlynn Biassou (15) and Uxue Guereca (10), but the Rams hit .374 – the first time a UNM opponent has hit over .300 this season and first time since Sep. 1 that an opponent hit above .200. The duo finished with six digs apiece.

NATIONALLY SPEAKING…
The Lobos rank No. 34 in the nation in opponent hitting average (.167), No. 43 in digs per set (15.99) and No. 32 in blocks per set (2.54) – they lead the Mountain West in all three.
Elizabeth Woods is No. 51 in the nation in blocks per set (1.22) and Uxue Guereca is No. 119 in kills per set (3.51) and No. 95 in points per set (4.11).

RPI UPDATE
The Lobos clocked in at No. 120 in Monday’s rankings – on of seven MW teams in the nations’ Top 150. Both of this week’s opponents are in front of them with CSU at No. 67 and Wyoming at No. 113.
The Lobos tout the best road winning percentages in the Mountain West and Rank Top-50 in the NCAA at 8-2 in true road matchups (.800). UNM is 6-4 against Top-150 RPI opponents so far this season.

BIG SHOWING IN JOHNSON
With 1,047 in attendance at the Johnson Center, UNM’s matchup with Northern Arizona at home was the highest-attended Johnson Center Home Opener since 2015. The Lobos have seen an increase in attendance in each season since 2019 — not counting the 2020-21 season that limited attendance due to the COVID pandemic — and UNM’s average attendance of 841 per home game last season was its highest since 2016 (1,248) and highest of Newman-Gonchar’s tenure. Saturday’s Senior Day brought in 1,589 fans to the Johnson Center – the highest-attended Lobo Volleyball game of the season. With the 2023 home schedule (including three games at The Pit for the Lobo Invitational) now complete, the Lobos’ average of 956 fans per game is the highest since 2016 – including seven games with over 1,000 in attendance.

GISELLE GROWS INTO STARTING ROLE
After starting the final three sets against Boise State last Saturday, true freshman Giselle Groe has proven up to the task at Libero, starting the last four matches for UNM and leading the Lobos in digs in both matches. She’s averaging 3.17 digs per set over her last five matches, adding 18 assists and four service aces in that span. She’s increased her assist output in each of her last four appearances.

ATHINA AND LIZ ON THE BLOCK
She’s known as “Aqueena” by her teammates, and Athina Dimitriadis was the blocks queen of the Mountain West last week, leading the league in total blocks (12 TB, 1.71/set) and ranking No. 10 in the league in total points (3.79/set). She’s finished with at least five blocks in four of her last five outings while hitting above .300 in four of her last five as well, serving up five aces in that span.
Elizabeth Woods ranks No. 3 in the MW in blocks per set (1.26) in conference play and No. 3 overall (1.26) and the Lobos rank No. 1 in the league in opponent hitting percentage (.157) and No. 1 in team blocks per set (2.54).

EXPERIENCED ON THE OUTSIDES
Kaitlynn Biassou (3.19 kills/set, 2.60 digs/set) and Uxue Guereca (3.58 kills/set, 3.08 digs/set) have been instrumental to UNM’s performance so far this year.
So far this season, Guereca ranks No. 4 in the conference in kills per set, No. 10 in digs per set and No. 3 in points per set (4.16). Biassou ranks No. 8 in kills per set and No. 8 in points per set (3.78).
Biassou and Guereca rank third and fourth in their careers among active MW players in points per set, with 3.89 and 3.75 respectively. They’re also third and fifth in kills per set (3.33, 3.22).

RISING EXPECTATIONS
Jon Newman-Gonchar’s Lobos are picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West Coaches’ Poll – the highest they’ve been slated to finish in Newman-Gonchar’s four seasons at the helm in Albuquerque.
UNM is coming off its second consecutive winning season, going 17-12 overall and 8-10 in conference in 2022 en route to a fifth-place finish and the Lobos’ second straight MWC Tournament berth. Newman-Gonchar has posted a 62.7% win percentage over the last two seasons, with 20 wins in 2021 marking the most for the program since 2013.

A LOOK AT THE ROSTER
UNM’s nine returners combined for 70% of the Lobos’ total points last season, with 2022 All-MWC Outside Hitter Kaitlyn Biassou along with fellow 2022 starters Uxue Guereca (338 kills, 393.5 points) and Kali Wolf (228 kills, 276 points) highlighting the Lobos’ experience on the outside. The Lobos also added four freshmen and three impact grad transfers to offset the loss of middle blocker Avital Jaloba, libero Alena Moldan and setter Anilee Sher to graduation.

GOOD, BETTER, BEST, BIASSOU
In her fifth and final season at UNM, Kaitlynn Biassou has continued to get better each year. This year, she sees the Lobos making a similar jump.
“This is the most depth we’ve had since I’ve been here, and I’m super excited about our potential,” Biassou said. “We made it to the (MWC) tournament the last two years and lost in the first round both times. This year I want to get back and win the tournament. That’s what I’m focused on.”
Biassou put up career-high numbers for the third straight season in 2022, with 431 kills (3.68 per set) to go with 33 service aces and 504.5 points – all team-highs for UNM. The Reno, Nev. native ranked No. 4 in the Mountain West in kills and No. 3 in points per set (4.31) while also picking up 227 digs (1.94 per set) and tallying 75 total blocks.
In MWC play last season, Biassou cracked double-digit kills in 14 out of 18 conference matchups, matching a career-high twice with 26 kills vs. Wyoming (Sep. 29) and at Nevada (Oct. 15). Those two performances were the third-highest total by a MWC player in a conference game last season, with her 31 points in that Wyoming match ranking as the most in a single game in MWC action. Additionally, Biassou’s 21 kills against Utah State (Sep. 24) ranked as the second-most in a three-set match.
Biassou is also a threat at the service line, with four matches with three or more service aces — including five against Abilene Christian — and eight matches with multiple aces in a match. She’s served up 24 aces so far this season.

EXPERIENCE ALL OVER
A total of seven seniors (4 grad seniors, 1 redshirt, 2 true seniors) combined for 1,652 sets played entering the season — the most seniors Newman-Gonchar has ever had on a roster during his time at UNM.
Co-captains Kaitlynn Biassou, Kali Wolf and Uxue are the first trio to record at least 200 kills and 20 service aces each in the same season under Newman-Gonchar, and first since 2016.

STIFLING EFFORT
Only five of the Lobos’ opponents have hit above .200 and only two have hit above .300 on the season. UNM’s loss to CSU was the first time all season that a team hit above .300 against the Lobos — San Francisco (.248) was the only other team to crack .200 at that point, with 5 opponents hitting below .100.
UNM held 16 opponents below a .200 hitting percentage last season, with one opponent (Portland State) below .100 (.089). In 2022, UNM held opponents to a .187 hitting percentage, which ranked No. 1 in the Mountain West. In MW matches in 2022, UNM led the league in digs per set (16.14) and finished 2nd in opp. hitting % (.188). The Lobos lead the league in both categories so far in 2023.