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• Week Two • New Mexico at Arizona Wildcat Classic Hosted by: University of Arizona

Fri. • Sept. 6 vs. Arizona (2-1) - 7 p.m.

Sat. • Sept. 7 vs. Pepperdine (3-2) - 2:30 p.m.

Update - The University of New Mexico volleyball team (0-4) continues their tournament road schedule this weekend in Tucson, Ariz. at the Arizona Wildcat Classic, Sept. 6-7. Arizona, Nebraska, Pepperdine and New Mexico round out the tournament field.

UNM Tournament Schedule - The Lobos will play the University of Arizona on Fri., Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.. On Sat., Sept. 7, UNM will take on the Waves of Pepperdine in an afternoon matchup slated for a 2:30 p.m. start. New Mexico will not play Nebraska.

Looking at the Competition - Host Arizona, ranked No. 6 in the nation, started their 2002 season defeating UT-Arlington in four, 30-21, 27-30, 30-18, and 30-27 on Fri., Aug. 30. The Wildcats then played a double-header on Sat. defeating American in three games, 30-20, 30-28, 30-21, before being upset by Louisville in three games, 30-19, 30-27, 30-28. UA is now 2-1 for the season.

Pepperdine (3-2), and ranked No. 8, has played five matches this season, losing their first two but taking their next three. This past weekend the Waves swept Clemson in three games, 30-25, 30-17, and 30-22. Pepperdine then defeated South Florida in five, 30-26, 24-30, 26-30, 30-25, 15-11. In their nightcap match the Waves defeated Michigan in four games, 28-30, 35-33, 30-23, and 30-21.

vs. Wildcat Classic Opponents - Arizona has a 9-5 series lead against the Lobos. The last time the two schools met was during the 1993 season where the Lobos defeated the Wildcats in three games, 18-16, 15-13, and 15-11.

Pepperdine holds a 5-4 series lead against UNM heading into their 10th meeting. The Waves defeated the Lobos in 1997 in four games, 15-3, 16-14, 13-15, 15-11 in their last matchup.

Recap • Green Mill Restaurant Volleyball Classic - The Lobos struggled at their first tournament competition losing all four matches at the Wichita State tournament. vs. Miami -- UNM lost to the Miami Hurricanes, 3-1, in the first match of the Green Mill Restaurant Classic. The Lobos took the first game 30-22, then dropped the next three, 24-30, 23-30, and 23-30 to start the season 0-1. Leading the Lobo attack was junior Anna Reines who scored 21 kills despite having a shoulder injury. Senior Vanessa Shields added a career-high 19 kills and scored 11 digs to notch her first double-double of the season. Shields had one block solo and two block assists. Stepping into the lineup as setter, sophomore transfer Monica Meihack tallied 53 assists and scored 10 digs to pace the Lobos. Senior defensive specialist Blaire Burns tied a career-high in digs with 19, while senior middle blocker Staci Masten led the team in block assists with eight. This was a career high for the Durango, Colo. native. As a team the Lobos hit .251 on 67 kills, 24 errors, in 171 total attepts to Miami's .225 (65k-27e-169ta). Defensively UNM had 59 digs and outblocked the Hurricanes 13.5 to 7.0. vs. SFA -- dropped their second match of the day to the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks, 3-1. Once again the Lobos took the first game 30-25, then dropped the next three, 25-30, 17-30, 28-30. Junior outside hitter Anna Reines led the Lobo attack scoring 23 kills and hitting .333 for the match. Reines’ 23 kills and 9 digs were both career highs, which she previously set in the earlier match against the Hurricanes of Miami. Senior Vanessa Shields scored her second straight double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore setter Monica Meihack scored 47 assists against the Ladyjacks. Junior middle blocker Lynzie Hayes scored double figure kills with 12 and defensively contributed 7 digs. As a team the Lobos scored 43 digs to the Ladyjacks 51. Numbers wise New Mexico out hit SFA .208 (59 kills, 27 errors in 154 attacks) to .163 (57k-32e-153ta). Serving proved a problem for the Lobos as the Ladyjacks scored 11 service aces to UNM’s five. SFA outblocked the Lobos 13.0 to 7.0. vs. Wichita State -- suffered their third loss of the season to host Wichita State, 3-1. Making it a habit, the Lobos took the first game 30-25, then dropped the next three, 29-31, 27-30, and 15-30. Double figure kills were scored by both junior Anna Reines and senior Vanessa Shields who both scored 12 a piece. Shields scored her third double-double for the season as she scored 14 digs against the Shockers. Sophomore setter Monica Meihack scored 40 assists and tallied 15 digs. Sophomore Cayse Kaveny hit .304 for the match to pace the Lobos. Kaveny had 8 kills, one error in 23 attempts. Senior Staci Masten had a career high 14 digs, a match high three service aces and five block assists. Numbers wise New Mexico hit .167 (48k-24e-144ta) to WSU’s .174 (62k-33e-167ta). Defensively, the Lobos outdug the Shockers 63 to 60. Serving once again proved to be the Lobos weakness with Wichita State serving up 15 aces to the Lobos six. vs. Georgia -- struggled against a tough Georgia Bulldog team, losing in three games, 30-17, 30-19, and 30-16 in the final match of the Green Mill Restaurant Volleyball Classic. The Lobos stumbled and were out hit as a team .394 (55k-16e-99ta) to .036 (25k-21e-110ta0). Sophomore Cayse Kaveny had the best hitting numbers scoring six kills and hitting .222 for the match. Senior Staci Masten contributed seven kills and had two block assists. The Lobos also suffered another loss with an injury to junior outside hitter Lynzie Hayes. She will be evaluated this week by UNM medical staff and her status is unknown at this time.

Head Coach Kelley Sliva - Sliva (Slee-va) comes to UNM after spending the past nine years at Northern Arizona University. Her career record stands at 143-108 (.570). While at NAU, Sliva took the Lumberjacks to their first NCAA Volleyball Championship appearance (1999) and earned two Big Sky titles (1999 tournament and 2000 regular season). Sliva was named the 1999 Big Sky Coach of the Year. Sliva’s NAU teams scored five straight winning seasons, going 90-45 since the 1997 season.

Mountain West Conference - The Lobos were selected to finish seventh in the MWC preseason volleyball coaches poll. According to the league’s coaches Utah, followed by CSU will rank No. 1 and 2. BYU, San Diego State, UNLV, Wyoming, UNM and Air Force round out the poll.

Libero - The NCAA is implementing several rules changes this season including adding the libero (lee-bah-ro), which is a designated back-row player, intended to be used as a ball-control specialist. The libero is allowed to replace any player in the back row without counting as a substitution. There is no limit to the number of libero replacements a team is allowed. The color of the libero’s uniform must contrast from the color of her teammates uniforms. Some playing restrictions for the libero include: playing in the back row only; may not serve; and may not block or attempt to block.

Lobos Women's Volleyball

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