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Comcast Lobo Invitational Friday Sept. 205 p.m.Temple vs. Auburn 7 p.m.SMU vs. New Mexico Saturday Sept. 2110 a.m.Auburn vs. SMU 12 p.m.Temple vs. New Mexico 5 p.m.SMU vs. Temple 7 p.m.Auburn vs. New Mexico

Update - The University of New Mexico volleyball team (1-8) hosts its first home competition of the 2002 season with the Comcast Lobo Invitational. Auburn, SMU and Temple travel to the Duke City to participate in the tournament.

Ticket Information - Tickets for Lobo Volleyball can be purchased through the UNM Athletics Ticket Office at 505.925.LOBO (5626) or through Tickets.com, at 1.800.905.3315. All seats are General Admission. Single game prices are $4 for Adults, $3 for Seniors (55+), and $2 for Youth (18 and under). UNM Faculty and Staff as well as, UNM Students are free with valid ID.

Looking at the Competition - Auburn comes to Albuquerque with a 1-8 record after having lost three matches this weekend at the War Eagle Invitational. The Tigers lost to Middle Tennessee, UNCGreensboro and Wyoming. SMU is 4-5 after hosting the SMU Invitational this past weekend in Dallas. SMU lost to Tulane and Cal and defeated UTSA in home action. Temple is 6-4 on the season going 3-1 this past weekend defeating St. Peters, West Virginia and New Hampshire and losing to Rutgers.

vs. Comcast Invite Opponents - The last time the Lobos met the SMU Mustangs was during the 1999 season at the Connecticut tournament where SMU took the match in four games, 11-15, 15-13, 7-15, and 7-15. UNM leads the series 2-1. The Lobos and Owls have met twice, with a split in the series. New Mexico has a 1-0 record against Auburn having defeated the Tigers at a Texas Tech tournament back in 1992, with the Lobos taking the match in three games, 15-6, 15-12, and 15-5.

Recap • Borderland Invitational - The Lobos played in the first Borderland Invitational, Sept. 13-14 in both Las Cruces, N.M. and El Paso, Texas. New Mexico State Aggies and the UTEP Lady Miners co-hosted the event. vs. NMSU -- In their first meeting of the season the NMSU Aggies defeated instate rivals UNM in front of a crowd of 1,348 rowdy fans. The Lobos lost in four games 30-16, 20-30, 30-26, and 30-27 to fall to 0-7 on the season. Junior Anna Reines had a great night scoring 20 kills and hitting .375 (20k-5e-40ta) on the night. Reines is the Lobos leading hitter averaging 3.68 kills per game. Defensively Reines added one block solo and one block assist. Sophomore setter Monica Meihack totaled 40 assists on the evening and scored a career-high 17 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Three Lobos scored double figure digs including Meihack, senior Vanessa Shields who also had her fourth double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs. Senior Blaire Burns added 15 digs. As a team the Lobos hit .181 on 59 kills, 30 errors in 160 attempts to NMSU’s .292 (56k-14e-144ta). Defensively the two team tied each scoring 62 digs. The Lobos had four service aces with senior Staci Masten scoring two. vs. UTPA -- UNM captured their first victory of the season with their win over Texas-Pan American in their second match at the Borderland Invitational. The Lobos defeated the Lady Broncs in three games 30-22, 30-26, and 30-23 to improve to 1-7 on the season. Leading the Lobo attack was sophomore Cayse Kaveny who hit .476 for the match on 12 kills, 2 errors in 21 attempts. Junior Anna Reines hit a career high .419 against the Lady Broncs with 16 kills, 3 errors on 31 attempts. Senior Staci Masten scored a career high 11 kills and hit .391 for the match (11k-2e-23ta). Senior Vanessa Shields scored her fifth double-double of the season against UTPA on 12 kills and 11 digs. Senior Blaire Burns scored back to back matches in double figure digs with 15 last night against the NMSU Aggies and adding 12 against the Lady Broncs. The Lobos out hit UTPA .302 (58k-19e-129ta) to .143 (35k-19e-112ta). Defensively UNM out dug the Lady Broncs 49 to 44 and out blocked them 6.0 to 5.0. The Lobos scored a season high seven service aces with sophomores Monica Meihack and Kaveny scoring two a piece. vs. UTEP -- UNM lost to the UTEP Miners in four games, 26-30, 31-29, 28-30, and 19-30. New Mexico drops to 1-8 on the season. Leading the Lobo attack, junior Anna Reines scored 16 kills and for her efforts was named to the Borderland Invitational All-Tournament team. Reines added three block assists. Senior Vanessa Shields scored 15 kills and added one block solo and three block assists. Sophomore Cayse Kaveny set career high’s with eight block assists and three service aces. Senior Staci Masten also had three service aces for the match adding four block assists. Numbers wise UNM hit .198 for the match on 54 kills, 22 errors on 162 attempts to UTEP’s .211 (69k-31e--180ta). The Miners outdug the Lobos 77 to 62, but New Mexico outblocked UTEP 12.0 to 4.0. Three Lobos scored double figure digs including sophomore Monica Meihack with 16 , Masten with 12 and senior Blaire Burns with 18. Meihack scored her fifth double-double of the season with 36 assists and 16 digs.

Team Season Highs Kills - 67 vs. Miami (8/30) Attacks - 171 vs. Miami (8/30) Hitting % - .302 vs. UTPA (9/14)- (58k-19-129ta) Assists - 61 vs. Miami (8/30) Service Aces - 9 vs. UTEP (9/14) Digs - 63 vs. Wichita State (8/31) Block Solo - 3 (Twice) Block Assists - 23 vs. Miami (8/30)

Individual Season Highs Kills - 23, Anna Reines vs. Stephen F. Austin (8/30) Attacks - 49, Vanessa Shields vs. UTEP (9/14) Hitting % - .476, Cayse Kaveny vs. UTPA (9/14)- (12k-2e-21ta) Assists - 53, Monica Meihack vs. Miami (8/30) Service Aces - 3, Four times, four players Digs - 19, Blaire Burns vs. Miami (8/30) Block Solo - 1 several Block Assists - 8, Cayse Kaveny vs. UTEP (9/14) 8, Staci Masten vs. Miami (8/30)

Head Coach Kelley Sliva - Sliva comes to UNM after spending the past nine years at Northern Arizona University. Her career record stands at 144-112 (.563). 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 - Two Lobos are listed in MWC stats in kills - junior Anna Reines is fifth in kills averaging 3.88 per game. Senior Vanessa Shields is 14th averaging 3.09 kills per game. Sophomore Monica Meihack is listed seventh in assists averaging 10.16 per game and ninth in digs averaging 2.91. Senior Blaire Burns ranks seventh in digs with a 3.03 per game average. Senior Staci Masten is 13th in blocks averaging 1.03 per game.

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 uni form 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.

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Lobos Women's Volleyball

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