The University of New Mexico volleyball team secured their second sweep of the season, winning 3-0 against the St. John’s Red Storm on Friday, Sept. 1. The match took place on day two of the Lobo Invitational. The Lobos came in strong after going 2-1 against the University of California, Irvine Invitational the weekend before.
The University of New Mexico volleyball team won 3-0 against the University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack on Thursday, Oct. 27. The match was also their “Pink Game” of the season for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The match marked the Lobo’s third win in a row after three tough losses. They also took revenge against Nevada after losing 3-2 in an away game on Oct. 15. “Our goal is to be better…. We're going to be better the second time that we play a team,” head coach Jon Newman-Gonchar said. “And so that's just where we're at right now.”
The Lobos defeated the Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks 3-1, but the final score doesn’t reflect how competitive of a game it was: three of the four sets came down to the wire, but UNM still came out on top with a total of 17 ties and seven lead changes throughout the match. Outside hitter Kaitlynn Biassou had 26 points, leading UNM in scoring. Anilee Sher led the Lobos in assists with 44 on the night. Freshman Lea Zurlinden was recently awarded with the conference’s Freshman of the Week award; she backed it up by scoring 10 points and having a kill percentage of .667.
The University of New Mexico volleyball team started play in an exhibition game against the New Mexico Highlands University Cowboys on Saturday, Aug. 20. The team won 4-0, showcasing a dominant performance that demonstrates potential for the season ahead. The Cowboys are a Division II volleyball team and finished the 2021 season with a record of 11-18 and ninth in their conference. They lost last season’s leading scorer Lisi Langi, who transferred to Lewis-Clark State.
After 11 years, it’s a new era for the University of New Mexico volleyball program. Jon Newman-Gonchar was named the head coach of the Lobos, the UNM Athletics Department announced on Tuesday. Newman-Gonchar most recently served as associate head coach at Arkansas for the last three years, but has a history in college volleyball that predates that tenure.
The UNM volleyball team fell for a third game in a row, losing to Colorado State Thursday night at a home game. The CSU Rams defeated the Lobos in a quick three sets, putting the Lobos at a 5-4 record in the Mountain West Conference. The Lobos charted season-low 30 kills, 29 total assists, a .059 hitting percentage and 24 errors. Compared to the .333 hitting percentage delivered by the Rams, any Lobo effort fell short against CSU. With the loss of Carly Beddingfield on the court due to an ankle sprain, the UNM team struggled to find momentum and to get ahead.
In the past week, the UNM Lobo volleyball team was victorious over two Mountain West Conference teams, moving the Lobos to number one in conference ranking. Thursday’s game against the University of Nevada Wolf Pack resulted in a close five matches that resulted in the Lobos winning 15-4 in final set. In the first (25-14) and third (25-17) sets, the Lobos came onto the court powerful. The team showed the determination they lacked in the second (13-25) and fourth (21-25) sets. The team gave up a total of 14 serving error points to the Wolf Pack throughout the match, but put down 57 hard-hitting kills against UNLV.
The Boise State Broncos defeated the University of New Mexico volleyball team, playing host to the Lobos on Saturday in Idaho. The Lobos (7-7, 1-1 MW) won its conference opener against Utah State on Wednesday, but fell to the Broncos in straight sets, looking like they were steps behind in each of them as they tried to compete. Boise State opened by scoring six of the first seven points to gain an early five-point advantage. That lead swelled to seven as the match progressed, but the Lobos were able to close the gap with a 6-0 run — one that included three kills from outside hitter Lauren Twitty and an ace from libber Mercedes Pacheco to pull with 14-13.
The University of New Mexico volleyball team will be looking to carry some momentum from its last match back to Albuquerque as the team hosts the annual Lobo Classic Tournament, where it will face three opponents — culminating in a matchup with the in-state rival Aggies. New Mexico (1-2) had a rough start on the road, dropping its first two matches of the season at the Idaho Volleyball Classic — but grinded out a five-set victory over host school Idaho to salvage the weekend. UNM assistant head coach Pauline Manser said the team has a very different look this year and there were a lot of adjustments made over what was a very competitive weekend.
The University of New Mexico volleyball team dropped its opening match on Friday, but regrouped to earn a split in a double header on Saturday at the Idaho Volleyball Classic. New Mexico (1-2) opened the tournament against Grand Canyon (2-1) on Friday and the schools needed all five sets to determine a winner. The Lobos took the first set 25-17, but couldn't keep the momentum going and dropped the next two sets. UNM fought off defeat by taking the fourth set in convincing fashion, winning 25-11. But the ‘Lopes took the decisive fifth set, 15-13, to snag the 3-2 victory.
The University of New Mexico volleyball team will begin its season on the road, playing three matches over two days in the Idaho Volleyball Classic. New Mexico is no stranger to opening up on the road, having done so in three of the past four seasons. And the Lobos have fared well — winning two of three at the Cyclone Invitational in Iowa last season and doing the same in Indiana to start the 2015 campaign. Another common factor will include the host school for this year’s tournament — Idaho.
University of New Mexico volleyball had a mixed week at home, defeating San Jose State University in three close sets but getting stopped by the Nevada Wolf Pack in a four-set duel. In the first two sets against San Jose State, UNM posted scores of 25-22, and the third set was even tighter, with the Lobos edging out the Spartans 26-24. In the second matchup, Nevada took the first set 25-19, but UNM recaptured the second set 18-25. However, Nevada got by UNM 31-29 in the third set and scored 25-20 for the match victory. The Lobos last met the Spartans on Oct. 7 in San Jose, California, where they fell 2-3, but this time at home, they seemed ready for whatever their rival could throw at them.
Despite strong performances from individual players and heartbreakingly-close scores, the Lobo volleyball team went winless last week, falling to New Mexico State on the road and to Wyoming and Colorado State at home. The Lobos (11-2, 3-7 MW) started the week with an away game on Monday, where they faced their Rio Grande Rival, New Mexico State University, but things quickly went awry, and they found themselves shut out in three straight sets. The final scores put the Aggies in line for the win, 25-18, 25-16 and 28-26, on their home turf in the Pan American Center.
The Lobo women’s volleyball team earned a split at home this week, dropping their first game to San Diego State but recovering for a solid win against Fresno State. The University of New Mexico’s latest win broke a three-game losing streak, putting the team’s record at 11-9 overall and 3-5 in Mountain West Conference play. UNM started strong against the San Diego Aztecs, capitalizing on early errors to take the lead and win the first set 25-20. However, the Aztecs proved to be tough competitors and fought for every point, edging their way past UNM 25-23 in the second set. Momentum shifted in the Aztecs’ favor, carrying them to a set three win 25-16 and a narrow victory in set four, putting the final scores at 20-25, 25-23, 25-16 and 27-25.
The New Mexico volleyball team went on the road this week to Reno, Nevada and San Jose, California where it played against the Wolf Pack and the Spartans, respectively, coming up short in both matches. It was UNM’s third week playing against Mountain West Conference competition, but the Lobos weren’t able to walk away with any wins on the trip. Despite strong individual player performances, close scores and hard-fought battles, the Lobos ultimately went home with 0-2 for the week, falling to the University of Nevada in four sets and to San Jose State after five sets. UNM’s record now stands at 10-8 overall and 2-4 in the Mountain West.
The New Mexico volleyball team finally got an opportunity to play in front of its home crowd after opening the season with six consecutive matches on the road. Even though the Lobos were able to get to play on their home court, the results continued to mimic the ones the team has experienced on the road. The Lobos swept UT Arlington in three straight sets, 25-17, 25-18 and 25-14, to open the Lobo Classic on Sept. 8 at Johnson Center. UNM followed up that performance with another win later that same evening, as it waged a marathon, five-set battle against the Portland Pilots, eventually coming out on top, 25-19, 28-30, 26-24, 22-25 and 15-10.
The New Mexico volleyball team opened the season with two wins and a loss at the Cyclone Invitational and duplicated those efforts over the weekend in another impressive showing. UNM racked up two victories to start the Glory Road Invitational in El Paso, Texas, which began on Sept. 1. The team notched wins over the Youngstown State Penguins and UTEP Miners, before getting stopped by the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. The Lobos swept the Penguins in straight sets 25-19, 25-20, 25-16 on Friday at Memorial Gym and followed it up on Saturday by shutting down the Miners, the Glory Road Invitational host school, in another three set sweep, 25-22, 25-18, 25-22.
The Lobos began the volleyball season in familiar fashion, sweeping their opponent in the opener on Thursday at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. Lobo women’s volleyball has not lost an opening game in the 11 years that Jeff Nelson has been the head coach, a release said. That streak continued with their win against the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks in three straight sets 25-21, 25-17 and 25-20. With nine new freshmen players on the roster, many of the student-athletes may have felt they had something to prove to the head coach that placed his trust in them — and the new recruits delivered.
Solutions by The State News
