2023-11-12 01:46:44
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Volleyball celebrated Senior Day Saturday with a hard-fought five-set win (23-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 15-9) over Nevada at the Johnson Center, punctuated by a 21-kill performance from Kaitlynn Biassou that gave her the all-time UNM program record in points and kills.
Seven seniors – Mattison Matthews, Athina Dimitriadis, Emma Smith, Melissa Walden, Uxue Guereca, Kali Wolf and Kaitlynn Biassou – were honored before their final home game at the Johnson Center, the most seniors of any team in the Newman-Gonchar era.
And 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.
Kait Biassou is continuing to leave her mark on the Lobos’ program ❤️#NCAAWVB x ???? @UNMLoboVB pic.twitter.com/VsVHT15nRr
— NCAA Women’s Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) November 12, 2023
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.
With her ninth kill today on Senior Day, Kaitlynn Biassou now has the most career kills in Lobo Program History with 1,624!
Congrats on another well-earned honor, Kait ❤️????#GoLobos pic.twitter.com/4gBT2pd0jP
— New Mexico Volleyball (@UNMLoboVB) November 11, 2023
But UNM had to weather a gritty effort from Nevada to come away with an all-important 10th win in MW play, improving to 10-6 in conference matches, rallying to take set four and pulling away with a lopsided fifth. They’re now one win away from matching the 2021 season for the most wins in conference play with two matches to go.
BY THE NUMBERS
Biassou’s record-breaking night led all players in kills and blocks – she cracked 20 kills for the first time this season, finishing with double-digit kills for the 11th time in her last 12 matches. She was one of four Lobos to finish with double-digit kills along with Uxue Guereca (19 kills), Athina Dimitriadis (15) and Kali Wolf (10), finishing one block short of a rare kill-block double-double.
Guereca’s 19-kill, 14-dig performance was her 12th double-double of the year – she finished with .313 hitting on the match. Wolf finished with her third double-double of the season, recording a team-high 15 digs and two aces.
Dimitriadis hit a team-high .379 while adding seven blocks, serving up an ace and adding three digs.
Melissa Walden cracked 40 assists for the seventh time this season and second match in a row, finishing with 44 to go with 11 digs for a double-double while Madeleine Miller contributed 16 assists off the bench for her sixth time in her last seven appearances.
UNM finished with 19 kills in set two and 18 in set four, both the most kills in a single set so far this season.
UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
The Lobos open their final weekend of conference play on the road against Colorado State on Thursday at 7 p.m. MT before facing Wyoming on Saturday at 5 p.m. Both matches 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.
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