Volleyball Hits the Road to Face New Mexico, UNLV

SAN DIEGO - San Diego State embarks on its penultimate road trip of the regular season this weekend when it travels to New Mexico and UNLV. The Aztecs will face the Lobos on Thursday, Oct. 31, starting at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT, before heading to Sin City to battle the Rebels on Saturday, Nov. 2, beginning at 2 p.m. PT.

 In addition to live stats, a link to streaming video will be available for both matches on GoAztecs.com via the Mountain West Network.

QUICK HITS
> SDSU split two encounters at home last week, dropping a tough five-set decision to Boise State (18-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-21, 13-15)  before rebounding with a sweep of Utah State (25-19, 25-20, 25-22), which snapped a five-match losing streak.
> With the results, the Aztecs still occupy the eighth position in the Mountain West standings with a 3-7 conference mark.
> SDSU has posted an 19-18 overall record since Sept. 29, 2018, after starting last season with a 1-14 ledger.
> The Aztecs are 9-2 this year when blasting more kills than the opposition and are 10-4 when recording a greater hitting percentage. The Scarlet and Black is also 6-0 this season when capturing the first two sets.
> Senior middle blocker Tamia Reeves hit .536 last week, including a .714 clip vs. Utah State (10-0-14) to raise her attack percentage to .410 for the year, which ranks second in the Mountain West and 20th in the nation.

SERIES RECORD VS. NEW MEXICO
> The Aztecs defeated the Lobos for the fifth straight match after posting a 3-1 triumph (25-18, 18-25, 25-18, 25-21) on Oct. 5.
> With the victory, SDSU moved to 41-21 in the all-time series vs. UNM.
> In that match, the Aztecs featured a balanced attack, with four players posting double figures in kills - Hannah Turnlund (13), Victoria O'Sullivan (12), Erin Gillcrist (11) and Tamia Reeves (10).  Reeves committed just one error on 14 attempts (.643) en route to earning MW Offensive Player of the Week honors. 
> SDSU has won two straight vs. the Lobos in Albuquerque and is 5-5 in its last 10 trips to the Duke City.
> Since the Mountain West's inception in 1999, the Aztecs are 25-14 against UNM overall, including a 10-10 mark on the road.

SERIES RECORD VS. UNLV
> Despite dropping a 3-1 decision (21-25, 24-26, 25-20, 23-25) at home on Oct. 3, SDSU still sports a 27-22 overall record against the Rebels. 
> In that match, the Aztecs received double-digit kills from Hannah Turnlund (15) and Victoria O'Sullivan (11), while Tamia Reeves hit .692 for the evening (9-0-13).
> SDSU posted a greater hitting percentage (.283 to .250) and maintained the statistical advantage in digs (52-46) and total blocks (11.0-5.0); however,  the Aztecs could not contain the Rebels' attack, logging 13 fewer kills (63-50) in the loss.
> SDSU is 3-7 in its last 10 visits to Las Vegas. The Aztecs' last victory in Sin City occurred in 2012, when they emerged with a four-set triumph.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
> New Mexico (6-16, 1-9 MW) has struggled in conference play this season, dropping nine of its first 10 Mountain West matches, including a 3-0 sweep at home to Air Force in its last outing on Oct. 26 (21-25, 19-25, 18-25). The Lobos' lone victory against a league opponent was recorded in a 3-2 nail-biter at Nevada on Oct. 17.  Thursday's clash will be UNM's first inside the Johnson Center this year after falling in their four previous matches at Dreamstyle Arena. Individually, the Lobos are led by senior Lauren Twitty, who ranks seventh the conference with 3.14 kills per set, while fellow classmate Tai Bierria (2.54) and freshman Kaitlynn Biassou (2.53) are averaging over two put-aways per frame as well.  In addition, freshman Alena Moldan occupies the sixth spot in the league with 3.79 digs per set, while sophomore Rachel Murphy ranks ninth in blocks (1.01/set).  Sophomore Jaclyn Inclan (5.77 assists, 2.48 digs) and senior Maddie Freiwald (4.48 assists) share the team's setting duties. Collectively, UNM enters the weekend ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, in digs (13.68/set) and blocks (2.01/set). However, the Lobos find themselves near the bottom of the MW in hitting percentage (9th, .178),  kills (10th, 11.33/set) and assists (10th, 10.52/set). New Mexico is led by first-year head coach Jon Newman-Gonchar, who arrived on the Albuquerque campus after serving a three-year stint at Arkansas as associate head coach. Newman-Gonchar has also had stops as an assistant coach at Iowa State (2013-15), Loyola Marymount (2010-12), as well as UC San Diego with both the men's and women's squads (2007-09). 

> UNLV (12-9, 8-2 MW) has been one of the hottest teams in the Mountain West lately, winning eight straight to take over third place in the league standings.  The Rebels defeated Air Force at home in their last match by a 3-1 count (25-23, 22-25, 25-16, 25-19), as junior Mariena Hayden led all players with 18 kills, while freshman Shelby Capllonch contributed her 13th double-double of the year with 10 kills and 12 digs.  Prior to Saturday's clash with the Aztecs, UNLV will square off against Fresno State on Thursday. For the season, Hayden ranks sixth in the conference with 3.28 kills per set, while Capllonch (2.87/set) and junior Thea Sweder (2.18/set) are also averaging over two put-aways per frame. Additionally, UNLV has received a boost from sophomore Kate Brennan, who ranks eighth in the MW with a .315 hitting percentage and tops the squad with 77 total blocks (0.86/set), while senior Antonette Rolda occupies the 10th spot in the conference in assists (5.86/set). Capllonch (3.13/set) holds a slight edge over Hayden (3.11/set) for the team lead in digs. Overall, the Rebels find themselves among the MW leaders in kills (2nd, 12.98/set), service aces (2nd, 1.78/set), hitting percentage (3rd, .234) and assists (12.00/set). However, UNLV is allowing a league-worst .237 hitting percentage by the opposition and ranks just 10th in blocks (1.76/set). Head coach Dawn Sullivan is in her second season with the Rebels after leading her squad to a 22-12 record last year, highlighted by a semifinal appearance in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. Prior to her arrival at UNLV, Sullivan spent 13 years as an assistant at Iowa State, including the final six as associate head coach.

TURNLUND'S TURN
> With her 11 put-aways at Air Force on Oct. 19, senior Hannah Turnlund surpassed the 1,000-kill plateau for her career and has launched 1,040 non-returnables in a Scarlet and Black uniform.
> In addition, Turnlund has accumulated 2,895 attacks for her career, needing just 61 more to move into 10th place on the school's all-time list in that statistic. Angelica Jackson (1984-87) currently ranks 10th in that category with 2,955 attempts for her career.
> Turnlund has posted double-digit kill totals in 14 of 21 matches this season and 55 times in her career.
>  Against Florida Gulf Coast on Aug. 31, Turnlund completed a double-double with a personal-best 24 kills to go with a season-high 16 digs, as the Aztecs dropped a narrow five-set decision.
> With that performance, the Morgan Hill, California, native secured a spot on the all-tournament team at the Homewood Suites FGCU Fort Myers Classic.
> Not to be outdone, Turnlund has racked up eight double-doubles over the last two seasons after logging none in her first two years on The Mesa. Among her standout matches was a 23-kill, 21-dig effort vs. Nevada in the next-to-last outing of the 2018 campaign.

ON THE HORIZON
>  Following Saturday's matchup at UNLV, San Diego State will open a four-match homestand, starting next week when it plays host to Wyoming on Thursday, Nov. 7  before locking horns with No. 14 Colorado State two days later on Nov. 9.