Jump Start: New-look UNM volleyball hosts Lobo Invite

The 2025 floodgates are about to burst open for the University of New Mexico volleyball team.

The new-look Lobos — new uniforms, seven new players, renewed sense of optimism — will hit the court running Friday with two home matches at Johnson Center. UNM takes on Manhattan (9:30 a.m.) and Northern Arizona (6:30 p.m.) before concluding the four-team Lobo Invitational against Houston Christian on Saturday (1:30 p.m.).

It’s part of a frenetic start to the season as the Lobos play more than 20% of their regular-season schedule in an eight-day span. UNM travels to Texas for another three-match tournament at Tarleton State, beginning Thursday, Sept. 4.

“It’s pretty crazy to think we go from zero to six matches in basically a week,” Lobos coach Jon Newman-Gonchar said. “It’s exciting. This is the time of year we look forward to, but it’s challenging, too. We’ll learn a lot about ourselves in the next eight days — starting this weekend.”

UNM began its learning process with a decisive 3-0 exhibition win over New Mexico Highlands last weekend. Newman-Gonchar rotated his lineups throughout as the Lobos rolled to a 25-7, 25-15, 25-20 sweep without All-Mountain West outside hitter Lauryn Payne — who sat out the match with leg soreness but expects to play this week.

Several Lobos stood out in the exhibition win, including sophomore middle blocker Reagan Miller, who felt UNM played much cleaner volleyball than it did in a 2024 exhibition win over NMHU.

“I feel like we looked more cohesive compared to a year ago,” Miller said. “We brought the energy right away and just took charge. That was exciting to see.”

Newman-Gonchar hopes for more of the same Friday, particularly with an unusual breakfast-time match against Manhattan. It’s the first-ever meeting between the Lobos and Jaspers, who struggled mightily (1-28) last season but have since revamped their roster with international players from Poland and Italy.

It’s a familiar strategy for UNM, which has five international players on its own roster and is trying to bounce back from a 13-15 season in 2024.

“There’s a really good vibe around this team,” Newman-Gonchar said, “and the players have made it clear they want to finish top six in the Mountain West and compete in the conference tournament in Las Vegas. But right now it’s important to get off to a good start and take advantage of playing at home.”

After opening against Manhattan, UNM will face more familiar opponents in NAU (14-14 last season) and Houston Christian (11-17). The Lobos dropped a five-set battle to the Lumberjacks last season in Flagstaff, Arizona, and topped the Huskies in four sets in Houston.

Newman-Gonchar is a Northern Arizona alum and has scheduled the Lumberjacks regularly in recent seasons. The teams split four sets during a 2025 spring match, and Miller said she’s looking forward to a rematch.

“We’ve had some good battles with NAU and we kind of know each other,” she said. “It’ll be good to see how we match up with them, but I’m really excited to see three different kinds of teams. We want to show we’re an adaptable team this year and can adjust to different opponents — and of course we want to defend our home court.”

UNM has just four non-conference home matches on its schedule before opening Mountain West play on Sept. 25. Three of the four home games will be this weekend with the fourth coming Sept. 16 against New Mexico State.

Fans can expect to see numerous UNM player combinations this weekend as Newman-Gonchar and his staff try to nail down their most effective rotations.

“We’ll have a lot of video to break down by Sunday,” he said, “but our focus now is on playing well and putting ourselves in position to win the tournament. That’s always the objective, especially at home.”