UNM volleyball adds international flair for 2025

University of New Mexico volleyball fans will certainly need an updated roster for the upcoming season. They might need a pocket GPS and a pronunciation guide, too.

With seven newcomers — four of them hailing from foreign countries — the Lobos will be an international bunch in 2025. They'll be experienced, too, as only two of the first-year additions are freshmen.

It's not a starting-from-scratch situation for UNM, which will open fall practice a week earlier than usual on Aug. 1 (per new NCAA rules). The Lobos have several key starters returning, including All-Mountain West outside hitter Lauryn Payne, setter Madeleine Miller and middle blocker Liepa Lavickyte.

But seventh-year coach Jon Newman-Gonchar isn't interested in a long-term rebuild anyway. He believes the diverse group of newcomers can push UNM back into conference contention after a 13-15 finish last season.

"There's a high level of excitement with this group," Newman-Gonchar said, "Kind of a great, mature energy. We all know last year was not good enough and we want to get back to the Mountain West tournament and have a chance to compete for a championship. I know every coach is optimistic this time of year and I'm no different, but I really think there's something special about this group."

Perhaps most notable will be UNM's influx of international talent. The Lobos' roster will feature players from Norway, Turkey, Ukraine, Brazil, Italy and of course the United States.

"It's the most international players I've had," Newman-Gonchar said, "but most of them have already played collegiately in the U.S., so coming here is not such a huge adjustment."

The one exception is Gioia Riccato, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter from Venice, Italy. Riccato is a graduate student who has played professionally at the Series B level in Italy and has one year of eligibility under NCAA rules. She's also played for several Venice-based club teams, including Vega Fusion Volley in 2024.

UNM's other newcomers:

• Addison France, 6-3 freshman setter/outside hitter from Phoenix. Two-position standout helped O'Connor High School to a 64-4 record over her final two seasons.

• Sude Omerickoglu, 5-8 junior setter from Izmir, Turkey. Omerickoglu was the starting setter at New Mexico Junior College for two seasons, including in 2023, when the Thunderbirds went 30-8 and reached the NJCAA Tournament.

• Uliana Yastrub, 6-0 sophomore outside hitter from Mykolaev, Ukraine. Played for her country's U-15 and U-18 National Teams before appearing in five matches at Rutgers last season.

• Camila Canedo, 5-9 junior libero from Curitiba, Brazil. Canedo played junior college volleyball at Odessa College and Colby Community College. She averaged 5.57 digs per set for the Trojans last season.

• Anna Johannson, 5-4 freshman libero from St. Paul, Minnesota. Johannson played for Bradenton, Florida's IMG Academy for the past two seasons.

• Solia Angilau, 6-1 sophomore middle blocker from South Jordan, Utah. A former All-State prep player in Utah, Angilau appeared in 14 matches (47 kills, 26 blocks) for Cal Baptist last season.

Lavickyte, who is from Norway but played at Oregon State as a sophomore, is the only returning international player on UNM's roster. The Lobos have had several international players in recent seasons, including Uxue Guereca (Mexico) and Athina Dimitriadis (Greece) who graduated in 2023.

NOTES: Payne, who will be a senior this season, led the Lobos with 370 kills last season. The next three on UNM's kills list (Kialah Jefferson, Jada Bouyer and Elizabeth Woods) graduated. ... UNM's pre-conference schedule is complete and should be released in the coming days, Newman-Gonchar said. The Mountain West previously released its 2025 schedule but it will likely require adjustments after the conference announced Tuesday that Grand Canyon will officially join for the 2025-26 athletic season.