Boise State hosts New Mexico and Air Force

MOUNTAIN WEST PLAY, WEEK SEVEN

Thursday, Nov. 4

7 p.m. | New Mexico at Boise State | Live Scoring | MW Network
Parking in the Albertsons Stadium west lot next to Bronco Gym

Saturday, Nov. 6

7 p.m. | Air Force at Boise State | Live Scoring | MW Network
Parking in the Albertsons Stadium west lot next to Bronco Gym

THIS WEEK IN BRONCO VOLLEYBALL
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Boise State returns home with a 17-8 overall and 6-6 Mountain West record after sweeping a pair of road contests last week. This week the Broncos are home for two conference contests hosting New Mexico (17-6, 8-4 MW) on Thursday and Air Force (6-16, 3-9 MW) on Saturday, both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. (Mountain) first serves in Bronco Gym.

SCOUTING BOISE STATE: The Broncos enter the weekend coming off a two-match road sweep rallying from two sets down to beat UNLV 3-2, then followed that with a four-set win at San Diego State.

Through 25 matches, Boise State is led by Lauren Ohlinger who has recorded team highs for kills (340), service aces (42) and points (408.0). The junior outside hitter leads the MW and is ranked 43rd nationally for kills, 10th nationally for total service aces (2nd MW) and 31st in total points (2nd MW).

Makayla Hansen follows with 165 kills and 75 blocks. Alyssa Wissinger is third with 140 kills and 106 blocks (1st MW), while Kayly Pau is fourth with 136 kills and 40 blocks.

As a team, Boise State hits .257 percent (2nd MW / 37th NCAA) and holds opponents to .203 percent (6th MW). The Broncos average 12.52 kills per set (8th MW), 2.69 blocks (1st MW / 13th NCAA), 1.87 service aces (2nd MW / 20th NCAA) and 12.68 digs (7th MW). Boise State leads the MW and is second nationally for total blocks (256.0) and is first in the MW and fourth in NCAA for total service aces (166).

SCOUTING NEW MEXICO: The Lobos enter the week at 15-6 overall and 6-4 in conference play; in addition, they are coming off a big weekend at home recording victories over Wyoming (3-0) and Colorado State (3-1). Kaitlynn Biassou leads the Lobos with 309 kills and ranks second in MW for kills per set at 3.86, followed by Uxue Guereca at 3.06 kills per set. As a team, UNM hits .241 percent (3rd MW) while their opponents have hit .152 (1st MW). New Mexico was picked to place 10th in the 2021 MW race.

THE NEW MEXICO SERIES: The all-time series is tied at 10 wins each. The Lobos won the first meeting this year 3-1 in Albuquerque (Oct. 9). Boise State leads the series in contests played at Boise by a 7-4 margin. In addition, the Broncos also lead the MW series 10-9 which dates back to 2011 when Boise State joined the league.

THE LAST TIME THE BRONCOS AND LOBOS MET: Albuquerque, N.M. (Oct. 9) - Lauren Ohlinger recorded a season-high 22 kills to lead Boise State followed by Jessica Donahue with nine kills and seven blocks, but it was not enough as the Lobos handed the Broncos a 3-1 setback (22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-20). After winning the opening set, Boise State fell victim to late UNM runs in both the third and fourth sets as the Lobos rallied for the victory to hand the Broncos their first loss of the season after winning the opening set. UNM was led by Kaitlynn Biassou with 19 kills and Uxue Guereca with 18.

SCOUTING AIR FORCE: The Falcons are 6-16 overall and 3-9 in MW play. They are coming off a home split last weekend falling to Colorado State (3-0) before beating Wyoming (3-1). Joi Harvey leads the Falcons hitting .410 percent on the year (2nd MW / 16th NCAA) with 146 kills, followed by Bailey Keith who has a team-high 165 kills. As a team, Air Force hits .200 percent (9th MW) while their opponents have hit .216 (7th MW). USAFA was picked to place seventh in the 2021 Mountain West race.

THE AIR FORCE SERIES: This will be the second meeting of the year between the Broncos and Falcons with Boise State winning 3-0 the first time around in USAFA, Colo. (Oct. 7). Boise State leads the all-time series 16-5 and leads the MW series 14-5. The Broncos have never lost at home to Air Force and lead the series 8-0 in matches played in Boise.

THE LAST TIME VERSUS AIR FORCE: USAFA, Colo. (Oct. 7) - Lauren Ohlinger and Kayly Pau combined for 25 of the Broncos' 46 kills to lead Boise State in a sweep at Air Force. In all three sets the teams hit the ball well with the Broncos finishing at .324 percent to AFA's .265 percent. In each set the Blue and Orange slowly pulled away down the stretch from the Falcons to secure the 25-21, 25-21, 25-15 win. Bailey Keith led Air Force against the Broncos recording a team-high 12 kills while hitting .333 percent, no one else reached double-digit kills.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: If you cannot attend, the best way to follow the action is by going to the volleyball schedule on BroncoSports.com and clicking on the appropriate "Live Scoring" and/or "Live Stream" links for the particular match you want to follow. For home and Mountain West contests the live stream is free of charge courtesy of the Mountain West Network.

ADMISSION: The price for attending the matches remains the same as in past years: $6 for adults, $4 for juniors (high school age and younger) and seniors 62 or older. Boise State students with valid ID cards and children two and under get in for free.

In addition, for the first time Boise State will be selling match tickets in advance for all volleyball home contests in 2021. Fans can purchase individual match tickets at the Boise State Ticket Office on the west side of Albertsons Stadium or via the internet at BroncoSports.com.

Seating is limited with the east side bleachers closed for the season due to COVID safety protocols that are in place for the 2021 campaign. So purchase your tickets early.

BRONCO SPORTS PASS: Once again Boise State will be offering the Bronco Sports Pass this year for $75, which will grant admission to all home regular season events during the 2021-22 season for: women's basketball, gymnastics, soccer, softball, volleyball and track & field. Note: The Bronco Sports Pass does not include any conference tournaments or postseason national tournaments hosted by Boise State.

Fans can purchase the Bronco Sports Pass at the Boise State Ticket Office on the west side of Albertsons Stadium or via the internet at BroncoSports.com.

NOTES: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT BRONCO VOLLEYBALL
WINNING SEASON: At 17-8, Boise State is guaranteed its seventh-consecutive winning season and 10th during the 13-year tenure of head coach Shawn Garus.

WELCOME TO THE BLOCK PARTY: The Broncos' frontline has recorded double-digit team blocks in 16 of 25 contests to date with a high of 18 against San Jose State (Sept. 30), tied for 12th all-time and tied for third during the rally scoring era (RSE).

THE BLUE WALL NATIONALLY RANKED: The Broncos lead the Mountain West and are ranked second nationally in total blocks with 256. The Blue Wall also leads the MW and is 13th in the NCAA for blocks per set at 2.69.

BOSS AT SETTER: Senior Danielle entered the season ranked ninth all-time and fifth in the rally scoring era (RSE) for career assists at Boise State with 2,151. She has opened the season with 835 to move into seventh place overall and fourth in RSE with 2,986.

DONAHUE TIES RALLY SCORING ERA BLOCKS RECORD: Jessica Donahue has tied Sadie Maughan's (2007-10) school record for career blocks during the rally scoring era (RSE) with 420. She recorded two at Fresno State (Oct. 21) to tie the mark.

WISSINGER LEADS MW AND NATIONALLY RANKED FOR BLOCKS: Alyssa Wissinger is ranked first in the Mountain West and 33rd in NCAA for blocks per set at 1.31, she also leads the MW and is 24th nationally for total blocks with 106.

BOSS LEADS LEAGUE IN ASSISTS: Dani Boss is ranked first in the MW for total assists with 835 and is second for assists per set at 10.18.

OHLINGER NATIONALLY RANKED: Lauren Ohlinger is ranked 10th in the NCAA for total service aces (42), 34th nationally for service aces per set (0.44), 43rd for total kills (340) and 31st for total points (408.0).

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Players Mentioned

Jessica Donahue

Makayla Hansen

Lauren Ohlinger

Kayly Pau

Alyssa Wissinger