UNM volleyball's Uxue Guereca making a name for herself ... and here's how to pronounce 'Uxue'

Sep. 20—It didn't take Jon Newman-Gonchar long to recognize his first recruiting priority as the newly hired University of New Mexico volleyball coach.

It took him longer to know what to call her.

Uxue Guereca has certainly made her presence felt around UNM and the Mountain West Conference over the past three seasons. The redshirt senior outside hitter ranks among the league's most dynamic players and is off to a monster start in 2023.

Going into Thursday's MWC opener at Nevada, Guereca leads the 8-3 Lobos in kills (151), total attacks (385), attack percentage (.312) and ranks 47th nationally in kills per set (3.97). She already has Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week and all-tournament honors under her belt and is highly motivated to help make UNM a conference contender.

"Winning the Mountain West Conference is always the goal," she said.

In Guereca's case, there's one other stumbling block that's managed to trip up fans, commentators, even teammates and coaches since she arrived in Albuquerque from her native Mexico in 2019: How to pronounce her first name, Uxue.

UNM's game notes offer the following three-syllable pronunciation: Ooh-shh-way.

Still, she laughed when asked how many have tried and failed.

"I would say, like, a couple thousand people have probably messed it up," Guereca said. "I just say, 'It's okay to call me Shu-Shu. Whatever's easier for you guys.'"

The nickname version stuck with Newman-Gonchar, who went all-out to keep Guereca on UNM's roster when he was hired in 2019. The 5-foot-7 dynamo was originally recruited by former Lobos coach Jeff Nelson, but Newman-Gonchar had seen her play for Mexico's national team.

"That was my first call when I got the job at UNM," he said. "I basically had to get her to re-commit and that was a major priority. I flew to Guadalajara, watched her play, met her mom. I wanted to make sure they knew that we absolutely wanted her here."

Newman-Gonchar's recruiting pitch was more successful than his initial attempts at pronouncing Uxue. He was happy to accept a helpful tip from her mother.

"Her mom told me, 'If you ever get confused, look at your shoes," Newman-Gonchar said. "Shoe, Shoe — Shu-Shu,' I've pretty much just gone with that."

Guereca said she owes her volleyball career to her mother, Maria, who also played for Mexico's national team and has competed at various levels for 30-plus years. Volleyball might not have been Uxue's first choice otherwise.

"I love soccer, I'm not gonna lie," she said. "I've gone to some to New Mexico United games and gone to watch UNM soccer. I always wanted to play soccer, but my mom was like, 'You have to play volleyball!' I'm glad I listened."

Guereca's UNM career did not get off to a flying start. A shoulder injury that required surgery ended her freshman season before it began, and she played in just four matches during the pandemic-delayed spring season of 2020-21.

She's since made up for lost time, starting 68 of UNM's 70 matches over the past three seasons and becoming a force at the net. Despite standing taller than only one teammate (5-6 libero Angela Crosetti), Guereca's impressive vertical leap and powerful arm swing make her a nightmare for opposing defenders.

"She's all gas, no brakes," Newman-Gonchar said. "She comes in every day to get better, gives all she has and just does so many things for us. She was an All-Conference player as a sophomore and wasn't named to the team last year. I think that motivated her a little bit extra because she's taken a step up in her game this year."

Guereca prefers to focus on team success and believes the Lobos are ready to improve on last season's fifth-place MWC finish.

I'm really, really excited," she said. "We kind of put it together these last few games, really crushed it against (Northern Arizona). Everyone is doing their job and it feels good. I think we couldn't be more ready for conference."

Notes: UNM opens MWC play with back-to-back road games Thursday at Nevada (4-7) at 7 p.m. and Saturday at Fresno State (6-5) at 2 p.m. At 8-3, the Lobos tied with Air Force for the league's second-best pre-conference record behind 11-0 Wyoming.

... Conference matches are live-streamed on the Mountain West Network (themw.com/watch). The league added a "Tuesday Night Block Party" promotion this season to highlight a single match each week. UNM's Block Party appearance will be Oct. 17 when it hosts Air Force at Johnson Center.