Head coach Jeff Nelson opened the 2014 volleyball campaign with a rigorous schedule to prepare his unit for conference play with intentions of winning a Mountain West championship.
“Our goal is to build towards a conference championship,” Nelson said in the preseason press conference. “We pick up Hawaii who is ranked 17th or 18th and Oregon who, two years ago was in the final four… and then St. Johns.”
The team departed for Hawaii on Tuesday morning, and as a result Nelson did not attend Tuesday’s weekly coaches luncheon.
UNM (2-1) faced off against Hawaii (2-1) on Thursday night at 11:30 p.m. MT to jump start the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center. The final score of that game was not available by press deadline.
Hawaii fell three spots to the No. 20 spot in the polls. In the Rainbow Wahine’s opening tournament, Hawaii beat Ohio University and San Diego State while losing in the tournament against then-No. 25 Arizona State.
Against ASU (now ranked 17th), Hawaii came within four points in all three sets, but was unable to muster up anything but a close matches in the sweep.
UNM will face the undefeated St. John’s Red Storm (4-0) today at 9 p.m. MT. A key matchup in this game will be the Lobos’ sharp blocking scheme against the Big East player of the week, Karin Palgutova.
Palgutova averages four kills per set along with a tremendous .408 hitting percentage. However, the Lobos have been holding teams to a .054 hitting percentage and outblocked No. 3 Texas.
For the third time in eight days, UNM will clash with a top 25 opponent. The No. 22 Oregon Ducks climbed into the top 25 rankings after beginning its season 3-0, claiming the Oregon Invitational.
Although none of the teams playing in the tournament this weekend have managed to dethrone a top 25 contender, the quality of play is going to be a critical factor in each game.
For UNM, the weekend could be especially important because the team received votes in AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 poll for the second straight week. The Lobos had received nine votes in the preseason poll but watched the number shrink to just five votes for New Mexico to reside among the elite schools in the country.
“I am so glad to be on this team,” junior middle blocker Simone Henderson said last Friday night. “We have so much to offer and I can’t wait for what the rest of this season holds.”
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Facing two top 25 teams this weekend alone is enough to raise some eyebrows, but coming out victorious may be enough for the Lobos to crack into the rankings.
In preparation for what will be a difficult weekend, UNM played well against some top tiered teams in the Lobo Classic, beating Seattle University (1-2) and falling to Texas (3-0). Nelson is glad to have the first tournament in the books in order to get any sort of nerves out of the way for the second tournament of the year.
“It’s going to help us get the jitters out for our tournament in Hawaii,” Nelson said. “There is a lot of room for us to grow, but I think we’re pretty good.”
Liam Cary-Eaves is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
