The New Mexico sand volleyball team struggled in its home debut against No. 18 Grand Canyon University, dropping both matches 4-1 at StoneFace courts.
UNM now sits at 1-3 on its inaugural season. Assistant coach Lisa Beauchene said the program is continually improving and New Mexico needs to keep facing quality competition to progress further.
“We’re playing a lot of the Arizona teams more than once, which is really tough competition, but good experience for us,” she said.
Beauchene said it will take some time for the crossover players from the indoor courts to get their ‘sand legs’ underneath them. UNM has six sand-only players, four of whom are freshmen; the other eight on the roster also venture to the hardwood courts during the fall campaign.
“We’re brand new at this, and our players have only played indoor,” Beauchene said. “For us, we’re definitely getting better.”
Freshman Eastyn Baleto and sophomore Julia Warren have not had to endure much of the team’s growing pains. The No. 2 team won their match in the morning in addition to the afternoon game to preserve their undefeated record over four games played.
Baleto and Warren played together on the indoor courts before Baleto was deemed a sand-only player. However, the rapport Warren and Baleto built in the fall has apparently carried over to the outdoor courts.
“We have really good chemistry and we communicate really well with each other,” Baleto said. “We also just have fun and kind of give off each other. We feed off each other’s energy really well.”
Baleto said she and Warren felt some nerves in the beginning of the match, especially when taking on the No. 18 team in the country. However, Baleto said the learning experience the team as a whole has gained from facing rigorous competition will only be beneficial.
The duo dropped the first set of the second game, the only blemish on their 8-1 record in set play (4-0 overall). However, following the 23-21 loss, the two came storming back to take the second set 21-18, followed by a 17-15 victory in the third and final set.
Since all of the even teams had finished their games in two sets, the main court drew the attention of fans and players who meandered their way to the back court to offer support during the only match going on in anticipation of the odd-numbered teams’ warmups.
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“That last one where we went to three, that was one of the most fun games ever,” Baleto said. “It was great to see all the support and bring home a win in the first home tournament.”
The only senior on the team, captain Ashley Newman, said the squad showed signs of growth in both games against GCU (4-2). She said the team will continue to improve this season and will be better in the future.
“It was a really awesome opening game for us. It was definitely challenging,” Newman said. “We can take the good things we’ve done today and build some confidence.”
Newman said the ambiance provided UNM with quality support, and although the Lobos couldn’t produce a win in front of the home crowd, she said the turnout was nice despite not being close to the University.
“We have people here who are really exited they will have volleyball to watch all year round now,” Newman said.
Beauchene said she thought the fanbase was amazing, and the assistant coach recognized quite a few individuals she typically sees in the fall.
“It was really exciting to see the fans come out and support a new sport,” Beauchene said. “It’s a lot of familiar faces that we’ve seen at indoor games, so we’re glad that they have something new to look at.”
Liam Cary-Eaves is the assistant sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at assistantsports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
