The New Mexico beach volleyball team evened its season record with an easy 5-0 win over Division II-opponent Texas A&M-Kingsville in Tempe, Ariz on Saturday.
“It was nice to play one of the weaker teams and prep for tomorrow,” assistant coach Pauline Manser said in a release. “It was good for us to work on the things that we worked on during the week and focused on after last weekend.”
The Lobos (3-3) did not meet many challenges in the first-ever encounter with the Javelinas (4-2).
No. 5 pair Julia Warren and Lauren Twitty scored first by winning 21-9, 21-7, extending the duo’s season record to 5-1.
Jackie Baro and Carly Beddingfield played in the No. 4 position and contributed another win, taking set one 23-21, and the second set 21-16.
Cassie House and Ashley Kelsey competed on the No. 2 court and clinched the match for UNM in two sets, winning 21-10 and 21-18. They evened their season record to as a pair to 3-3 with the performance.
Devanne Sours and Lise Rugland moved up play as the top seed and defeated their foes 21-14 and 21-15 to make the team score 4-0, improving the tandem’s record to 4-2 this season in the process.
And in the No. 3 slot, Marisa Doran and Eastyn Baleto improved to 4-2 on the season by finishing off their opponents in two sets, 21-9 and 21-13. The victory completed a sweep over Texas A&M-Kingsville, making it a 5-0 final score.
Changes in the lineups may still be on the horizon as the Lobos maneuver to take on two top-10 teams on Sunday.
“Most of the teams actually played strategically how we expect them to play tomorrow, so we’re pleased with the result,” Manser said.
New Mexico has two Sunday matches against Arizona State and Arizona at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
Bo Yu is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers beach volleyball, track and field, cross country and volleyball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Bo_YuB.
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