New Mexico beach volleyball assistant coach Daniel Foo said the team did not live up to expectations on Friday, dropping a pair of matches to nationally ranked opponents.
“We challenged, but didn’t live up to the hype we should have been able to compete at,” Foo said in a release.
New Mexico (1-2) swept Benedictine University at Mesa on Thursday to begin the 2017 regular season, but looked like a different team just a day later.
The Lobos first opponent was No. 20 Loyola Marymount (2-0) in its first big test of the season at GCU Beach Volleyball Stadium.
Nerves may have been to blame for the failure as New Mexico seemed to have chances in some tight games, but fell by a score of 4-1.
Cassie House and Ashley Kelsey lost both sets at the No. 1 position, both by just two points (25-23, 21-19). The Lion led early at 1-0.
Marisa Doran and Eastyn Baleto competed in the No. 3 slot in the next pairing. The duo came back after losing first set 21-18, and won set two 21-15. But the comeback bid fell short as they could not pick up a win in the final set, falling 15-12.
The Lobo’ hopes rested on court four with Jackie Baro and Carly Beddingfield. But the pair was bested in straight sets (21-10, 21-16), clinching the duel for the Lions with the team score at 3-0.
New Mexico came back to win the No. 5 spot with Julia Warren and Lauren Twitty to avoid the shutout. The pair fell in set one 21-15, but fought back to take the next two sets 21-12, 15-4.
Devanne Sours and Lise Rugland were defeated in the final pairing at the No. 2 position. Sours and Rugland lost first set quickly 21-10, won a tight set two 21-19, but fell in the third set 15-12 which capped a 4-1 Lion win.
Although Sours and Rugland could not win that match, they responded with a big victory in the other match on the day against Grand Canyon.
No. 11 GCU (2-0) seemed eager to demonstrate get its feet in the sand in front of about 2,000 fans at its brand new home court.
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In the top-seeded court, House and Kelsey competed hard, but lost in two sets (21-11, 21-14).
Marisa and Baleto dropped their two sets (21-15, 21-19) in the No. 3 position, putting the Lobos on the brink of another loss.
Baro and Beddingfield moved to compete in the No. 5 spot, but they suffered a similar fate falling (21-8, 21-14) in two sets. The result brought the score to 3-0 and secured the team win for the Lopes.
The Lobos lost in the fourth pairing as well in another straight set defeat, as Warren and Twitty were taken down (21-16, 21-14).
Sours and Rugland were the last to compete, playing at the No. 2 position. The tandem won first set 21-17, then missed out on an opportunity to close things out in the second set, losing 22-20. But the pair finally got the Lobos on the board, taking the final set 15-10 to make the final score 4-1 in favor of Grand Canyon.
Being dealt two losses so early in the season could be demoralizing for some teams, but the Lobos know they will have to regroup quickly with another double-header on the schedule for Saturday.
“Going forward, we have to be able to reset after each match,” Foo said.
New Mexico will begin Saturday looking to get back on track against Colorado Mesa at 9 a.m., followed by another top-25 opponent against No. 15 TCU at 11 a.m.
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.
