Lobo beach volleyball team remained undefeated at the Blazer Beach Duals with two more wins on Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama.
“It was a solid weekend,” head coach Jeff Nelson said. “UAB is a very good team that like us has played a very difficult schedule. We had some different matchups today and had to rally to win.”
The Lobos (14-9) were enjoying a season-high seven-win streak after defeating UT Martin 5-0 and UAB 3-2 and smashed the programs win streak record.
Dominating in 11 of its last 13 matches, New Mexico already put itself at a winning season with three more matches left.
UT Martin did not give many threats in the Lobos’ first match on Saturday. The Skyhawks (0-10) suffered slightly in their first season of beach volleyball.
Traveling with only eight players, UT Martin forfeited on court five. The Lobos took a 1-0 before the match started.
Carly Beddingfield and Chloe Crappell paired in the No. 4 position and dominated the match in two sets (21-7, 21-9).
On court three, Marisa Doran and Eastyn Baleto defeated their opponents 21-8, 21-13 to clinch the 3-0 dual for New Mexico.
Both UNM’s top tandems dominated on their courts to change the final score 5-0. The No. 2 pair Devanne Sours and Lise Rugland won 21-13, 21-10. In the No.1 spot, Cassie House and Ashley Kelsey swept 21-7, 21-14.
In their second match on Saturday, the Lobos met with host UAB again after defeating the opponents 4-1 on Friday. The Blazers (10-16) were outperformed in this rematch.
In the No. 4 slot, Crappell teamed with Victoria Spragg, but they dropped both sets (21-9, 21-15) to give UAB the early 1-0 lead.
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Julia Warren and Lauren Twitty tied the score 1-1 for the Lobos after winning 21-19, 20-22, 15-8 on court four.
The duo extended their winning streak to eight matches, and moved to second longest in program history.
In the No.3 position, Doran and Baleto came back to win the three-set game (13-21, 21-10, 15-8). Doran and Baleto picked up 11 wins from their last 13 matches.
“I was really happy for Eastyn & Marisa, who recovered after a tough first game to win a tough matchup,” Nelson said.
Sours and Rugland sealed the victory for New Mexico with their two-set win on court two (21-14, 21-13). Late in the match, Sours twisted her ankle but kept fighting.
The match between the top pairs were close, but House and Kelsey lost 22-20, 13-21, 16-14 to give UAB the second point.
The Lobos will return to action to play Arizona State and California on Friday in Tempe, and will come back to Albuquerque to host Air Force on Saturday.
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.