Minutes before the UNM volleyball team was to take the court against the University of Nevada at Las Vegas Thursday night at Johnson Arena, players were jumping up and down, eager to end a five-game losing streak.
Two hours later, after a 3-0 loss to the Rebels to open conference play, the Lobos scattered from the locker room, heads down and bodies virtually lifeless.
All the energy the Lobos (2-6, 0-1 in the conference) had before the game was quickly drowned in a sea of mistakes and miscommunication. When UNM showed signs of life, the Rebels (4-3, 1-0) emphatically put the Lobos back in their misery with blocks and an explosive offense.
"We just made so many errors, and they don't make a lot of errors," head coach Tom Peterson said. "We would play even on them and even catch up, then we would go back to the errors."
UNM made 23 errors and could only muster 33 kills in 103 attempts for a .097 attack percentage in losing 30-24, 30-21 and 30-20.
The Rebels used the mistakes and a height advantage to keep the Lobos at bay for most of the three sets. The trio of 6-foot-5-inch Sheila Ocasio-Clemente, 6-foot-3-inch tall Blair Wilkes and 6-foot-2-inch Michelle Johnson had their way with the Lobos, offensively and defensively.
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The Lobos had trouble creating any sort of attack because the taller Rebels blocked many of the Lobos attempts and created those blocks into points. UNLV had 15 total blocks, which never let UNM get any momentum.
All three sets were close briefly, until the Lobos unraveled, especially in the second and third set.
Down 4-1 in the second set, junior setter Kelly Griffin led the Lobos comeback with several tip shots when the Rebels were setting up for blocks. UNM had a brief 5-4 lead and only trailed 13-10 when mistakes took over. The Rebels went on a 9-2 run to take a commanding 22-13 lead. The Lobos looked almost comical, mishitting the ball several times and players misdirecting passes.
"Just so many errors; we would not beat any kind of a good team with that many errors," Peterson said. "Sure we're young, but I hate using that as an excuse. We need to quit doing that."
In the third set, the Lobos again got down early and struggled to keep up with the Rebels. UNM trailed 7-2 and 13-6 before putting some exciting plays together and turning the tables on their opponent. Griffin led the way with numerous tips, sending UNLV players scrambling and diving to save the ball. However, the Rebels made a couple of great saves to keep the ball alive and used those saves to create offense, usually ending the point with a Wilkes spike.
She led the team with 13 kills and setter Nicki King was usually making those passes, finishing with 38 assists. The Rebels ended the game with 47 kills, while UNM finished with 33.
UNM did look dangerous on offense several times, especially when the passes went to outside-hitters Malena Thompson and Anna Reines. Thompson finished with a team-high eight kills and six digs and Reines recorded seven kills. However, when the Lobos did get clean looks for shots, the Rebels would play good defense, collecting 44 digs compared to the Lobos 27.
UNM came out of the gates playing well early in the first game, sticking with the Rebels shot for shot. The Lobos trailed 12-11, then UNLV used a string of blocks to take a 23-19 lead. Then the Rebels offense took over, using several kills to score six of the next seven points.
The Lobos next game is against San Diego State University Saturday night at Johnson Arena.
