by Kenn Rodriguez
Daily Lobo
After losing several close conference matches, the UNM volleyball team finally got a pair of gutsy performances - which bores well entering this week's MWC Championship tournament.
The seventh-seeded Lobos start the tourney with a rematch against second-seeded San Diego State University, Thursday. UNM lost 3-2 to the Aztecs Friday night, but defeated UNLV 3-2 Saturday to finish MWC play.
UNM will try to use its win over the Rebels as a springboard against SDSU (20-11, 11-3 MWC). Having played the Aztecs tough this season, the Lobos stand as good a chance as any of the lower-seeds to score an upset.
"We felt like we played our best back-to-back matches of the year on our home court this past weekend," Head coach Kelley Sliva said. "Statistically we did a lot of really, really good things."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Against San Diego State, UNM traded games, winning games one and three 30-26 and 30-27 and losing games two and four 24-30 and 21-30. The Aztecs took game five 16-14 for the victory.
"Coming off the San Diego State match, I thought our team came out with a lot of composure," Sliva said. "We were really pleased with our effort and our performance overall."
In San Diego on Oct. 19, the Lobos played SDSU close, losing 30-32, 30-26, 24-30 and 22-30. Sliva said UNM matches up well with the Aztecs. But two SDSU players, junior outside hitter Zlatina Anguelova and junior blocker Aspen McPartland, have really hurt the Lobos with their play, Sliva said.
"What it came down to in both matches was that we couldn't stop their outsides," she said. "If we serve tough enough, we feel it'll come down to their outsides."
UNM has been getting big play from several players, including seniors Staci Masten, who had 20 kills against SDSU, and Vanessa Shields, who recorded her 10th double-double of the season against UNLV with 18 kills and 14 digs. Shields added 14 kills against SDSU. The Lobos have also gotten production from junior hitter Anna Reines, who had 19 kills against the Aztecs and hit a career-high in kills (29) and attacks (59) against the Rebels.
"I feel like I'm finishing the season stronger than I started. I just hope to get better as the year progresses," Reines said. "Our whole team is peaking right now, which is the best time to peak."
Colorado State University, the tournament host, has to be regarded as the favorite, Sliva said. But the Lobos are on the other side of the draw from the Rams, drawing SDSU, the third-seed and 24th-ranked University of Utah and the University of Wyoming.
"Colorado State is the favorite, they played really well at the end of the season," Sliva said. "Being at Colorado State and having just played SDSU are all good things. We're the underdog. We've got to come in and play out of our heads and we've got to exceed everyone's expectation of us as a team."
