by Justin Goodrum
Daily Lobo
The UNM volleyball team couldn't find its lighter on Saturday, as the Lobos lost to the Villanova Wildcats in three straight games.
"I thought that Villanova came out ready to play, and we started too late to try to come back," freshman Sarah Kwasigroch said. "They came out fired up and we weren't."
The Wildcats beat the Lobos 30-23, 30-23 and 30-24 in the championship match of the Comcast Lobo Invitational.
UNM beat Northern Arizona and Lamar to get to the championship.
The Lobos struggled throughout the match, never taking the lead during the first two games and eventually losing both of them.
In game three, UNM showed signs of life by taking the lead 19-16.
Head coach Kelley McKee said she felt her team took advantage of some opportunities to turn the match around.
"When we were one-on-one in the middle I thought we did a good job," she said. "Chelsea Sondrup hit .400, so I thought we exploited their middle. I thought we did a good job serving to their weak passers."
UNM soon lost their momentum as Villanova regained the lead at 20-19 and ended the Lobos' hope of winning the tournament with the game three win, 30-24.
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Seniors Nicole Ryan and Sondrup led the Lobos' attack with 11 kills each during the match, while the Wildcats' Alona Cherkez led both teams with 19 kills.
McKee said her team didn't make enough crucial corrections to accomplish a championship victory.
"We felt like we needed to make some adjustments in our game as the game progressed, and I don't think we did that very well tonight," she said.
Ryan, an outside hitter, said the defense might have been the difference in winning the tournament.
"Our defense broke down. We just didn't fix the little things and they all added up to big problems," she said.
The two wins improved the Lobos' record to .500 and 2-2, while Villanova remains undefeated with a record of 5-0.
Even though the Lobos came out of the tournament without the championship victory, the invitational proved to have many positive aspects that can be applied to the rest of the season.
"From our game from Lamar we really fought, we never gave up, and were really competitive through the whole four games, so I think it was a really good experience, taking this loss and learning from it," Ryan said.
Sarah Kwasigroch said the invitational provided valuable lessons to improve the team.
"It was a learning experience. We know we need to work harder on defense and on our blocking," she said.
UNM received tournament honors with Ryan, freshman Gayle Tripp and sophomore Samie Weber named to the all-tournament team.
Coach McKee said Ryan's performance was the key to the Lobos' success in the tournament, but she said the rest of the team needs to increase their level of play for the remainder of the season.
"I think everybody around her is going to be the key, because she can't do it by herself, but our expectations are that everybody can play at a higher level so our team can be better as a whole," she said.
