It wasn’t quite the homecoming the UNM volleyball team expected.
Coming off back-to-back road wins against rival New Mexico State and Mountain West Conference foe Utah last week, the Lobos dropped a 25-21, 25-18, 25-18 match to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Saturday at Johnson Gym.
Halfway through the MWC schedule, UNM is 13-7 overall and 4-4 in conference.
“It’s a hard hit for us,” said head coach Jeff Nelson. “Give UNLV credit: They played well. But they were 4-11 coming into this match. You can’t lose to a team with that kind of a record. It’s a bad loss for us.”
From the first point, the Lobos looked shaky. Setter Jade Michaelsen dumped the ball into the net to give the Rebels a 1-0 lead in the first set, and UNM never recovered.
“We all had it in our heads that UNLV was just going to give it to us, and they didn’t,” said sophomore middle blocker Ashley Rhoades. “We started off slow and never really picked it up.”
Tied at 20-20 in the first set, UNLV’s Cursty Jackson took control with a kill and two block assists to give UNLV the first set, 25-21.
Jackson finished the match with 17 kills and hit .600 for the Rebels.
“We knew (Jackson) would be fast in the middle,” Rhoades said. “We were supposed to keep our hands up and block early. But we waited until the setter had already set the ball to jump and by then it was too late.”
The Lobos started set two in a hole, 2-8. After UNM fought back to within one at 11-12, UNLV went on a 7-0 streak to lead 19-11. After a time out, the Lobos scratched back to 18-22 behind two kills and a solo block by junior middle blocker Taylor Hadfield. But the Rebels once again came out firing to close the set 25-18.
During the break, Nelson tried to shake things up for game three.
“We asked them to make adjustments, and they didn’t do it,” Nelson said. “This is one of the most talented teams I’ve had, but it’s also the least coachable. We gave them a game plan, and they decided whether or not to follow it.”
In the third game, UNM and UNLV battled evenly to 13-13. The Rebels went on a 10-1 run to lead 23-14, before sealing the win 25-18.
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No Lobo reached double digits in kills. Rhoades knocked down nine kills to pace UNM. Hadfield added eight, and junior outside hitter Lisa Meeter chipped in five. As a team, UNLV hit .301 for the match, while the Lobos posted a dismal .076.
“We had a tough time putting the ball down,” Michaelsen said. “We needed to mix things up a little more and choose better shots.”
UNM sits in fifth place in the MWC race behind Colorado State at 8-0, TCU and Utah at 6-2, and BYU at 5-3.
Michaelsen said the Lobos will have to fight in the coming weeks to turn their season around.
“This loss puts us in a position where a lot of other teams will decide our fate,” she said. “We need to turn around and dig deep to beat our league’s top teams if we want a shot at postseason.”
