When it comes to turnarounds in NCAA Division I volleyball, Jeff Nelson has orchestrated the ultimate at UNM.
When Nelson arrived in Albuquerque in 2007, the Lobos were in the middle of 13 straight losing seasons and a 32-88 stretch in Mountain West Conference play.
A perennial MWC cellar dweller prior to his arrival, the Lobos have now posted three straight winning seasons under Nelson’s guidance.
Nelson has amassed a 58-30 overall record, the fastest UNM coach to reach 50 wins in program history.
UNM has now become a contender in MWC play, compiling a 28-21 league mark and finishing in the top half of conference in each of the past three seasons.
But perhaps the biggest indicator of Nelson’s success is this season’s at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the first for the Lobo volleyball program since 1994.
“The important thing is that the program is moving forward,” Nelson said of his successes. “You can measure a program’s success a number of ways. In athletics, ultimately it’s wins and losses. But when you look at everything — attendance, academics, community involvement — Lobo volleyball is miles ahead of where it was.”
UNM ended its season last Friday with a 3-0 loss to third-ranked Hawaii in Los Angeles. The Lobos were 20-10 on the year and 10-6 in conference.
Still, Nelson sees the positive in advancing to the NCAA Tournament and playing a perennial powerhouse in the first round.
“Getting the opportunity to play a team of the caliber of Hawaii was great,” Nelson said. “It can only help us. We saw what the next level looks like, and now we have to work to get there.”
UNM has exorcised many demons during Nelson’s tenure. The Lobos snapped losing streaks of 23 matches against BYU, 10 matches against NMSU, nine matches against Utah and eight matches against UNLV. This season, UNM won for the first time against Utah on the road since 1996 and beat NMSU for the first time in Las Cruces since 1989.
“The defining moment for us this season was beating Utah at Utah and NMSU at NMSU back-to-back,” said sophomore libero Allison Buck. “That’s always a challenge for us, and we finally did it. It gave our team so much confidence, and especially in November — late in the season — we were able to carry the momentum into the rest of conference.”
Individually, three players garnered all-conference honors in senior outside hitter Rose Morris, junior right-side hitter Taylor Hadfield and junior setter Jade Michaelsen. Senior blocker Anna Lehne left her mark among the best blockers in UNM’s history, finishing in the top-5 in both solo and block assists. Michaelsen recorded her 3,000th assist against TCU on Nov. 20.
“We have a solid team,” Nelson said. “We had great senior leadership from Rose, Anna and Allie [Suiter]. They are the last three players who were here when I came in, and they’ve worked hard to raise their games.”
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Nelson has also helped transform Johnson Gym into one of the more difficult venues for opposing teams to play in. The Lobos went 11-4 at home in 2009 and finished the season ranked No. 24 nationally in home attendance, averaging 1,677 spectators per match. With UNM’s attendance nearly quadrupling since Nelson’s first season, 2009 was the first year the Lobos averaged more than 1,000 fans at each home game.
In addition, Lobo volleyball has established a growing legion of die-hard supporters, as evidenced by the 150 fans who travelled with the team to Los Angeles to watch the first round NCAA Tournament match.
“All the fan support is huge for us,” Nelson said. “It makes it fun to play at home, and it makes it difficult for our opponents to come into Johnson and play. Our fans are loud and full of energy, and the team feeds off of it.”
And the most exciting part? The 2009 season is just the beginning for Lobo volleyball.
“We have five starters returning next year,” Nelson said. “But the main thing is that we want to make the NCAA Tournament more than a goal. It should be an expectation for us ever year … We have some great recruits coming in, and every year is going to be better and better for us.”
