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The Lobo volleyball team will square off against one of the top players in the country at this weekend’s Tiger Invitational in Savannah, Ga.
UNM’s first game of the tournament is today, against UNC Asheville, followed by a match against Maryland Eastern Shore, which has three all-conference players returning from last season. Maryland Eastern Shore also boasts last week’s National Player of the Week and 2011 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year Saitaua Iosia, who averages 5.33 kills per set.
“We’re going to play four matches out on the East coast,” UNM head coach Jeff Nelson said. “One of them is against a team that made the tournament last year, so that’ll be a little bit more of a test of where we’re at and what we’ve got. So we’re going to get tested both in terms of a real high-quality player (Iosia) that we’re going to have to handle, and also a team that’s experienced and tested. We’re looking forward to that.”
On Saturday, the Lobos play Kennesaw State and the hosting team, Savannah State, which is returning with all five of their starters from last year.
UNM senior captain Jordan Russell said the team is prepared for the tourney after winning last week’s Sheraton Airport/LA Boxing Lobo Classic. The Lobos won the tournament by beating Duquesne University 3-1 in the final match of the tourney last week.
“Everyone’s on their game and ready to go,” Russell said. “I think our match on Saturday night against Duquesne was by far our best match. We kind of brought it together after losing on Friday to them in five, and it was a good thing to see our freshmen bounce back as well as any of the older kids. We needed to really push and take the win of the tournament.”
Russell said the road trip will show the makeup of the team’s opponents.
“I’m going into it a little blind as far as I don’t know the teams very well,” she said. “I’m excited to get away from Albuquerque and see what our team can do on the road and be together 24/7. I mean, it’s all us down there. There’s no family; there’s no friends. We’re not going to our own homes. We’re staying together, so I’m eager to see how our team does on the road.”
Sophomore Chantale Riddle, who achieved a career-high 20 kills during last week’s opening tournament and won MVP, said it felt good to win for UNM.
“We just work hard every day in practice,” Riddle said. “You just have to keep a positive mindset. You can’t ever think that you can’t do something — you have to be positive that you can do anything. I’m very excited for our first away tournament and, like I said, put New Mexico on the map.”
Sophomore Elsa Krieg, who was part of the All-Tournament team distinction last weekend along with returning libero Miquella Lovato, said that last weekend’s win will give players confidence going into the Tiger Invitational.
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“I think we just have to take it one step at a time and just go out and play hard no matter who it is,” Krieg said. “We have to keep working hard, though, and know that, yeah, we did win and stuff, and now we have a winning record, but we got to take it to the next level and just keep progressing.”
