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While its struggle is apparent on the offensive side of the ball, New Mexico’s Lobo volleyball team is among the defensive elite.
For their second straight tournament, the Lobos completed a sweep at home, defeating all three opponents they faced this past weekend.
Senior libero Miquella Lovato reached a defensive milestone on Saturday: Her tenth dig of the night was her 1,000th career dig as a Lobo.
“It’s nice to be up there with all of the greats that have gotten that before,” Lovato said.
Head coach Jeff Nelson doesn’t think this is Lovato’s last milestone for the season, however.
“It’s a great milestone for her,” Nelson said. “She is going to have a lot more things before the year is over.”
Lovato is only 16 digs away from tying the ninth-most digs in Lobo history. She could easily pass Paula Feathers and Nao Ikeda to claim sole possession of ninth place in her next match.
Across the nine games UNM has played so far this season, Lovato has earned 144 digs, averaging exactly 16 per game.
Lovato’s defensive success has helped UNM (8-1) remain undefeated at home. The Lobos have won seven straight games to earn second place in the Mountain West Conference, one game behind Colorado State (8-0).
The Lobos defeated the Towson Tigers (4-8) in four games Friday night to begin the Lobo Invitational. UNM was able to tame the Tigers by playing solid defense, not allowing Towson to shoot well with the exception of the third set, the only one the Lobos lost.
In the second game of the tournament, UNM defeated Abilene Christian University (4-4) in three sets. In the first set, the Lobos set the pace with a five-point run. They continued to rely on big runs throughout the set to win 25-15.
The second set was much more competitive, as the Lobos weren’t able to achieve the large runs that they had in the first set. Neither team hit particularly well with five lead changes and 10 ties. The Lobos took the final two points after the teams tied at 23.
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In the third set, Lovato led the Lobos on a seven-point run early in the match and never looked back. UNM didn’t allow the Tigers back in the game, beating ACU 25-13 in the third set.
In the final game of the tournament, UNM displayed its athletic blocking ability, achieving its season high in blocks against Northern Arizona’s Lumberjacks (6-3).
In the first set, freshman defensive specialist Maddie Mayfield started the Lobos in the right direction with an 8-0 run, seven of which came off Mayfield’s serves. The Lobos pounded the Lumberjacks 25-12 with six team blocks in the first set.
The second set was a bit tougher, as the Lobos allowed the Lumberjacks’ only positive hitting percentage of the night. New Mexico was still able to muster up a 25-20 victory over Northern Arizona, taking a 2-0 advantage.
In the third set, the Lobos continued the block party they’d started in the first set, adding five more for a total of 14 team blocks for the night. UNM dominated the third set with an astounding hitting percentage of .394. The Lobos won easily, 25-14.
“When we weren’t blocking balls, we were slowing them down,” Nelson said. “We got them on their heels right away.”
Chantale Riddle did not put up her normal hitting numbers. This weekend, she relied more on blocking than her usual style of slamming shots off of the hardwood.
“Chantale probably had an average weekend hitting,” Nelson said. “(However), she put up blocking numbers that people are happy to get in kills.”
Despite not shooting as well as she usually does, Riddle still received all-tournament MVP honors.
“I don’t look forward to winning these awards or any of that,” Riddle said. “I look to win the tournament.”
The Lobos begin conference play on Thursday against Air Force at 6 p.m. in Colorado Springs.
