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The New Mexico volleyball team needs to tighten up its play down the stretch as it eyes second place in the Mountain West Conference.
The Lobos have improved to 16-4 on the season recording their ninth sweep against Texas Tech (8-15) on Wednesday. The nonconference win has the Lobos sitting in fourth place behind UNLV (11-7, 6-2 MWC) and Fresno State (11-7, 6-2 MWC).
Although New Mexico (6-3 MWC) has a better overall record, three tough conference losses, two of which came at home, have the Lobos battling for a tight race for second place in the MWC.
Head coach Jeff Nelson said that the schedule favors the Lobos, who are battling three teams for second place in the Mountain West.
“I think it’s going to be hard to overtake Colorado State for first place,” Nelson said. “I think we are in a great position to take second in the conference.”
Last week, in the Lobos’ win against San Jose State (5-16, 2-6 MWC), New Mexico’s junior right side hitter Chantale Riddle reached 1,000 kills.
“Reaching 1,000 kills is a great accomplishment for me,” Riddle said. “Every milestone that we overcome helps us improve and get better as players.”
Riddle has 303 of her team’s 993 kills, but is seeking more unity as a whole even when fatigue begins to set in.
“As a team, we know we need to more consistent and work harder than other teams in the conference,” Riddle said. “We need to fight our tiredness and push through these next couple of weeks.”
Nelson has not been impressed with his team’s play as of late, but sees the ability to come out of their shaky play.
“We’ve been playing flat,” Nelson said. “But I think we’re coming out of it. I’ve been seeing some good things.”
The Lobos will be hosting Nevada at Johnson Center on Saturday, promoting their annual “Dig Pink” match. Any fan wearing pink during the game will be able to purchase a ticket for $3 instead of the usual $5 fee to get in.
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During the 1 p.m. game, UNM will be hosting a silent auction and the earnings will go to the UNMH Cancer Center.
“Our staff and players have done a great job making is a significant day in terms of what we give back to the community,” Nelson said. “We want it to be involved with the locally … So we work directly with our local hospital.”
While Nelson is proud of the staff and his players, he does realize that there is a game to be played and he wants to make sure his team stays focused and come out with the lead early in the match.
“If you get up on them early, you can keep them down,” Nelson said. “They (Nevada) have a lot of good athletes and if you let them get in, great athletes can do a lot of damage.
After the game on Saturday, the Lobos will have reached the halfway point in conference play. Nelson reiterated that he thinks the undefeated CSU Rams (17-0, 8-0 MWC) will be difficult to overcome, but that second place is obtainable.
“Our goal is to be in postseason,” Nelson said. “If we can be healthy in November, I think we can have a great run.”
