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It’s been 25 years since the New Mexico volleyball team has had success like this.
Thanks to UNM’s 14th sweep of the season over San Jose State on Wednesday, UNM improved to 24-7, which is the most wins the Lobos have had since 1988. The Lobos also secured second place in the Mountain West Conference with a 14-6 conference record.
“We knew at worst we were going to tie for it (second place) even if we lost tonight,” UNM head coach Jeff Nelson said. “We wanted to win it outright, though.”
UNM’s victory over the Spartans (8-22, 5-14 MWC) marks the most wins under the Nelson era. Nelson has led the Lobos to five 20-plus win seasons five of the seven years he has been involved in the program.
The Lobos came out of the pregame warm-ups fired up, forcing a timeout from SJSU after a 5-0 run to start the match. UNM never took their foot off of the gas pedal as it hit a remarkable .522 in the first set.
“The team was really jazzed all day ready for senior night,” Nelson said.
The Lobos took advantage of all of the hitting errors from the Spartans, keeping a double digit lead after a 16-6 lead. SJSU hit only -.125 in the first set, allowing UNM to coast to a 25-10 victory in the first set.
The second set had the same pace as the first, as the Lobos went on 5-0 run to start. Tough shooting forced an abundance of Spartan errors that they could not overcome in the second match.
“They (the Lobos) came out in the first two games with high energy,” Nelson said. “We really took it to them.”
The Lobo defense was remarkable in the second set as UNM forced lengthy volleys, leading to more Spartan mistakes in the second set. UNM obtained nine blocks throughout the entire match, rarely allowing a Spartan score on a broken play.
UNM kept a steady attack in the second set. SJSU came within seven points towards the end of the game with a score of 21-14, but he Lobos didn’t allow the Spartans to score again, finishing the game off with a four point run, taking the second set 25-14.
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In an emotional third and final set, the Spartans kept the match a bit tighter. UNM started the final set off with a 6-0 run, but allowed SJSU to contend after the Spartans went on a six-point run of their own to tie the game at six.
Back-and-forth play allotted the Spartans to tie the game again at eight points, but SJSU was never able to take the lead in any of the matches.
The 8-8 score was the last time SJSU would be able to tie the game as the Lobos were able to take a 24-17 lead before Nelson called a timeout to honor the three seniors Lexi Ross, Lena Skipper, and Miquella Lovato.
The Lobos’ executed a winning volley off of Lovato’s final serve, providing a final score of 25-17 in the third set. The Lobos’ redshirt junior, Chantale Riddle, executed nine of her 20 kills in the third and final set, which was a game-high.
Nelson said he is going to miss his reliable workhorse, senior libero Miquella Lovato, in the middle that provides comfort to the defensive play of the Lobos.
“Miquella (Lovato) got 17 digs again tonight, that’s just the norm for her,” Nelson said. “She just does a great job.”
After the match, senior middle blocker Lexi Ross gave her farewell speech at the end of the game. An emotional Ross addressed the fans and thanked everyone who supported the Lobo program. Lovato and Skipper added farewell statements following Ross’ speech.
Although UNM doesn’t have much of a chance to reach the postseason, Nelson said that taking second place definitely provides more of an opportunity than if they were to have tied in the conference.
“It’s just a really tough scenario right now, the way that the BCS teams are gobbling up the spots,” Nelson said. “I think (taking second place) definitely helps our chances.”
The announcement of the NCAA tournament teams and seeds will occur on Sunday.
