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The New Mexico volleyball team’s fight for second place in the Mountain West Conference continues, but the end result may not matter much for the Lobos.
UNM (23-7, 13-6 MWC) will play its final game of the regular season tonight against San Jose State (8-21, 5-13 MWC) in hopes of claiming the number two spot in the MWC. However, the chances of claiming a spot in the NCAA tourney look slim.
The Lobos’ last victory against Nevada (4-26, 2-16 MWC) tied for the most wins they’ve had under head coach Jeff Nelson. Nelson now has five 20-win seasons in seven years as UNM’s head man.
“I’ve coached for 28 years and I’ve never had a team with this record that wouldn’t be in the postseason,” Nelson said. “We are being penalized for teams that we have to play.”
With the increase of conference teams this past year, UNM was not able to play as many teams outside the conference, which would have raised its Rating Percentage Index. RPI is based on a team’s wins, losses and strength of schedule. The Lobos’ RPI is 72.
Having won over 20 games, UNM’s number of wins put them in the discussion about earning an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament.
However, UNM’s strength of schedule isn’t strong enough this season to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament.
“We’ll be on the wall. We’ll be talked about,” Nelson said. “I just don’t know that our numbers are there to get us over the hump.”
Nelson said that he didn’t think that the Lobos were being bullied out of a spot in the NCAAs, but there needs to be a change to the format of how teams are selected. He said that if his team was able to beat Arkansas or Colorado State once, his team would most likely be in the tournament field.
“I don’t like what’s happening but I certainly think our team has had their opportunities,” Nelson said.
There are six proposals on the table to fix the MWC’s issues, Nelson said. He said he thinks the league will most likely adopt a MWC tournament that would be held at the end of the season.
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Today’s game also marks the end of three Lobo careers for seniors Lexi Ross, libero Miquella Lovato and Lena Skipper.
Ross has played in 107 matches throughout her Lobo career, and is in UNM’s top 10 for assists (257), single-season hitting efficiency (.339) and single-season blocks (116).
Skipper transferred to UNM as junior, providing solid defense from in the back along with solid serving ability. The outside hitter leaves her mark in the classroom as she was named Capitol One Academic All-District, having the best GPA of any Division I volleyball student-athlete with a 4.05.
Lovato has climbed up the ladder this season on the all-time digs list. While liberos don’t tend to receive much recognition, Lovato has put up 503 digs this season, placing her second on the single-season digs list. Lovato has amassed over 1,000 digs in her tenure with UNM, her 1,363 digs put her fourth all-time.
UNM downs Fresno State
UNM defeated Fresno State 3-2 on Tuesday night at Johnson Gym.
Junior Chantale Riddle had 18 kills in the victory.
