This weekend may feature something new for New Mexico’s beach volleyball squad – rain.
Head coach Jeff Nelson said he is not thrilled with the idea of playing mud volleyball, in Sacramento, California this weekend because it’s something the Lobos can’t prepare for.
“It’s supposed to rain all weekend and unless there’s lightning, you play,” he said. “We haven’t played in the rain yet so that could be really interesting.”
Nelson said the rain could serve as an equalizer, and the Lobos will focus on limiting mistakes this weekend, in addition to resorting back to fundamentals, so the Lobos can continue to climb the NCAA ladder.
New Mexico currently is ranked, unofficially by DiG magazine as No. 14 in the nation, but Lise Rugland said the squad is not satisfied with their placement and wants to continue to move up among the NCAA’s elite teams.
“We’re really happy about it but we’re not content and we’re ready to work hard to get even better,” she said. “I think we have more confidence going in there now thinking we can beat teams that are assumed better than us.”
This weekend will feature difficult competition as two of UNM’s four opponents have been ranked at some point in the spring season.
The Lobos will begin play at noon on Friday with Pacific; one of the teams Nelson said is going to serve up some excitement as they had previously been ranked.
UNM (12-4) will venture from Stockton, California to Sacramento State, where the Hornets will play host to New Mexico at 6 p.m. MT. Though Sacramento State is not one of the two to have been ranked, Nelson said playing the host team will be a challenge, nonetheless.
On Saturday UNM will face off against Washington, a team that was ranked earlier in the year, according to Nelson, and will finish up against a familiar indoor foe in San Jose State.
The Lobos scheduled a bye-week in the middle of its spring season to rest and regroup. However, during that time, UNM dropped two spots in the unofficial polls, but will look to threaten the top ten seeds in the country.
“I think the opportunity with the rest of our schedule to move up a little bit more if we play well and do what we’re supposed to,” Nelson said. “We’re trying to motivate the team to just keep pushing.”
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Rugland said she has noticed a change in the team’s confidence in just a season of play. She said people have been playing with more assertiveness. However, the Norway native said she hasn’t felt a change in how other teams are looking at her squad.
“I haven’t really realized the change yet. I don’t know about the other girls if they can feel the X’s on our backs yet,” Rugland said. “For myself at least, I want to be excited with where we’re at right now and then just working hard.”
Nelson said he has noticed a change in Rugland’s play, in particular. He said the junior has been able to get her sand legs stout and has been playing with more authority.
“Lise has really improved. She’s been more confident,” Nelson said. “She’s been playing the whole game much better but has been attacking much better at the net.”
Rugland says the Lobos need to just keep working on what they’ve been doing in the final three weeks of the season.
“Apparently what we’ve been doing so far has been getting us into a good place,” she said. “We’ve just got to get even better.”
Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
