Former New Mexico stars took to Johnson Gym on Saturday night in the first showcase of this year’s squad.
Though the stats and competition won’t officially start counting until Friday afternoon when the Lobos take on Abeline Christian University, head coach Jeff Nelson got the performances he was looking for during his team’s 4-0 sweep over the alumnae team.
“I really liked it. We were flying and serving tough, and we were really attacking at the net. I like what we did,” Nelson said in a statement. “Everybody got to play a couple games and I liked what everyone did. I think it got us ready for next week.”
Cassie House led the way for New Mexico, leading the team in kills (18) and attempts (33) on her way to hit a cool .424 in the match.
Heading into the season, Nelson said he was expecting big things out of his four senior outside hitters, all of who showed off big swings in UNM’s sole exhibition match.
“I think all our seniors did really well,” Nelson said in the release. ”... It was really nice to see our seniors lead the way out there.”
All four senior outside hitters played in at least two sets, led by strong performances from House and Devanne Sours, the only players who had kills in the double digits.
More: New Mexico slated for strong season despite key losses
Though nothing is set in stone, Nelson gave sophomore Carson Heilborn the starting nod at the team’s setter position and she came out with a stellar performance dishing out 28 assists and recording six errorless kills.
“In games one and two, we went with what I think is our top lineup right now,” Nelson said. “We played really physical, I liked what we were doing.”
The first two sets went swimmingly for UNM, holding the former Lobos to a negative hitting percentage, while the team collectively hit above .400.
Nelson split the libero duties evenly between sophomore Mercedes Pacheco and junior Ashley Kelsey. The two players, along with senior Julia Warren, were shuffled in and out of the duties last season. Nelson has yet to officially name a starter at the spot in the 2016 campaign.
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In an unnecessary fourth set, the Lobos continued to play in order to give some of the underclassmen more looks, despite having officially garnering the sweep from the former New Mexico players. Nelson said it was a good chance for them to get some looks, in addition to providing Sours with a heightened leadership role.
“We put Devanne in out there in game four with all the freshman in order for her to be a leader,” Nelson said. “And they won that game with her coming up with some really big kills for us.”
Opening weekend is set to start for the Lobos with matches against Abeline Christian on Friday at 12:30 p.m. and Arizona State on Friday at 8 p.m. The Lobos will round out the UNM Tournament with Idaho and Fairfield on Saturday.
