VolleyballThe New Mexico volleyball team lost its first two Mountain West matches of the season this weekend at San Diego State and UNLV.On Friday, the Aztecs beat the Lobos 3-2 (25-17, 15-25, 26-24, 22-25, 15-8).Outside hitter Chantale Riddle led the team with 17 kills and a .205 hitting percentage.
llowing big plays on the ground plagued New Mexico’s defense in the 24-14 loss to San Diego State on Friday night. Each SDSU touchdown came off of a run of 25 yards or more. Head coach Bob Davie said allowing the big runs are exhausting to his team.“It really takes the wind out of everybody’s sails,” Davie said. “It takes you to your knees, giving up big plays like that. It really does.”
Patience proved to be key for the 12th-ranked New Mexico men’s soccer team as it defeated the Missouri State Bears 2-0 in its last nonconference game Sunday night. This was the fourth straight win for the Lobos, who also won last week’s road game 2-0 against Florida Atlantic University.“We talked about the importance of this (four-game stretch), and we took care of business and won all four,” head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “I think that’s the mark of a quality team.”
New Mexico hasn’t always been able to roll with the punches, but in UNM’s 21-9 win over UTSA last Saturday, the team was able to bounce back from a 9-0 deficit to earn its second road win of the season.
It’s benchmark time for the New Mexico men’s soccer team.With just seven games left in the regular season, head coach Jeremy Fishbein said the New Mexico men’s soccer team has the chance to prove its worth.
Head coach Jeff Nelson has been shifting around his lineup all year in hopes to send a message to the UNM volleyball team to play better.Before conference play, Cassie House had a low .100 hitting percentage that Nelson said was uncharacteristic of the second-year outside hitter.
Apparently Bob Davie is a big believer in momentum.The head coach said New Mexico’s 21-9 win over UTSA was one of the biggest wins for the program since he took over.
The UNM men’s soccer team went to extremes for its 2-0 win against Florida International University on Saturday night. The 15th-ranked Lobos (7-2-1, 1-1-0) got on the scoreboard just 43 seconds into the match, and finished the night with a goal at only 41 seconds remaining.Sophomore forward Niko Hansen put the Lobos in the early lead after receiving a long through ball from redshirt sophomore defender Chris Gurule. This was the second straight match in which UNM has gotten off to a quick start, with the Lobos’ Wednesday-night lead coming only 16 seconds into the game.
The New Mexico volleyball team’s new rotation prevailed in a 3-0 sweep over Boise State, leaving the Lobos undefeated in Mountain West play. Head coach Jeff Nelson made changes to his squad’s rotation, handing the libero duties over to sophomore Maddie Mayfield. Nelson said redshirt freshman Ashley Kelsey’s difficult time on the court warranted the switch.“I don’t know if it’s permanent, but we felt like we needed something different,” Nelson said. “Ashley Kelsey had struggled the past couple of matches and we felt like we needed to spin the wheels.”
Bob Davie didn’t mince words when speaking to his team at halftime, which was down 3-0 to the University of Texas San Antonio. “I said, ‘Let’s stop all this (talk of adjustments),’” the head coach said. “I said, ‘let’s look each kid in the eye and ask, “Do you really believe you can win this game?’“We challenged them. We said ‘Enough. Enough. We are either going to step up and win this game, or we are going to be what we are and we are never going to turn this program around.’”
A lot of new faces stepped onto the Rudy Davalos Center court on Friday afternoon. Nine, to be exact.“I’m real excited. Fired up to start,” second-year UNM head coach Craig Neal said. “I’m going to miss the guys that graduated for sure. We’ve got a good group of guys here — a lot of talent, on paper, but they have to show that on the floor.”
It didn’t take long for the New Mexico men’s soccer team to fix its scoring issues. Just 16 seconds into UNM’s non-conference match against West Virginia, a red card was issued to the Mountaineers, allowing midfielder Ben McKendry to take a penalty kick that gave the Lobos an early 1-0 lead.That was just the beginning of UNM’s scoring barrage in a 6-1 win over WVU Wednesday night at the UNM Soccer Complex.
There’s no question that New Mexico’s biggest strength is its triple option offense. For the University of Texas at San Antonio, stopping the run has been its forte the past couple of seasons. Both teams will find out who has the edge when UTSA hosts UNM Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.Last year the Roadrunners had the advantage at the line of scrimmage, holding the Lobos to 193 rushing yards on 42 attempts in a 21-13 win at University Stadium. Most of UNM’s yards came from starting quarterback Cole Gautsche, who had 118 yards .
Despite a sluggish start, late game heroics sparked the New Mexico volleyball team to a 3-2 thriller over Utah State. After winning the first set against the Aggies, UNM’s offensive play vanished. Lobo head coach Jeff Nelson said he was proud of his club’s poise late in the game when the team finally found some rhythm offensively.“We were really grinding that whole match,” Nelson said. “It wasn’t our best match, but when we did things well, they were good enough to win.”
Up-tempo, no-huddle offenses have become the norm in college football. New Mexico knows that as well as any other team after facing three straight teams (Arizona State, New Mexico State and Fresno State) who utilize up-tempo offenses to their advantage.
Goals are hard enough to come by in soccer; multiple goals in a single game are even harder. Last week, UNM sophomore midfielder Ruth Bruciaga netted three goals against in-state rival New Mexico State.
Unlike the majority of childhood dreams, Ben Spencer Jr. never had to wake up from his. From a young age, Spencer, an Albuquerque native, said all he wanted to do was play professional soccer.
High expectations resulted in a sigh of relief rather than celebration at the William H. Tucker golf tournament. UNM head coach Glen Millican said in a release that the pressure to win the event for the third straight year at the UNM Championship Golf Course issued more of a relaxing response than a rewarding one. Gavin Green and the New Mexico men’s golf team can breathe easy after both took home first place trophies for the third consecutive year.
One point of emphasis for Bob Davie during his time at New Mexico has been his team’s maturity, or lack thereof. Time and again the head coach has talked about the Lobos not being mature enough to execute for a full four quarters against quality teams.This was the case once again on Friday night as UNM dropped a 10-point first-half lead in a 35-24 loss to Fresno State at University Stadium. The game was both teams’ Mountain West opener.
For the second time in three games, New Mexico’s sloppy second-half play squandered an opportunity for victory. Despite leading at halftime, the Lobos (1-3) couldn’t overcome a second-half meltdown that led to a 35-24 loss against Fresno State. Head coach Bob Davie said the game reminded him of the 58-23 loss to Arizona State in which UNM kept the game close until falling apart in the second half.“The stage was set,” Davie said. “We’re not good enough yet to go perform against a team like that for the entire game, and then go win the game.”
Solutions by The State News
