Former New Mexico stars took to Johnson Gym on Saturday night in the first showcase of this year’s 2016-2017 squad. Though the stats and competition won’t officially start counting until Friday afternoon, when the Lobos take on Abeline Christian, head coach Jeff Nelson got the performances he was looking for during his team’s 4-0 sweep over the Alumnae team.
A rigorous 2016 schedule for UNM's volleyball squad begins on Saturday with an annual alumnae game, the program's only exhibition match of the season. Former players representing a myriad of eras of the program will partake in the preseason affair, as the Lobos get ready to host their first tournament of the year beginning on August 28.
The UNM volleyball squad is poised for a good year, despite losing vital players in the middle block and at the setter position. There will be no replacing Hannah Johnson, the quarterback of the group, and the leader for such a long amount of time. However, head coach Jeff Nelson said the Lobo attack is going to be fierce with four seniors on the outside.
Obviously, the goal is to win the conference in order to take part in the NCAA tournament. However, head coach Jeff Nelson put together a rigorous schedule to boost potential RPI and open a separate path to place a bid for the postseason.
New Mexico’s 2016 campaign came to a close early after the final day in the Battle on the Bayou was cancelled. According to a UNM release, the Lobos’ last two scheduled matches of the season on Sunday were called off due to “inclement weather”.
Beach volleyball will close out its 2016 campaign with a big weekend, playing five matches in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU will serve as the host team in the Battle on the Bayou tournament and will hope to keep its national championship aspirations alive, while the Lobos hope to keep climbing up the unofficial rankings ladder, where DiG Magazine currently places them at No. 16.
On the verge of breaking into the top-10 best programs in the country, the Lobos stumbled at the Cowtown Classic this past weekend. Head coach Jeff Nelson said in a release that the Friday double-header was disappointing. New Mexico fell 3-2 to host TCU followed by a 5-0 sweep to No. 1 USC. The head coach said in the statement that his team couldn’t get anything together and just played flat on the road in Fort Worth, Texas.
New Mexico is on the cusp of a top-10 ranking after climbing to No. 12 in the nation, according to DiG Magazine, the nation’s official collegiate beach volleyball magazine. UNM’s caliber of play will be tested this weekend at the Cowtown Classic in Fort Worth, Texas. New Mexico’s trip to TCU will be highlighted by the Friday night match against No. 1 ranked USC, preceded by the TCU match at 3 p.m.
After a week off, the Lobos took a trip to California and swept another weekend on the road. New Mexico (16-4) is now riding a five game winning streak, and have won 13 of its past 14 contests.
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.
New Mexico has joined the nation’s elite, jumping in among the nation’s top tiered schools, according to DiG magazine, the official publication for beach volleyball. The weekly poll releases the top 20 programs in the nation, though the NCAA only ranks the top-10 schools.
Riding a seven game winning-streak, the Lobos will take to the road in Arizona in hopes to continue their triumphant push in just the second season the program has been in place. After playing two matches in Tempe, and Phoenix Arizona, UNM will play three more games in the Grand Canyon State, this time in Tucson, Arizona. The squad is going to play against three opponents – CSUN and No. 7 Arizona on Friday followed by a Saturday matchup against California State University, Bakersfield.
New Mexico has its sand legs firmly planted in the program’s second season. Prior to the weekend tournament, head coach Jeff Nelson said that the squad expected to win all of the matches it had scheduled.
With one game left in UNM’s only home tournament of the season, the Lobos remain a perfect 3-0 in Albuquerque. UNM (9-3) was able to hand ASU a 4-1 loss, the only loss coming on court one, for New Mexico.
Colorado Mesa State has one more shot at getting a point against New Mexico. On the first day of New Mexico’s only home tournament of the season, the Lobos cruised past the Mavericks in a 5-0 sweep on Friday afternoon. It is the second time UNM has swept CMU (0-8).
In the second road trip of the season, New Mexico picked up three wins yet again to improve to 6-3 on the year. The weekend provided a change of scenery as UNM took from the Arizona desert sand to play on the Newland Street Courts on Hunnington Beach in California.
Heading into just the second tournament of the season, New Mexico already has as many wins as they did all of last season. In 14 matches during UNM’s inaugural season, the Lobos collected a 3-11 record against tough opponents. Head coach Jeff Nelson said he saw it as a growing experience to start the program off with a competitive edge.
Going into New Mexico’s opening weekend, the Lobos’ goal was to garner two wins against fierce competition. Upon leaving, head coach Jeff Nelson said UNM wanted to get four.
With the inaugural season in the books, New Mexico enters the 2016 beach volleyball campaign with a competitive attitude. The first season was more of a trial run, head coach Jeff Nelson said, but this season the Lobos have a better idea what to expect.
New Mexico announced on Monday that four players from the volleyball team are taking part in tryouts for the U.S. Women’s National Team Open Tryouts today at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. The three-day open tryouts will feature freshman Carson Heilborn, redshirt sophomore Victoria Spragg, alongside juniors Cassie House and Devanne Sours.
Solutions by The State News
