Lobos looking to gain momentum in home matches
Nothing like getting a little hometown sand between your toes.
After 17 consecutive road matches to open the season, the University of New Mexico beach volleyball team will play its home opener today at Lucky 66 Bowl and Sand Courts. The Lobos (8-9) will host Colorado Mesa (4-8) for back-to-back matches today at 4 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m.
It’s been something of a roller-coaster season for UNM, which has basically beaten the teams it should have beaten and lost to top-flight opponents. All nine of the Lobos’ losses have come against nationally ranked foes, several by just a handful of points.
“It’s little disappointing,” UNM senior Julia Warren said. “We’ve been right in there with some of the top teams in the country and haven’t been able to finish them off. But our team has been steadily improving and we’ve still got some big matches ahead. Hopefully, we can build a little momentum at home and give our fans a good show.”
The Lobos have won five of their last seven matches and coach Jeff Nelson believes aggressiveness is a primary reason. Several of UNM’s early opponents have teams comprised almost entirely of beach-only players, while most of New Mexico’s players also play indoor volleyball.
“You could see the difference with kids who play beach year-round,” Nelson said. “It wasn’t that we were making a lot of mistakes against the top teams or weren’t athletic enough. We were just playing it too safe. The last couple weeks we’ve started going for it, playing big, and you can see the difference.”
Warren, who teams with Lauren Twitty at UNM’s No. 5 pairs position, agrees. Warren and Twitty won all three of their individual matches at last week’s Wildcat Challenge in Tucson to improve to 10-5 on the season.
“It took us awhile to click together because Lauren and I pretty much are the same player,” Warren said. “We had to kind of figure out how to work together instead of always going for the same balls. It’s a process.”
The No. 2 pair of Lise Rugland and Devanne Sours has UNM’s best individual record at 12-5, while Eastyn Baleto and Marisa Doran are 11-5 at the No. 3 spot.
UNM has nine team matches remaining, six more on the road after this weekend before finishing with a home match against Air Force. Warren is hoping the Lobos can finish on a hot streak.
“We’re excited about this weekend because it gives us a chance to showcase our sport in New Mexico,” she said. “It’s important to play well, really for the rest of the season, and we need to start now.”