New Mexico Faces Wyoming, No. 20 Colorado State
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New Mexico vs. Wyoming
New Mexico vs. Colorado StateThe University of New Mexico volleyball team returns to Albuquerque and Mountain West play this week as it hosts a pair of critical Mountain West matches against Wyoming and No. 20 Colorado State.
After opening their week on Monday with a non-conference match at New Mexico State, the Lobos (11-10, 3-5 MW) are back at Johnson Center as they face the Mountain West’s top two teams in second-ranked Wyoming and league-leading Colorado State.
UNM faces off against the Cowgirls (11-9, 6-2 MW) at 7 p.m. Thursday and the Rams (18-2, 8-0) at 2 p.m. Saturday.
This week’s slate — which closes a stretch of five matches in 10 days for New Mexico — is of paramount importance for the Lobos as they enter the second half of conference play.
Entering this week’s action, the Lobos sit in a six-way tie for last place in the league, but nonetheless finds themselves just a game out of third place. Along with six teams tied at 3-5 in the Mountain West, three teams are tied for third place with 4-4 league records.
The final two teams in the conference are Colorado State, which hasn’t lost in MW play, and Wyoming, whose two losses are to UNM and CSU.
But this jam in the standings, undoubtedly a product of immense parity in the conference beyond Colorado State, provides UNM an avenue to ascend the rankings.
Two wins would put the Lobos at 5-5 with an even .500 record in the Mountain West with eight league matches remaining.
But, any shot at picking up wins this weekend starts with a strong team effort.
Although individual Lobos have posted solid showings throughout the season, New Mexico has been uneven in performing well as an entire team.
The key battles for UNM have been hitting percentage, assists, digs and blocks. In all of their 11 wins this season, the Lobos were able to win the battle in at least two of those categories. In seven of their 10 losses, they were outperformed in all four categories.
During the first meeting against CSU, New Mexico won just the blocking battle. In the season’s first matchup between UW and UNM, the Lobos won all four categories.
This go-round, winning those key stats will likely prove as important factors.
After falling to the Lobos and the Rams in back-to-back matches on September 23 and 26, Wyoming hasn’t lost, winning five straight to push its Mountain West record to 6-2.
In fact, the Cowgirls have posted four sweeps in that span, moving all the way up to second in the MW behind CSU. This comes on the heels of a 6-9 start to the season, including a 5-7 non-conference record.
Heading into the fifth week of Mountain West play, the Rams have certainly put together a sterling resume. No. 20 Colorado State, the preseason pick to win the 2017 MW title, has won eight straight (all within the league), with seven sweeps during that time.
CSU’s only losses this season came in five sets to Power Five teams Duke and Colorado. CSU has also captured a pair of win vs. top-25 teams, sweeping then-No. 15 Florida State in Tallahassee and then-No. 16 Michigan in Fort Collins.
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