Sept. 4, 2008
George Mason Patriot Invitational Game Notes
Where: Fairfax, Va.
Friday: Lobos vs. Rutgers, 11 a.m.; vs. LaSalle, 3 p.m.
Saturday: Lobos vs. Saint Francis, 10 a.m.; George Mason, 4 p.m.
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
If you want to see a Lobos volleyball game in the month of September, the best way would be to call Southwest Airlines or maybe your friendly travel agent.
Oh, the University of New Mexico Lobos play a lot of games in September, but the matches are in states other than New Mexico: Virginia, Nebraska, Texas, California and Nevada, to be exact.
As far as Johnson Center is concerned, the Lobos are no shows for September.
“It just kind of happened,” said UNM coach Jeff Nelson of his Lobos’ schedule that takes them from East Coast to West Coast. “We wanted to be at home the last weekend and we owed a lot of teams a return game.
“But we’re OK with it. We’re ready to go.”
The Lobos sojourn begins with a 3,744-mile trip to and from Fairfax, Va. Then UNM hits exotic ports like Lincoln Neb., Fort Worth, Arlington, San Diego and Las Vegas.
UNM will play 12 consecutive road games, including three Mountain West Conference games before returning to Johnson Center on Oct. 2 to battle Brigham Young in league play.
The Lobos’ first three MWC games will be at TCU, at San Diego State and at UNLV.
But building up frequent flyer miles isn’t anything new to these Lobos, who made a summer trip to South America to play ball.
“I think the Argentina trip will really help them with this stretch,” said Nelson. “We’d be on a bus for six hours or so, go play, and they handled it well.
“We’re also a veteran team and that’s also why this is OK. It’s also early in the season and everyone is excited to get out and travel. It’s sometimes harder to travel late in the season.”
The Lobos’ 12 games are packaged into four separate trips and, of course, the Lobos come home between matches to hit the classroom.
The first leg of this volleyball-style 12-pack has the Lobos in Fairfax, Va., on Friday to play Rutgers at 11 am. (MDT) and LaSalle at 3 p.m. On Saturday, the `Bos square up against Saint Francis at 10 a.m. and George Mason at 4 p.m.
The Lobos’ goal this season is to scratch their way into the NCAA Tournament and coach Nelson said that probably won’t happen if UNM isn’t road ready.
“I want to see if they are tough on the road,” he said. “I want to see how they handle adversity. When we go to Nebraska, the games are going to be sold out and that’s a great atmosphere for us to play in. It will prepare us for going to Colorado State and BYU, where they get great crowds. We have to learn how to handle all that.”
Nelson said sophomore hitter Lisa Meeter, who sprained an ankle in last week’s Lobo Classic, is practicing and this weekend will play the back line, where there isn’t as much jumping.
“We hope to get her jumping more by next week,” said Nelson.
The Lobos are 3-0 on the season and are the only team in the Mountain West Conference that hasn’t lost a game. UNM’s three wins came in its invite and included an impressive sweep over Loyola Marymount.
Nelson said a top four finish in the MWC should get the Lobos at least an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney.
“We have a good team,” said Nelson. “Last year we were teaching kids how to win and how to train for success. This year we are geared to playing at a higher level and being more consistent at that level. We aren’t just thinking, `Go out and win.’ We are thinking about playing at a high level when we win.”
The Lobos are 1-0 against Rutgers and have never played LaSalle, St. Francis or George Mason. In UNM’s MCM Elegante Lobo Classic, Gayle Tripp was the tourney MVP and teammates Jeanne Fairchild, Anna Lehne and Jade Michaelsen made the all-tourney team.