Sept. 24, 2008
Lobos Volleyball
Thursday: Lobos at San Diego State
When/Where: 8 p.m.(MDT), Peterson Gym
Saturday: Lobos at UNLV
When/Where: 2 p.m.(MDT), Cox Pavilion
At Home: Oct. 2 vs. BYU; Oct 4 vs. Utah; Johnson Center
By Richard Stevens, Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
New Mexico Lobos volleyball coach Jeff Nelson is looking for a snarl.
He needs a Lobo or two to step up and get nasty. An on-court leader to maybe chew on a few fellow Lobos’ rears. Maybe get into a face or two and reveal that get-with-it scowl. Maybe do the old fist pumping, rah-rah thing.
“Call to action. Intensity. Whatever you want to call it,” said Nelson. “We need someone to step up, pump their fists a bit, be tough and make us tough. When things got tough (at TCU) last week and we weren’t playing that well, you could tell we needed someone to push the envelope a bit and we were lacking that.
“Sometimes you need someone to give a little push, show a little personality and fire out there.”
The toughest thing about the University of New Mexico’s Sept. 17 visit to TCU was that the 3-2 loss counts in the Mountain West Conference standings. UNM sits at a gaudy 10-2 on the season, but the Lobos are 0-1 in MWC play.
The Lobos have the chance to make a mark on the win side of their MWC ledger with league matches at San Diego State on Thursday and at UNLV on Saturday.
“We need to sneak a few on the road,” said Nelson. “These are important games for us to go out and reestablish ourselves. It’s imperative that we get one, but I think we can get two.”
The Lobos opened the season with eight straight wins (24 straight sets) before falling at Nebraska. The loss at TCU was followed by wins over Sam Houston State and UT-Arlington, but the bite from the Horned Frogs still hurts.
“I think we let ourselves fall into a slump at TCU,” said Lobos senior Sarah Kwasigroch. “We didn’t play our best. I think we were worn down a bit.”
The Lobos will not play a home match in September. They have played nine road games and SDSU and UNLV will push the total to 11 consecutive games away from Johnson Center. The Lobos will have logged approximately 8,375 air miles when they return from the SDSU/UNLV trip.
“I don’t want to use traveling as an excuse,” said coach Nelson. “Of course, it takes a toll on you, but we came out slow and flat at TCU and that shouldn’t happen with this team.”
Said Kwasigroch: “I think we weren’t always mentally tough and part of that was being physically worn down. We are making sure to fix that.”
Kwasigroch said part of the fix envisioned by the UNM players is the same thing Nelson wants: some fiery leadership on the court.
“It’s helpful (to have a leader) and I think we definitely were lacking it. We are looking to make it more of our game,” she said.
Kwasigroch said she is not by nature a rah-rah type of player, but is willing to give it a go, if it helps UNM win matches and reach the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m not the type of person to get in someone’s face, but I’m a captain and a senior and I think I can be (more of a leader), if that’s what we need,” she said.
“Coach has talked about this need multiple times. I think we all realize that it’s important and that we’re lacking it. I’m not going to go to any extremes, but I’m going to try and be more intense in some parts of the game and maybe even get on people in a positive way.”
Nelson said the emergence of a leader on this MWC road swing would be timely because, “it’s particularly needed in conference games on the road. Our girls are competitive, but I would like to see someone take it a little further.”
The SDSU Aztecs hold a 27-13 lead in the series with UNM. The Lobos are 5-14 in Peterson Gym, but won 3-0 last season at SDSU. UNM’s senior Jeanne Fairchild leads the MWC in kills (4.61 per set) and points (4.97 per set).
Editor’s note: Richard Stevens is a former Associate Sports Editor and sports columnist for The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net.