Oct. 2, 2008
Oct. 2 – Lobo Volleyball vs. BYU
Lobos Volleyball
Thursday: Lobos 3, Brigham Young 0
Saturday: Lobos vs. Utah, 1 p.m., Johnson Center
By Richard Stevens, Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
There were at least two themes Lobos coach Jeff Nelson threw out to his Lobos prior to No. 21-ranked Brigham Young’s Thursday night visit to Johnson Center.
1- Embrace the total experience.
2- Pound on the BYU Cougars.
Mission accomplished. The University of New Mexico, before 2,236 fans – one of the largest Lobos’ home volleyball crowds since 1997, pounded on the Cougars 3-0, winning 25-22, 25-19 and 25-17. The Lobos improved to 13-2 overall and 3-1 in Mountain West Conference action. BYU drops to 9-4 and 2-2.
It was the way a team should win at home: beat ’em worse each time out.
“Every game you want to beat a team by a little bit more, especially when you know a team is going to come out all the harder after the timeout,” said UNM senior libero Gayle Tripp. “And the crowd was super. It was like having a seventh person on the floor.”
The crowd definitely was rowdy and a factor. The only thing coach Nelson worried about prior to the match was his Lobos becoming too involved in the crowd factor.
“Feel it. Love it. Enjoy it,” said Nelson. “That’s what we talked about every day this week. We knew we would have a great crowd and there would be great energy. We talked to the girls about how they have worked their butts off to win the community’s support and they should go out there and not have any stress. Just have great joy in all that support.”
And play great volleyball. The Lobos did that in beating a Top 25 team for the first time at home since Nov. 3, 2006 when #18 BYU was in town.
Which brings us to the Utes. They visit Johnson Center at 1 p.m., Saturday. The Utes are pretty good, too.
“We enjoy this tonight (Thursday), but we get serious all over again on Friday,” said sophomore Lisa Meeter.
Said Nelson: “We will let them celebrate tonight and then they have to come in and completely refocus. Utah is a great team and we have to get serious again. They will cause a lot of similar problems.”
The Cougars caused problems, but mostly in the first set.
UNM had a healthy 4-point lead (22-18) going down the stretch, but BYU rallied with a 4-point run to knot the score 22-all. Coach Nelson called a timeout at that point. UNM came out and worked the ball to Fairchild for a savage spike that put UNM up 23-22. The Lobos got their 25th point on an off-speed placement shot by Kayla Walker.
“It was a little bit of (a settle down) timeout, but it also was a refocus timeout,” said Nelson. “There was a lot of energy out there and it was hard not to get caught up in it.”
The Lobos had 17 kills in the first set to 13 for BYU. Tripp had six digs and Meeter had four digs. Jade Michaelsen had 13 assists.
The second set wasn’t that much of a challenge for UNM. Well, after the 14-all tie.The Lobos then went on an 11-to-5 run to put the Cougars away 25-19. The Lobos took over the lead 16-14 following two monster spikes by Fairchild. Rose Morris followed her teammate’s example with a hard spike and UNM was up 17-14.
UNM then went on two 3-point runs to go from 17-15 to 20-15 and from 20-17 to 23-17. The Lobos got a dramatic 24th point on a series of great defensive saves including a Tripp dig that ended with a UNM point on a block by Anna Lehne.
The Lobos rolled into the two-set break with the Cougars on the ropes. UNM came out and went for the knockout.
“Jeff came in the locker room and told us to make it fun, to go out there and show them what New Mexico volleyball is all about,” said Meeter. “We were really calm that last game.
“It was our first home game and we really wanted it and wanted to get in our gym and show our fans what we can do. I think the crowd was intimidating.”
Said Nelson: “We knew BYU is a great program and they wouldn’t go down without a battle. We talked about staying with every point. We felt we matched up well against them and if we did the right things, we’d win.”
Nelson has the same message for his Lobos against Utah. The Utes are a proud program, too.
“We’re not looking to go 1-1 this weekend,” said Tripp. “We’re looking to go 2-0.”Fairchild ended the evening with 16 kills and needs just 20 more to reach 1,000 in her UNM career. Michaelsen had 30 assists and Tripp had 15 digs.
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.