Nov. 6, 2008
Lobo Volleyball
Thursday: No. 13 Colorado State 3, Lobos 1
Saturday: Lobos vs. Wyoming, 1 p.m., Johnson Center
By Richard Stevens, Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
It should have at least been bitter-sweet for Lobo senior Gayle Tripp Thursday night in Johnson Center. She had 20 digs to become the Lobos’ all-time career leader in that knee-scraping category with a grand total of 1,508, passing Sharon Browning’s 1,504 from 1989-92 . But Tripp and the University of New Mexico had a grand opportunity in front of them in the No. 13-ranked Colorado State Rams and that opportunity was lost as the Rams beat the Lobos 21-25, 25-16, 25-21 and 25-19.
“It was all bitter,” said Tripp, fighting back post-game tears. “We don’t have fight sometimes and I don’t understand what it is. We wait for people to give us things and we don’t take them. The games we’re supposed to win, we always win. We haven’t taken advantage of a huge opportunity. It’s unfortunate.”
The Lobos came out against the Rams and played consistent and smooth in the first set, winning 25-21. It was almost all CSU after that as even in the last two sets in which the Lobos hung around, it was the Rams’ who took over at the end with strong and aggressive play at the net.
“It wasn’t a battle,” said Lobos coach Jeff Nelson. “After game one, we took ourselves out of play after play after play.
“At some point, you just do it. You throw caution to the wind and you do it. Everyone on our team had a subpar performance tonight.”
Nelson said earlier in the week that if he had to coach emotion against the Rams, he was in trouble. He expected his Lobos to be sky high looking at a chance to knock off the ranked Rams and make a huge impression on the NCAA Selection Committee.
“We ended up coaching emotion,” said Nelson. “That surprised me. I don’t want to be coaching emotion in the month of November.
“Our hitting was unfocused and our setting was unfocused and it’s hard to understand. You come out and win game one and then you go for the throat. We are too nice.
“We need someone to come out and be mean. I don’t know how else to put it.”
The Rams were led by Mekana Barnes up front with 19 kills, many on quick sets in the middle. UNM’s Jeanne Fairchild had 15 kills. CSU finished with 57 kills and UNM had 44.
The statiscal edge, after game one, leaned heavily toward the visitors.
“We’re not fighters right now,” said Tripp. “We need to have a big gut check, but we keep saying that. I don’t think they (CSU) played their best either and they still had a great margin of victory.”
The loss dropped the Lobos to 18-6 overall and 8-5 in the Mountain West Conference, good for third place. The Rams are 20-2 and atop the league at 10-1.
The third game was crucial for the Lobos. After being blasted 25-16 in the second set, they needed to steal CSU’s momentum and also weaken the Rams’ confidence.
The Lobos almost did it, but not quite. The set was evenly played until the very end, but after trailing 14-13, the Rams never trailed again in a set that saw the score tied 12 times. Still, the Lobos hung around. The set was tied 17-17, 19-19 and 21-21. Again, the Rams finished strong, scoring the final four points for the 25-21 win.
The Rams again played solid at the net in the third set with 16 kills to only four errors. The Lobos had 13 kills to six errors.
It was do-or-die for the Lobos in the fourth set and they came out like they knew it. UNM jumped ahead 4-0 causing CSU to call a timeout. The Lobos were again playing loose and aggressive, much like they had in the first set. That lasted until a 16-all tie. The Rams outscored UNM 9-to-3 down the stretch.
The Rams didn’t seem too bothered by their first set loss. They pulled out of a 12-12 tie in the second set and never looked back. CSU ran to leads of 16-12 and 20-14 before UNM closed it to 20-16. The Lobos never scored again as the Rams closed out their 25-16 win by scoring the set’s last five points.
The Lobos did not look like happy campers when they followed Coach Nelson into the lockerroom. UNM had nine errors in the set to only eight kills. The Rams were dominant at the net with 15 kills to only three errors. Fairchild, who had one kill in the second set, rotated out of that set with UNM down 16-13 and the Lobos never took the serve away from CSU enough times to rotate Fairchild back into the UNM lineup.
Nelson called two timeouts in the second set with UNM down 15-to-12 and 17-to-13, but his words never changed the rhythm of the game. The aggression UNM showed at the net in the first set did not accompany the Lobos into the second set.
The two teams see-sawed their way through the first set but the Lobos never trailed after being down 12-11 and leading 16-13 and l8-15 before CSU climbed back into ties at 19-19 and 20-20. The Lobos outscored CSU 5-to-1 to grab the first set 25-21. UNM was paced by Fairchild with five kills and Meeter with four kills. Michaelsen had eight digs and 13 assists. CSU had more kills in the first set 15-to-13 behind six kills by Barnes.
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. Previous articles are available at The Richard Stevens Corner.