New Mexico vs. USC/GCU/ASU — Arizona
When: Friday-Saturday, March 27-28
Who: USC, Grand Canyon & Arizona State
Where: Phoenix & Tempe, Ariz.
To be the best, you have to face the best. And that’s exactly what the Lobos are going to do.
The University of New Mexico sand volleyball team is continuing its inaugural season this weekend when it plays USC, Grand Canyon and Arizona State for a match apiece this weekend in Arizona.
This weekend’s triple play will provide a wealth of experience for the first-year Lobos as they take on USC, the nation’s top-ranked team, No. 19 Grand Canyon and an Arizona State team that’s receiving votes in the national poll.
“We are playing a super tough first schedule,” head coach Jeff Nelson said, “but it is going to help us get where we want to be in a couple of years.”
New Mexico (1-3) is just four matches into its first-ever season and has a tall task against these established program on the road to developing its own program.
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| Lise Rugland |
No. 1 USC (9-0), which lost in the semifinals of the AVCA National Championships the last two years, is playing its fourth season, while Grand Canyon (5-3) is a in its third year. The Sun Devils (3-7) are playing their second season.
The Lobos will open Friday at 6 p.m. MT against the Trojans at the GCU Sand Courts before playing the Lopes at 11 a.m. MT at GCU and the Sun Devils at 6 p.m. MT at the PERA Club in Tempe on Saturday.
And while each of the teams New Mexico will face have the edge in experience, the Lobos have seen improvement since the season started earlier this month.
UNM split its first-ever pair of matches in Phoenix, topping fellow first-year program TCU after falling to LSU. Last weekend, the Lobos dropped two 4-1 matches to the Lopes.
But New Mexico has made strides as a team. Eastyn Baleto and Julia Warren are undefeated in match play this season and have been consistent for the youthful Lobos.
They’re the only pair in New Mexico’s top three that is playing in the same position as last weekend. They’ll take on the No. 2 position for the Lobos when they open against USC.
Hannah Johnson and Ashley Kelsey will play on court one, which is the first personnel change in the top-four positions so far this year.
Previously, Kelsey was paired with Devanne Sours and Johnson was with Chloe Crappell, but each pair has switched partners. With Kelsey and Johnson on court one, Sours and Crappell will play together in the third position.
Ashley Newman, the team’s captain, and Lise Rugland will continue to partner up in the No. 4 doubles, with Maddie Mayfield and Sara Weber in the fifth position and Sami Reynolds and Jackie Baro slated to play in exhibitions.
On the other side of the net, USC has largely used the same pairs so far in their undefeated campaign.
Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes are the Trojans’ top duo, and are among the best in the nation with a record of 7-2 this season. USC also relies on its No. 2 pair of Sophie Bukovec/Alexa Strange (8-1) and its No. 3 duo of Eve Ettinger/Meg Norton (9-0) for match points
The Trojans are also well-deserving of their No. 1 ranking, having knocked off four teams that were ranked top-six at the time of the match. USC beat No. 2 Pepperdine 3-2 on Tuesday, and the Trojans have lost just four sets in match play all season.
Grand Canyon, the Lobos’ most recent opponent, also sports a consistent lineup.
The Lopes’ No. 1 pair of Mackenzie Phelps/Shannon Dugan is 6-2 this season, and GCU’s No. 2 squad of Molly Turner/Emilee Erichsen is 3-5, with two losses coming to Baleto and Warren.
The Lopes have also face strong competition, with a 4-1 loss to then-No. 1 Hawai’i and 5-0 loss to then-No. 2 Pepperdine at the USAV Chula Vista Tournament two weeks ago.
Arizona State, while receiving votes in the latest DiG Magazine Collegiate Sand Volleyball Poll, is 3-7, with wins coming over TCU, Boise State and Division II Carson-Newman.
But the Sun Devils have also played a strong slate, with two matches against Tulane and contests against nationally ranked Florida State and Georgia State.
The duos of Macey Gardner/Bianca Arellano and Bethany Jorgensen/Jordy Checkal have played the top-two positions for the Sun Devils, with Gardner and Arellano compiling a 7-3 record.
There will not be live scoring this weekend, but follow @UNMSandVB on Twitter to keep track of New Mexico. Check GoLobos.com Saturday evening for a full recap.