When: Colorado State, Thursday at 7 p.m. | Wyoming, Saturday at 1 p.m.
Where: Moby Arena, Fort Collins, Colo. | UniWyo Sports Complex, Laramie, Wyo.
GoLobos.com: Recaps, Results, PhotosMatch Notes | CSU Live Stats & Live Stream | Wyoming Live Stats & Live Stream
In order to get to the front of the Mountain West, the Lobos will have to get through a week on the Front Range.
New Mexico volleyball wraps up its season-long four-game road trip this week with a pair of conference matches at Colorado State and Wyoming as the Lobos take on a prime opportunity to make some moves in the MW.
The Lobos (9-7 overall, 2-1 in the MW) will face two teams that have been leading the Mountain West in 2015 when they play 21st-ranked Colorado State (11-3, 4-0) Thursday night and Wyoming (13-3, 3-1) Saturday afternoon.
“It’s also our toughest road trip of the year in terms of competition,” New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said. “… We need to get a couple wins this week or at least one and come back ready to go because, for us, this is undoubtedly the hardest road trip.”
Nelson’s Lobos, just half a game back of second-place Wyoming (and 1.5 games back of Colorado State) in the MW standings, can use this week to climb up the conference ladder.
UNM is tied with UNLV for third in the MW, and picking up some wins against these Mountain West leaders can radically alter the Lobos’ prospects for the rest of the season.
Both matches are shaping up to be immense challenges for the Lobos. New Mexico hasn’t beaten Colorado State in Fort Collins since 1994 (a stretch of 20 games), has split the last 20 matches vs. Wyoming.
“It’s always a tough road trip and one that we really trying to get up for,” Nelson said.
But the Lobos are hot off a shellacking of San José State last Saturday in San Jose, where they hit .305 as a team and dominated a Spartan team that was fourth in the MW at the time.
Devanne Sours had one of her best matches offensively vs. San José State, tallying 15 kills on 28 attempts without an error. It’s the first faultless match by a Lobo since Chantale Riddle did it last year vs. SJSU.
“I really like the direction we’re heading was a couple of our players right now,” Nelson said. “Devanne Sours really, really picked it up this week and had a huge week for us.”
Julia Warren has also provided consistent offense for New Mexico, ranking second on the team behind Sours with 150 kills. Simone Henderson (140 kills) and Cassie House (109) are also contributing for UNM.
The Lobos’ defense at the net has also continued to be a bright spot, as New Mexico leads the MW with 3.90 blocks per set in MW play. Skye Gullatt has spearheaded that charge with her conference-leading 2.00 digs in conference play.
However, the Lobos are continuing to search for a libero. Ashley Kelsey played the entire match vs. San José State at libero, the first time in four matches UNM didn’t make a mid-match change at the position.
The Lobos head into the week ranked near the top of the conference in a number of categories, including leads in opponent hitting percentage and blocking during the conference season.
But both of New Mexico’s opponents are also tops in the MW in some categories.
“I think probably Colorado State is down a little bit from last year but Wyoming is certainly up so we’ve got two big matches to prepare for,” Nelson said.
Colorado State is the perennial power in the Mountain West, having won 12 of the 16 regular-season titles in the MW. This year is no different for Tom Hilbert’s Rams, as CSU leads the MW and ranks top-four in all of the key statistical categories.
The Rams have a balanced attack, with preseason MW player of the year Adrianna Culbert is second leading the charge. Culbert, a double-double machine, is second for CSU in assists and kills. Acacia Andrews (57 total blocks) and Alex Poletto (48) control the net, while Alex Reid paces CSU in kills (147).
Prior to last Saturday, Wyoming was riding a seven-game win streak and its first top-25 ranking since 1994. Then the Cowgirls ran into a Nevada team that UNM beat 3-1 and lost in five sets.
“We’re finally at the point where if you’re not prepared, you can lose any night,” Nelson said of the Mountain West. “If you’re prepared you can beat anybody on any night. We’re seeing a lot of that and a lot of upsets.”
Still one of the top teams in the MW (Wyoming beat now-No. 9 Ohio State in August), the Cowgirls look to Kayla Slofkiss (165 kills), Laura Beach (153) and Bridget Shanahan (140) for offense, and Allison Waldvogel (270 digs), Reed Copeland (91 blocks) and Beach (71 blocks) for defense.
New Mexico takes on Colorado State at 7 p.m. MT at Moby Arena in Fort Collins before heading up to the UniWyo Sports Complex in Laramie for a 1 p.m.MT match vs. Wyoming.
Follow the links at the top for the broadcast and live stats, and follow @unmvolley on Twitter for in-game updates