2016 New Mexico Volleyball Schedule
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico volleyball team and head coach Jeff Nelson announced the 2016 volleyball schedule on Tuesday.
New Mexico will take on a schedule that features six matches against teams that made the 2015 NCAA Tournament, including a showdown with the Nebraska, the defending national champions, in WisePies Arena in September.
“We have put together a very high quality schedule within the new parameters the conference has given us for scheduling,” Nelson said.
The Lobos, who went 17-14 overall and 10-8 in Mountain West play in 2015, have put together a challenging schedule that provides a number of opportunities to build an NCAA-caliber résumé.
The schedule is highlighted by New Mexico’s match vs. Nebraska on September 10, but the Lobos also have matches against 2015 NCAA Tournament teams in Arizona State, Fairfield, Rio Grande Rival New Mexico State and Mountain West foe Colorado State.
Fairfield (MAAC) and NM State (WAC) also won their respectively conference championships last year.
“We pursued teams that won a lot of games,” Nelson said. “The opportunity to build our résumé and our RPI will be there if we play up to our potential.”
New Mexico opens its season with the a five-team tournament on August 26-27 at Johnson Center. The Lobos welcome Abilene Christian and Arizona State for a pair of matches Friday, August 26, before turning around and playing Idaho and Fairfield on the following Saturday.
“Opening weekend we will have a very strong team from Arizona State along with an NCAA Tournament team in Fairfield,” Nelson said. “This will be a great test to start the season for our players.”
The Lobos then hit the road for the first time as they travel to Tampa, Florida, to play South Florida, Western Carolina and a third, undetermined team on September 2-3.
Nelson and company return to Albuquerque as they host the Lobo Classic at The Pit. New Mexico will take on Arkansas on September 9 before playing their marquee match vs. Nebraska on September 10.
“This is a great opportunity for our program to host the very best at home,” Nelson said. “We have traditionally brought in great teams for preseason [non-conference] matches and this continues that trend.”
The Lobos are also slated to play a match September 8, and are in the process of securing a team to complete the tournament.
New Mexico closes out tournament play with a five-team affair in Arlington, Texas, as they travel to UT Arlington to play Houston Baptist and the Mavericks on September 16, and Samford and UTEP on September 17.
The Lobos round out their non-conference schedule with New Mexico State on October 16.
The Rio Grande Rivalry match is right around the middle of New Mexico’s 18-match Mountain West slate.
As per the conference’s unbalanced scheduling arrangement, the Lobos will play twice against eight league opponents and just once against Nevada (November 16 in Reno) and San Diego State (November 19 in Albuquerque).
Dates and times for all of the matchups will be finalized as the season draws closer.