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Thursday • 6:30 p.m. MTWith the calendar turned to November and the end of the season on the horizon, the Lobos are looking to do one thing.
Keep winning.
The University of New Mexico volleyball team, winners of three straight and four of its last five matches, is aiming to continue its run of recent success as it heads up to the Front Range to play Wyoming and Colorado State.
The streaking Lobos (14-12, 4-8 MW), who have turned things around after dropping seven straight matches, can keep climbing the Mountain West standings when they play the Cowgirls (15-9, 8-3) on Thursday and the Rams (15-7, 9-2) on Saturday.
“Our team is excited that they’re playing better,” 10th-year New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said. “The thing I’m most proud of with this group is that the seniors could have felt sorry for themselves and for everything that’s happened, but they actually are really invested, really working hard and leading the way.
“They still want to win a lot of ballgames. I’m really proud of them for that.”
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| Devanne Sours |
After falling to as low as 10th in the 11-team league standings, the Lobos have rebounded during their recent surge, moving to eighth place, just a game out of seventh.
And while this week provides two tough tests against two of the top four teams in the conference, wins here will help New Mexico in its quest to finish the season strongly.
That effort started three weeks ago in a 3-1 win against New Mexico State, and continued the last two weeks as UNM has tied its longest winning streak in the last two years.
The Lobos rallied for a thrilling 3-2 victory over Fresno State last Thursday, while wrapping up the week with a dominant sweep of San José State on Saturday.
“Last week was good for our team and definitely added to their confidence,” Nelson said. “Both wins last week were avenging losses that we had earlier in the year and I think the team did a really good job.”
New Mexico’s trio of senior outside hitters remains the key, as that group continues to provide critical leadership and offense.
Devanne Sours, the reigning MW Offensive Player of the Week, had her turn leading the team last week, posting 39 kills in wins over Fresno State and San Jose State.
“She had a great week,” Nelson said. “She had a career week actually, which was nice to see. … She looked energized and played really, really well this weekend.”
Cassie House and Julia Warren can also be eminently productive, with House leading the team in kills this season and Warren providing top-three marks in kills, aces and digs. Combined, that group has 788 of the team’s 1195 kills, 72 of the team’s 135 aces and 451 of the team’s 1283 digs.
However, the Lobos have also received better play across the board during their current streak, with solid net play from middle blockers Victoria Spragg and Mariessa Carrasco and more consistent setting from Lise Rugland and Carson Heilborn.
The improvement in the setting has coincided with New Mexico’s run, with Rugland and Heilborn splitting the setting duties.
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| Lise Rugland |
“It’s been pretty steady the last two weeks,” Nelson said of the Lobos’ setting. “They’ve done a really good job of splitting the duty. … We’ve been able to strike a balance between them with one playing back row and one playing front row.”
On the other side of the net, the Lobos will have to contend with some strong, talented teams eying NCAA bids.
Wyoming is one of the top teams in the Mountain West, currently in a four-team battle for the conference crown. They’ve won three straight — including a 3-1 win in Laramie vs. Colorado State. Wyoming leads the MW in opponent hitting percentage (.157), ranking 17th in the NCAA.
UW leads the overall series 43-33, winning nine of the last 12 matches between the two teams. UNM fell 3-0 in Albuquerque on October 8.
Colorado State is still vying for a league title, but the Rams are in the unfamiliar position of looking up at teams in the conference standings. Currently in third place a half game back of first, CSU is 2-2 in their last four matches after opening MW play 7-0.
The Rams are balanced offensively, as five players have notched at least 148 kills this season. CSU hits .293 as a team (good for 8th in the NCAA) and sit third in the nation in blocks/set (3.26).
Colorado State holds a 52-23 advantage in the series vs. UNM, and has won 39 of the last 42 matches between the two schools The Lobos’ last win over CSU in Fort Collins was a 3-2 victory on October 7, 1994.
Fans can follow @UNMVolley on Twitter and Instagram for information and updates on the team!