PHOENIX — The 18th-ranked University of New Mexico beach volleyball team capped its opening weekend with a split of its slate on Saturday, knocking off Colorado Mesa 4-1 before falling in a 3-2 heartbreaker to No. 15 TCU.
After dispatching the Mavericks (1-4) with relative ease to open its final day at the GCU Beach Volleyball Courts, the Lobos (2-3) gave the Horned Frogs (3-1) a battle in their second match of the day, but couldn’t pull out the upset late.
“It was nice to get the win against Colorado Mesa,” New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said. “They’re a much improved team. And the match against TCU could have gone either way. We had several two-point games. I actually expected them to be our toughest match so I was really pleased that we stepped up and played better.”
Saturday’s matches capped a solid weekend of play for the Lobos, who defeated Benedictine University at Mesa on Thursday before suffering two 4-1 setbacks to No. 11 Grand Canyon and No. 20 Loyola Marymount on Friday.
But, New Mexico battled in every match on the weekend, falling against three other ranked teams while also picking up key experience as they opened their third season of competition.
“I thought we got better as the weekend went on,” Nelson said. “We played some really tough teams and played them really tight and I think it will help us as we go down the road.”
This weekend’s schedule was three of 11 matches the Lobos will play against teams that were ranked in the DiG Magazine Preseason Poll.
Next week, New Mexico will face some more top teams as they travel back to Arizona for three matches at the Sun Devil Challenge in Tempe. UNM plays Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday and Arizona and tournament host Arizona State on Sunday.
Match 1: No. 18 New Mexico 4, Colorado Mesa 1
New Mexico kicked off its day with an early-bird special, facing off against the Mavericks of Colorado Mesa, a Division II school from Grand Junction, Colo., at 9 a.m. MT.
But the Lobos — who played two matches Friday afternoon and into the evening — needed little time to wake up, picking up pairs wins on the top four courts.
Julia Warren & Lauren Twitty put UNM on the board first, nabbing a point on the No. 4 court via a dominant 21-9, 21-16 win over CMU’s Hana Peterman & Katie Scherr.
The Mavericks tied the dual up moments later as Racheal Moralez & Samantha Ritter barely edged by the Lobos’ duo of Carly Beddingfield & Emily Nenninger 25-23, 21-12 on the No. 5 court.
Baro & Beddingfield rallied late in the first set, but faltered in the extra points before falling in two sets.
However, the Lobos took control of the match after the switch to the top flight of pairs.
On the top-seeded court, Cassie House & Ashley Kelsey overpowered Colorado Mesa’s Taylor Woods & Abby Ney 21-15, 21-16, and Devanne Sours & Lise Rugland clinched the match for the Lobos with a 21-14, 21-15 win over Megan Gianinetti & Erin Perez on the 2’s court.
“Cassie & AK are right there with some of the best teams of the country and had some really thrilling games,” Nelson said. “I also thought Lise & Devanne played pretty steady this weekend. They had some really tough matches but won a couple.”
The Lobos added a final point on the No. 3 court, where Eastyn Baleto & Marisa Doran defeated CMU’s MacKenzie Edwards & Hattie Gianinetti 21-16, 21-14.
New Mexico’s win improves the Lobos to 4-0 all-time against Colorado Mesa.
Match 2: No. 15 TCU 3, No. 18 New Mexico 2
The Lobos didn’t have much time to celebrate their victory over CMU as they turned around to take on TCU right after winning.
But TCU was also coming off a 9 a.m. match, falling 3-2 to Grand Canyon earlier in the morning.
It was just another example of the parity between the two teams, who had split the previous two meeting between the teams.
“It was a really, really close matchup,” Nelson said. “It could have gone either way. But I thought we battled really well.”
The dual started off equally, as well, as UNM picked up a win on the 5’s court and TCU claimed a point on the 4’s court.
TCU struck first, as Beddingfield & Jackie Baro played TCU’s Sarita Mikals & Ariah Palter tough on the 4’s court before falling 21-17, 24-22.
“The last match they had was the best match they’ve played so far,” Nelson said of Baro & Beddingfield.
On the No. 5 court, Warren & Twitty teamed up for a 25-27, 21-13, 15-11 win over the Frogs’ Olivia Canales & Shane Peters, rallying after dropping a tight first set to equalize the match at 1 point apiece.
The Horned Frogs edged ahead with a win on the top court, where House & Kelsey were nipped 21-19, 22-20 by Amy Neal & Jaelyn Greene.
However, the Lobos knotted the match back up after Baleto & Doran captured the No. 3 court with a thrilling 29-31, 21-16, 15-8 victory over Jillian Bergeson & Avery Arellano. After trading points for most of their first-set defeat, Baleto & Doran came back strongly to win in three sets.
“I thought we saw much better play from Marisa & Eastyn today,” Nelson said. “Much more steady and aggressive play from them.”
The dual came down to the No. 2 court, where Sours & Rugland gave the Lobos a strong chance to win against TCU’s Molly Scheel & Haven Hill.
But, after dropping the first set 21-17 and coming back to win set two 21-16, they fell late in set three, losing 15-11 to seal the match for TCU.
TCU now leads the all-time series 2-1, with both wins coming in 3-2 wins.
UNM 4, CMU 1
1. Cassie House & Ashley Kelsey (UNM) def. Taylor Woods & Abby Ney (CMU) 21-15, 21-16
2. Devanne Sours & Lise Rugland (UNM) def. Megan Gianinetti & Erin Perez (CMU) 21-14, 21-15
3. Eastyn Baleto & Marisa Doran (UNM) def. MacKenzie Edwards & Hattie Gianinetti (CMU) 21-16, 21-14
4. Julia Warren & Lauren Twitty (UNM) def. Hana Peterman & Katie Scherr (CMU) 21-9, 21-16
5. Racheal Moralez & Samantha Ritter (CMU) def. Jackie Baro & Carly Beddingfield (UNM) 25-23, 21-12
Order of finish: 4, 5, 1, 2*, 3
* Clinched dual match
TCU 3, UNM 2
1. Amy Neal & Jaelyn Greene (TCU) def. Cassie House & Ashley Kelsey (UNM) 21-19, 22-20
2. Molly Scheel & Haven Hill (TCU) def. Devanne Sours & Lise Rugland (UNM) 21-17, 21-16, 15-11
3. Eastyn Baleto & Marisa Doran (UNM) def. Jillian Bergeson & Avery Arellano (TCU) 29-31, 21-16, 15-8
4 .Sarita Mikals & Ariah Palter (TCU) def. Carly Beddingfield & Jackie Baro (UNM) 21-17, 24-22
5. Julia Warren & Lauren Twitty (UNM) def. Olivia Canales & Shane Peters (TCU) 25-27, 21-13, 15-11
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 1, 3, 2*
* Clinched dual match
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