ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico volleyball program hosted its annual awards banquet on Friday, April 28, as it celebrated all of its outstanding work during the 2016 indoor volleyball and 2017 beach volleyball season.
The Lobos posted another successful year indoors under head coach Jeff Nelson, setting records across the board behind a stellar senior class, while the beach team posted another 17-win campaign during its third season of competition.
To commemorate the success on an off the courts, Nelson and his staff of JJ Glavan, Pauline Manser, Daniel Foo and Elsa Krieg put together an end-of-the-year awards banquet at the Embassy Suites.
The banquet featured speeches from Nelson and sport coordinator Ed Manzanares plus a number of short speeches from several of the players. A picture slide show and a highlight film were also on display during the event.
Nelson also presented a number of awards to both the indoor team and beach team.
Julia Warren earned the Cherry & Silver Award as the team’s most valuable player, while Marisa Doran earned the Scholar-Athlete award for both indoors and beach.
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Nelson tabbed Lise Rugland for the Coaches Award, while Carson Heilborn earned the Captain’s Award. Rugland also claimed Most Improved for the beach team, with Ashley Kelsey earning the honor indoors.
The Lobos’ top Newcomer of the Year award went to Lauren Twitty, who, along with Warren, was selected as the top partnership for the beach team.
The program also awarded its two endowed scholarships that is has to recognize its athletes. The Jeanne Fairchild scholarship went to Mariessa Carrasco and the Lobo League scholarship went to Victoria Spragg.
Additionally, Julia Warren also received her All-Mountain West award, and four Lobos — Twitty, Emily Nenninger, Lyric Ellison and Carly Beddingfield — earned the UNM Lobo Letterman’s jacket.
Nelson and his staff also unveiled the team’s new leadership committee, which comprises team captains from beach team, indoor team and weight room. Selected to the committee were Twitty and Spragg (indoor), Eastyn Baleto and House (beach), Mercedes Pacheco and Carrasco (weight room) and the lone indoor senior, Kelsey.
The volleyball program also recognized its staff and the help of others throughout the program.
The Ruggiero Award went to Sonrisa Garcia, the clinical nurse on staff in the athletic department who assisted the team in various capacities regarding the team’s medical needs. The Lobo Award was awarded to both Manny Garcia, a donor and loyal supporter of the program, and Connie & Mike Askew, the parents of Allie Askew who have provided the team accommodations during its trips to the Phoenix area.