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New Mexico vs. San Diego StateIt’s said that there’s no place like home. For the road-warrior Lobos, playing at home for just the third weekend this season, they’re hoping that’s true.
The University of New Mexico volleyball team is looking to register a bounce-back performance this week as it returns to Johnson Center for a pair of critical Mountain West contests against San Diego State and Fresno State.
After dropping a couple of tough road matches last week to open October, the Lobos (10-8 overall, 2-4 MW) are aiming to pick up some wins when they face the Aztecs (8-11, 2-4) on Thursday and the Bulldogs (7-11, 2-4) on Saturday.
“It’s that’s time of year,” New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said. “The October grind is when you have to step up and get better.”
The match vs. Fresno State is also UNM’s 10th-annual “Lobos Love Pink” match in benefit of breast cancer research.
But the Lobos, who fell at Nevada and San José State last week, will be searching for some answers this week as they kick off a stretch of five matches in 10 days.
Along with this week’s slate of California foes, New Mexico travels to in-state rival New Mexico State next Monday before hosting No. 21 Colorado State and Wyoming next week.
So, with four of their next five matches in Albuquerque, this week’s docket presents a prime opportunity for the Lobos to scale the conference standings.
New Mexico currently finds itself in the bottom half of the league standings with a 2-4 MW record, tied with both of its opponents this week and UNLV.
But, in a conference where virtually everyone is beating everyone, the Lobos are in position to climb up if they can defend home court.
With two wins, the Lobos will finish the opening portion of Mountain West play with a .500 record, with 10 league matches (and 12 matches overall) remaining on their 2017 schedule.
In order to build momentum for the home stretch of the season, New Mexico will need more consistent play across the board to fuel a strong week.
Kayla, Carly and Hailey will be at our Lobos Love Pink match on Saturday vs. Fresno State! Will you? #GoLobos #UNMatched pic.twitter.com/6NafHng8Yi
— UNM Volleyball (@UNMLoboVB) October 10, 2017
At times, the Lobos have played tremendously well, including sweeps of Wyoming and Utah State. But, UNM has also struggled in some matches, as evidenced by last week.
Lauren Twitty, the team’s offensive spark, still ranks third in the MW in kills per set. But, since her masterful showing at Wyoming two weeks ago, the sophomore outside hitter has been fighting through some uneven play.
Middle blockers Mariessa Carrasco and Victoria Spragg have also posted some superb performances — including career-high kills by both last week at SJSU — but they’ve both logged at least eight kills each in a match just five times this season.
Prior to last week, the Lobos were 5-1 whenever that trio combines for at least 28 kills.
UNM’s freshmen, including Hailey Rubino and Yasmin Tan, have also put together some strong showings for the Lobos as they learn how to play through a long Division I volleyball season.
More consistency serving, passing and blocking will also pay dividends for the Lobos, especially in regards to facilitating their offense.
Junior setter Carson Heilborn ranks third in the Mountain West in assists per set with 9.58, while senior libero Ashley Kelsey ranks sixth in digs per set with 4.02.
On the other side of the net, New Mexico will be taking on some teams also striving for some wins.
San Diego State all but sums up the idea of “consistently inconsistent”, posting an 8-11 record so far in 2017. The Aztecs haven’t won more than two matches in a row, but they haven’t lost more than three in a row, either.
During Mountain West play, SDSU is 2-4, but has won two of its last three, including a sweep of Nevada and a 3-1 win over Air Force its last match.
After a 3-1 start to the season, Fresno State has dropped four of its last 14 matches, including a 2-4 start to Mountain West action.
So far in conference play, the Bulldogs, who were picked 10th in the MW Preseason Coaches’ Poll, have wins over Nevada and San Diego State, but have fallen to Utah State and Air Force.
Fans can follow @UNMLoboVB on Twitter and Instagram for information and updates on the team!