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New Mexico vs. NevadaSurrounded by the crisp autumn air, the Lobos are starting to heat up.
Back in Albuquerque, the University of New Mexico volleyball team is looking to build on its burgeoning momentum this week as it hosts a pair of key Mountain West matches against San José State and Nevada.
The Lobos (13-12 overall, 5-7 MW), who are coming off a successful two-match road trip, can continue to improve when they face off against the Spartans (15-8, 7-5) and Wolf Pack (7-17, 5-7) inside Johnson Center.
“With a young group, your goal is to get better throughout the year, and they definitely are,” head coach Jeff Nelson said. “That’s exciting. I think we’ve played very much the toughest parts of our schedule and I think we have a chance to finish on a really high note here and that’s a good thing.”
Playing some of their best volleyball of the season, the Lobos are in position to finish the season strongly as they vie with seven matches over the final two weeks of the season.
But, after winning two conference road matches last week at Utah State and Boise State — the team’s first week since 2014 with two conference road wins — UNM has undeniable momentum.
“We had a good week on the road,” Nelson said. “… Boise’s probably, outside of Colorado State, the hardest place to win the conference and we played really solid and went right through.”
At one point tied for last in the MW standings, the Lobos are on the upswing. Heading into this week’s action, UNM is tied for sixth, but a game out of fifth and just two game outs of third.
This week, New Mexico has designs on avenging a couple of losses from early in the conference season.
Although the Lobos fell on the road to both SJSU and Nevada in October, they are arguably a much different team than they were during those matches.
With reigning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week Sarah Lobo driving the team’s attack, New Mexico has gone from a sometimes dysfunctional if undoubtedly talented team to a much more steady and offensively diverse team.
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Lobo’s setting has helped the Lobos gain some balance — both in their offense and in their season.
“She’s given us good looks at the ball and she’s just keeping things real steady out there,” Nelson said.
Lauren Twitty, who continues to perform as one of the conference’s top pinhitters, has also been a key component during New Mexico’s recent run. She’s posted seven straight matches with double-digit kills, the longest such streak in her career.
Add in middle blockers Victoria Spragg and Mariessa Carrasco and outside hitters Hailey Rubino, Yasmin Tan and Carly Beddingfield and New Mexico has its offense clicking.
Over their last four matches, New Mexico has posted three matches with over 55 kills, one match more than the rest of the entire season combined.
Defensively, Ashley Kelsey has provided both strong back-row play and leadership, earning herself MW Defensive Player of the Week honors on Monday.
Along with Twitty, who is the only player in the MW with at least 300 kills and 200 digs, Rubino and Mercedes Pacheco, Kelsey and company have shored up the Lobos’ back-row defense.
The team’s net play has been strong recently, as well, including a dominant 14-block performance at Utah State last Thursday.
However, all of the phases of the Lobos’ game will need to be on point as they return to Johnson Center.
San José State, picked eighth in the Mountain West preseason poll, continues to rank highly in the league. Heading into the seventh week of conference action, the Spartans sit tied for third place in the MW with a 7-5 record in conference play.
SJSU had won three straight before falling in three sets to San Diego State, which is also third in the MW.
For Nevada, they’ve shown relatively well in the parity-driven Mountain despite its 7-17 overall record. The Wolf Pack are tied for sixth in the league standings with a 5-7 record, having won two of its last three, including a sweep of Fresno State its last time out.
Still, Nevada has won consecutive conference matches just once (at the start MW play), with just a 1-5 record on the road in MW action.
Fans can follow @UNMLoboVB on Twitter and Instagram for information and updates on the team!