New Mexico Ventures to Phoenix for Trio of Matches
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Saturday • 11 a.m. MTAs the youthful University of New Mexico beach volleyball team continues to open up its 2018 season, there’s one thing that holds exceptional value for the team.
Experience.
With so many new players, it’s key for the Lobos as the season progresses.
Fortunately, New Mexico has a prime opportunity to pick up some experience as it plays three matches against No. 10/12 Grand Canyon, Abilene Christian and Grossmont College this Friday and Saturday in Phoenix.
After starting their 2018 campaign with some solid performances, the Lobos (0-3) are looking for their first wins of the season as they face off against the Lopes (2-4) and Wildcats (0-4) on Friday and the Griffins (6-0) on Saturday at the GCU Beach Volleyball Stadium.
This week’s slate, like most this season, continues a season-opening stretch of four weeks with at least one nationally ranked opponent.
Grand Canyon, despite its record, is ranked 10th in the DiG Magazine Poll and 12th in the AVCA Poll, while the Lobos are receiving votes in the AVCA Poll.
However, as they venture back into the sand, this week provides New Mexico chance to improve.
Last weekend, UNM was able to compete against a trio of top-20 foes at the Arizona Invitational. But, in their first action of the season, the Lobos couldn’t pull out any upsets.
Two partnerships did score last weekend, and, as New Mexico heads back to Arizona, the team will rely on those tandems to lead them in Phoenix.
In the Lobos’ losses to Arizona and Loyola Marymount, the duos of Eastyn Baleto & Lauren Twitty and Maddie Irwin & Erin Martin scored once each, providing the team with some firepower near the top of its lineup.
For Baleto & Twitty, the winningest individuals on the team with 51 and 19 wins, respectively, their experience is critical as the newcomers on the team start to catch up with them in terms of game experience.
Irwin & Martin, playing out of both the Nos. 1 and 2 positions last week, were able to show well in their collegiate beach volleyball debuts, earning a point vs. LMU.
Additionally, the Lobos can look to Chloe Crappell & Yasmin Tan in the top spots in the lineup, as they played twice at the 1’s and once at the 2’s.
Elsewhere in the lineup, New Mexico played Emily Nenninger & Carly Beddingfield mostly in the No. 4 position, while the freshmen duo of Kayla Long & Abbey Willison saw action largely in the No. 5 spot.
With a week of game action under their belts, the Lobos look to be in better position to contend for wins this week, even if it means translating their considerable versatility into new lineups and partnerships.
On the other side of the net, New Mexico will have to contend with teams that are also looking for wins.
Grand Canyon and New Mexico square off for the sixth time in program history, with the Lobos looking for their first-ever win against the Lopes.
GCU enters the weekend with an uneven record, having gone 2-4 to open the season. But the Lopes probably couldn’t have picked a harder slate to open their 2018 campaign with, as all four losses have come against top-10 teams: No. 1 Pepperdine, No. 2 USC, No. 6 Cal Poly and No. 9 LSU.
Grand Canyon, under third-year head coach Kristen Rohr, did earn a win against No. 20 Loyola Marymount, a team that beat UNM.
Abilene Christian heads into its second week of competition looking to improve the team’s first-ever week of action.
A first-year team, ACU went winless two weeks ago at the Cactus Classic in Tucson, falling twice to San Jose State and once to Arizona and Benedictine at Mesa.
Grossmont College, out of the California Community College Athletic Association, has gone 6-0 to start 2018. However, the Griffins have only played fellow community colleges, with this week’s action as their first against NCAA teams.
Nonetheless, Grossmont has dropped just a single point all season.
Fans can follow @UNMLoboBeach on Twitter and Instagram to keep track of the Lobos!