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Friday • 8 a.m. MT
Friday • 10 a.m. MT
Saturday • 1 p.m. MT
Saturday • 9 a.m. MT
Saturday • 1 p.m. MTIt may be Spring Break at the University of New Mexico, but for one sandy bunch of Lobos, this week is more than just sun and fun.
The New Mexico beach volleyball team looks to extend its winning streak and gain more experience as it takes on a competitive slate of five matches at the Stetson/Hickory Point Lake Bash this weekend in Tavares, Florida.
Playing at Hickory Point Beach, the Lobos (2-4) have designs on picking up some more wins as they face off against Houston Baptist, No. 15/18 Stetson and No. 14/13 Florida International on Friday and UNC Wilmington and the College of Charleston on Saturday.
After capturing its first two victories of the season last weekend in Phoenix, UNM is beginning to see the results of training a relatively inexperienced roster.
Playing with a lineup that features five newcomers on a team that includes seven first-time beach players, the Lobos knocked off Abilene Christian and Grossmont after battling through a season-opening stretch of four matches vs. nationally ranked teams.
This weekend looks to present some similar challenges as New Mexico squares off against some more ranked teams.
Four of the teams the Lobos play this week are either ranked or receiving votes in at least one of the two national polls, the DiG Magazine Poll and the AVCA Coaches Poll, including No. 14/13 Florida International and No. 15/18 Stetson.
Additionally, like New Mexico, the College of Charleston is receiving votes in both polls, while Houston Baptist is receiving votes in the AVCA Poll.
However, for UNM to make strides this weekend, their roster will need to continue improving.
The team’s top-seeded tandem of Maddie Irwin & Erin Martin has posted some strong marks to open the season, going 3-3 despite never playing collegiate beach volleyball before.
The only duo to have played together all season, they’ve led the team in the early going and have won two in a row heading into this weekend.
The rest of the lineup, however, is more in flux. Last weekend, the partnership of Eastyn Baleto & Chloe Crappell notched a 2-1 record playing in the No. 2 slot, providing UNM with some firepower at the top of the lineup.
The duo of Carly Beddingfield & Abbey Willison also logged a 2-1 record from the No. 4 spot last week, including a key point in New Mexico’s win over Grossmont.
Elsewhere, the pairings of Mercedes Pacheco & Yasmin Tan and Emily Nenninger & Kayla Long battled in their first action of the season last week, playing out of the 3’s and 5’s, respectively.
On the other side of the net, the Lobos will be facing a stiff test in all of their five matches.
Sitting at 5-5, Houston Baptist is receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll. The Huskies have wins over UAB, ULM and Jacksonville State, and also gave a few nationally ranked teams team good games, including TCU, Florida Atlantic and Georgia State.
Perennially ranked, Stetson sits at No. 15 in the DiG Magazine Poll and No. 18 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. However, the Hatters are just 6-5 this season, having beaten all the unranked teams they’ve played and losing to the all the ranked teams they’ve played.
Nonetheless, Stetson, the reigning ASUN regular-season and ASUN Tournament champions, are still incredibly balanced, with some firepower at the top of its lineup.
Like Stetson, Florida International is nationally ranked — No. 13 in the AVCA Coaches Poll and No. 14 in the DiG Magazine Poll — and enters this weekend 6-5.
However, FIU has fared relatively well against ranked teams, owning wins over the Hatters, TCU and Florida Atlantic (the latter two on the road). That said, the Panthers struggled their last time out, dropping four matches to top-five teams at the East Meets West Tournament in California.
UNC Wilmington sports a 3-3 record heading into the week, and like most of the teams competing at the Hickory Point Lake Bash, it has beaten the unranked teams but not the ranked teams.
Although only 2-2 this season, the College of Charleston is receiving votes in both the AVCA Coaches Poll and the DiG Magazine Poll, with that support coming largely from a 3-2 win over Florida International in their season opener on March 2. However, since that weekend, CofC hasn’t played.
Fans can follow @UNMLoboBeach on Twitter and Instagram to keep track of the Lobos!