UNM Falls 4-1 to Arizona and Arizona State Saturday
TUCSON, Ariz.— The University of New Mexico beach volleyball team closed out the weekend at the Arizona Invitational with two, 4-1 losses against Arizona State and the University of Arizona on Saturday.
UNM’s two points on the day came from two different courts, with Joey Benson and Carly Beddingfield taking their matchup against ASU and Lauren Twitty and Dali Rosado defeating their Wildcat opponents.
The Sun Devils won the first three courts at Bear Down Beach to take the team win before UNM was able to get on the board.
All but one court went in straight sets against the Sun Devils, but against the Wildcats, the Lobos fared much better with three courts going to three sets, however UNM went 1-2 on those courts.
UNM’s team point against ASU came on court three with a close straight-set victory by Benson and Beddingfield by a score of 21-16, 21-19.
Yasmin Tan and Morgan Schreckler were the first court to finish with a 21-19, 21-16 loss on court two. Abbey Willison and Emily Nenninger were the next to fall on court four by a 21-17, 21-15 straight-set defeat to give ASU an early 2-0 lead.
The Sun Devils took the team win on the first court with a 21-19, 21-11 win over UNM’s number one pairing of Twitty and Rosado.
On the last court to be decided, court five, Jaclyn Inclan and Claire Nenninger took the first set 21-16 before losing the next two at 21-15 and 15-11.
In the match against Arizona, the hosts secured the first two team points in straight-set wins but UNM was able to make it 2-1 on court number one in a three-set victory to temporarily stave off the Wildcat victory.
Willison and E. Nenninger lost 21-5, 21-12 on the fourth court and Tan and Schreckler lost 21-15, 21-10 on court two, the first two courts to wrap up.
Twitty and Rosado got UNM on the board in the matchup of No. 1s, losing the first set 17-21 before battling back with a 21-12 second set win to push the match to three. In the third set, the Lobos edged out the Wildcats 15-12 for the team point.
Court three’s matchup was closely contested with Benson and Beddingfield forcing a third set with a narrow 21-19 second set win after losing 23-21 in the first set, but the U of A team pulled away in the third set for the 15-4 set win and the team point to capture the team win.
C. Nenninger and Inclan were the final matchup to conclude, going three sets after also forcing a third set with a close 24-22 second-set win before ultimately falling in a 21-17, 22-24, 15-9 Arizona win.
Up next for the Lobos is their lone home matches of the season, a two-day series with Abilene Christian next Saturday and Sunday at Lucky 66. Saturday’s contest will be at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday’s will start at 10:30 a.m.