The Lobo beach volleyball team ended its 2017 season with a pair of home wins against Air Force on Saturday.
With the three-match win streak to end the season, the Lobos (17-10) had a successful finish to their third season of beach volleyball by posting an impressive record.
UNM earned victories in 10 of its last 11 matchups, which made it possible to tie the program record for most wins in a single season.
“I think we played better in the second half of the season and racked up a lot of wins and finished with a pretty good record,” head coach Jeff Nelson said in a release.
In the final month of the regular season, UNM became more consistent and posted a 14-3 record during that time.
The two Saturday wins extended the home record of the Lobos to 10 straight victories at Lucky 66 Bowl.
“It was a really nice day...absolutely perfect,” Nelson said. “Every senior got a win on their last day.”
Air Force, which has a beach volleyball program that is in its infancy, showed some growing pains, as the Lobos dominated in both matches en route to 5-0 sweeps.
In the first match, Devanne Sours and Lise Rugland won on court two (21-8, 21-12) to give UNM the early lead.
In the No. 4 position, Carly Beddingfield and Chloe Crappell also finished in two sets (21-18, 21-17).
Julia Warren paired with Victoria Spragg to play on court five and clinched the duel for the Lobos (21-10, 21-13).
At No. 3, Marisa Doran and Eastyn Baleto defeated their foes in both sets by a score of 21-19. Cassie House and Ashley Kelsey contributed to the last point with their sweep on court one (21-10, 21-8).
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Nothing really changed except for the lineup in the second match of the double-header between New Mexico and Air Force.
House and Kelsey contributed the first score for UNM with a sweep on court two (21-8, 21-10). The duo finished a 17-10 record on the season.
Doran and Baleto changed slots to play in the No. 4 position and won in two sets (21-11, 21-8). The tandem posted a 18-7 season record. Their 41 wins together marked the most wins in program history from a pair.
Baleto was the first Lobo to reach the milestone of 50 wins and finished with 51 match wins in her career.
Warren and Twitty clinched the victory for the team on court three (21-11, 21-14). The pair placed second in winning percentage in program history with their 17-5 season record.
Warren posted 47 individual career wins, which placed her second on the all-time list in the program.
Sours and Rugland won (21-14, 21-14) as the top tandem. Their 20-7 record was tied for the second-most single season wins and the third-best winning percentage.
In the No. 5 spot, Emily Nenninger and Lyric Ellison sealed the second straight sweep for the Lobos (22-20, 21-18).
Bo Yu is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers beach volleyball, track and field, cross country and volleyball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Bo_YuB.
