New Mexico was able to celebrate Jeff Nelson’s 400th career victory in a competitive 3-0 sweep over the Santa Clara Broncos Friday night at the Johnson Center.
Although UNM didn’t fall in a single set against the Santa Clara, the Lobos’ first victory at home did not come easily.
“They play a really fast offense that’s hard to play against, but our kids handled well,” Nelson said. “I think it’s the best ball we’ve played in here in a number of years.”
The Lobos contained the Broncos’ quick pace for the majority of the match, but the Broncos came with a valiant effort on defense as well.
In the first set, UNM snuck away with a 25-22 victory, holding Santa Clara to just .105 hitting. The Lobos did not manage to swing much better, but had five fewer errors in the first game.
Sabrina Clayton was not a contributor to the Broncos’ hitting woes. Santa Clara’s junior outside hitter finished the night with 13 kills and a solid .310 hitting percentage.
New Mexico’s defense was able to keep Nikki Hess in check, the Broncos’ leading scorer. Although the junior outside hitter managed to get the second most kills on the night with 12, she was limited to a .114 hitting percentage.
While the defense didn’t force as many errors in the second set, the Lobos play at the net was dominant. UNM only tallied four blocks in the second set but was putting up constant pressure to the Broncos.
New Mexico’s offense stepped up its game late in the match. The Broncos and Lobos found themselves knotted up at 19 apiece for the fourth time in the set.
Even after Santa Clara battled back late in the match, UNM’s offense came together to splurge on a 6-1 run to end the second set.
The break in play did not bode well for the Lobos after the squad found itself in a quick 12-4 hole. However, Nelson’s group remained composed throughout the match and finally caught up to the Broncos 17-17 in the final set of the match.
UNM finished the set and the match with a stout performance from its defense. The unit forced long volleys from Santa Clara, forcing three errors in the final 11 points of the contest. The Broncos only managed to get one kill in that same period of time giving New Mexico a 25-20 victory.
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“It was one of the best games we’ve ever played as a team,” outside hitter Devanne Sours said. “It was a lot of fun, we made it through the hard patches and it was a lot of fun.”
Sours was the leading scorer for the Lobos with 10 kills. However, Nelson has said this team is not going to be reliant on just one player and the team is going to spread the ball around more this season. Five players on the roster contributed to five or more kills on the night.
Nelson said the main goal for his team is to put pressure on teams by not allowing the easy points. He said he couldn’t have been prouder of his team after playing hard, through all three sets.
“When we keep putting pressure on a team, eventually they are going to break,” Nelson said. “Fortunately they did for us.”
Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at assistantsports@dailylobo.com or on twitter @Liam_CE.
