New Mexico is not shying away from heightened competition at the start of the 2016 campaign, and that’s just how head coach Jeff Nelson likes it.
Two of last year’s top competitors in the nation will be heading to Johnson Gym to participate in the UNM Tournament this weekend.
“It’s going to show us right away where we are at,” Nelson said. “It’s going to expose what we need to work on and hopefully be the start of a great season run.”
The Lobos will face off against Abilene Christian Friday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. for the opening action of the year, followed by an Arizona State (ASU) squad that was nationally ranked just a season ago.
ASU and New Mexico faced off twice in the spring in the newly acquired beach volleyball program, where the Lobos proved that the squad has the talent to effectively match up with the elite athletes of the Pac-12.
Though the dual-team sport played on forgiving sand is much different than the team effort on the hardwood, senior Julia Warren said the team is not focused on the hype of playing a Power Five conference opponent.
“We know they have some great athletes and we have some great athletes as well,” Warren said. “We’re just focused on what’s going on, on our side of the net.”
Though Friday’s games will have ASU circled for the majority of UNM fans, Saturday night’s contest is no light task either. The Lobos will face Fairfield that evening, a team invited to the NCAA tournament last year. That game will follow New Mexico’s match against Idaho in the morning.
“Just in these first three weeks, we have a number of really big tests,” Nelson said. “This weekend it’s not just ASU. All the teams are good.”
Warren said she has never seen a team more prepared than the 2016 club in her four preseasons as a Lobo, emphasizing that the high caliber of focus and preparedness have really stood out in the offseason.
That is something Warren sees could lead to early-season success.
“This is the first year since I’ve been here that I personally feel like I can rely on the team,” she said. “I think we’re really there for each other, and I don’t think that’s really been there in the past.”
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The start of the season is far different than once teams are deep into the schedule, Nelson said. He said he likes the way the team can focus solely on themselves and getting ready for the first serve, as opposed to long hours in the film room.
“We don’t really have scouting reports because it is the first weekend. Teams have new players, teams have lost players,” Nelson said. “It’s the one weekend where we don’t get a lot of film. So we’ve just got to go out and play.”
Warren said the opening weekend of her final season in a UNM uniform has not really hit her yet. However, she is by no means taking for granted the significance of this season.
“I’m really taking it one week at a time, one practice at a time. I think all of the seniors, we’re not looking forward to the end,” Warren said. “We want to make this a really special and a really exciting season.”
