The final game of the UNM Tournament on Saturday night had a different rotation than most were expecting, boasting a more youthful appearance.
After a thrilling 3-1 victory over Arizona State late Friday, the Lobos came out flat in the first game of Saturday’s double header, head coach Jeff Nelson said.
Though they were able to fight back against Idaho in a 2-1 hole, the fifth set did not go New Mexico’s way, forcing Nelson to make some changes against Fairfield in the evening’s festivities.
“We let some of our freshmen play tonight. Three of our freshmen played a lot tonight and I thought they did a really good job,” Nelson said.
He said the major reason for shaking up the lineup to start the Fairfield match was fatigue from the four-game tournament. However, the head coach also said he had to send a message for dreary play against a team he said the Lobos should have beaten.
“I told the seniors that they have to kind of own what happened, and be better and be stronger,” Nelson said.
The freshmen certainly didn’t waste the opportunity they were given. Lauren Twitty stood out in a big way as an emerging outside hitter, collecting 10 kills, the most on UNM’s side of the net.
“I just had a lot more confidence after I got the first few kills,” Twitty said. “I just went after it and didn’t worry about making a mistake like I had in the first few games.”
One of the things Twitty said helped her was the aid of senior Julia Warren, her fellow outside hitter. Warren would help point out some things that Twitty was struggling with and calmed her down at the start of the match.
The Lobos certainly didn’t start out slowly, dominating the attack with a .321 hitting percentage and holding Fairfield (1-3) to a negative swinging average.
The second set was much of the same. The defense held the Stags to a low hitting number while the squad exploded to a .414 mark garnering a 25-17 victory.
Finally, Nelson unleashed two of his seniors who had been predominantly spectators up to this point — Cassie House, who had seen no action, and Devanne Sours, who had minimal playing time. The heavy swingers combined for seven of the 11 kills in the final set.
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The two were able to put up sound numbers in that final game, despite Nelson deciding to allow Warren some rest of her own.
Nelson said the cohesion from his 2016 squad is remarkable. The team chemistry has never been better, he says, and they are working cohesively as a group towards the ultimate goal of winning contests.
Being able to gel as a group has been something that may have plagued former UNM teams. However, even as a freshman, Twitty said she is feeling the unity of the group.
“During practice, we’re always switching up lineups and so we really feel relaxed playing with anybody on the team,” she said. “Wherever he puts us on the court, everybody’s ready for it.”
A major reason for that sense of preparedness may be that New Mexico may have finally put a cap on the libero debate. All last season, Nelson was forced to rotate between three different players, sometimes in the same game.
Ashley Kelsey, along with Warren and House, won all-tournament honors and Kelsey did so at the defensive position that has caused a major headache among the team.
“We’ve had a lot of changes in our libero position the last year, year and a half,” Nelson said. “It’s nice to see (Kelsey) have a nice weekend and kind of go out and grab that moving forward.”
Up next for the Lobos is a three-game tournament in Tampa, Florida, for the USF Tournament. UNM will open that stint against Stetson at 9 a.m. local time.
Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
