After nearly sweeping the weekend, New Mexico turns its attention to the Sunshine State to partake in the USF Tournament.
The tournament will consist of Stetson, South Florida, and Western Carolina in Tampa, Florida. Stetson will be first on the horizon for the Lobos, with first serve scheduled for 9 a.m. MT.
“We’re headed to South Florida, a big match with them on Friday night,” Nelson said. “They pack their gym and it will be a crazy one for us.”
Though the Lobos are very aware that Friday night’s contest against USF will be a tough test, the UNM tournament proved that nobody can be overlooked, especially when fatigue sets in.
The Lobos (3-1) are coming off a weekend where a perfect record was within reach. UNM supporters packed Johnson Center in Friday night’s contest against USC, taking home a 3-1 victory in front of 1,851 fans.
“Anytime one of our New Mexico teams beats a (Pac-12 school), that’s a great win,” Nelson said. “We were really happy about that.”
The USC contest was by far the highly anticipated match as Johnson Gym was not nearly as vibrant as it was on Friday. It appeared the double header on Friday was too much action for UNM’s first few games and Nelson said the team came out gassed in a 3-2 loss to Idaho.
Nelson said Idaho was a team UNM would normally beat, but the squad just couldn’t pull enough energy after the late night match the day prior.
After the loss to Idaho, Nelson made a statement by starting three freshmen, who took the places of two seniors. Nelson said after that match that he was telling his upperclassmen to step up, but he also wanted to give his players some rest.
There were several standouts over the opening weekend, but senior Julia Warren proved to be the rock and consistency UNM has come to rely on.
“Julia Warren had a great tournament for us, all the way around,” Nelson said. “Her, along with Cassie House and Ashley Kelsey at the libero position, all made the All-Tournament team.”
While Nelson was very pleased with the overall play of his group and his freshmen, Kelsey garnering All-Tournament honors may have finally put an end to the mixed bag at libero that has been a major blemish for the Lobos.
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Warren, Kelsey, and Mercedes Pacheco all shared duties at the position a season ago, sometimes even in the same game. However, this may have finally been the performance Nelson needed to see. If Kelsey can stay consistent, she will certainly be able to claim the spot for good.
Kelsey will be getting the starting nod again in Florida and will need her supporting cast to be strong heading into UNM’s first road trip of the year.
Even with the slight hiccup against Idaho in the UNM Tournament, Nelson is poised to bring a trophy home from Florida.
“We feel like it’s a tournament we should be able to go out and get and we’re excited about it,” Nelson said.
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.
