New Mexico is still searching for a win after the team’s fourth consecutive loss on Thursday night, this one a sweep at the hands of Colorado State.
The Lobos (10-8, 1-4 Mountain West) couldn’t get any momentum on night where the team was encouraging fans to “Jam Johnson,” instead falling 25-19, 25-21, 25-21 against the Rams (10-5, 4-0).
CSU’s attack was dominant, posting a .389 hitting percentage, while Lobos were only hitting .074. CSU had good blocks as well — 12 team blocks were just four times more than those of UNM.
“It’s tough to play such a good team,” New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said after Thursday night’s loss.
Control of errors could have been the lynchpin to face the best attacker in the conference, but the Lobos were just unable to do so with 21 errors and just 28 kills. The Rams managed their errors to eight with 43 kills.
The only highlighted stat for New Mexico was its serving — 10 aces, while Colorado State served just three aces with 11 errors.
“I thought we served pretty well,” Nelson said. “It is a pretty good number.”
Nelson spoke highly of CSU setter Katie Oleksak, who was on the attack against the Rams with 39 assists, seven digs and two blocks.
“They have really good setters to work the ball around,” Nelson said. “Our hitters were getting a lot of really bad looks at the floor.”
Nelson admitted there was a lot of work to do to get the Lobo hitters better opportunities, an issue the hitters themselves were taking notice of.
“They keep us on our toes a lot,” redshirt junior Ashley Kelsey said. “We need that.”
Colorado State came out strong offensively in the first set with a .652 percentage against UNM’s .067. The Lobos tied the Rams at 19, but lost six points in a row to lose the opportunity of taking the set. Nelson, again, referred to lack of leadership for his team stumbling out of the gate.
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“What we’re missing is that person steps up and just goes in and says, ‘Come on, right now, get it done,’” Nelson said. “In the past it has been (Julia) Warren. Cassie (House) and Devanne (Sours) have stepped up a little bit.”
Both House and Sours notched nine kills in the loss, and senior captain Warren was in the back row again after recently sitting out to nurse an injury.
“We’re starting to get better. It's nice having Julia back,” Nelson said. “Cassie had a good night. Hopefully this weekend just gets better.”
The Lobos were on the right track with the return of the team’s backbone.
“I felt like we were more in sync when Julia went in,” Nelson said. “I actually think that tonight was better than Saturday.”
Other players could stand out when the team faced crux. Middle blocker Victoria Spragg had a prominent performance with four kills and the highest hitting percentage on the team at .444.
“She played very well tonight,” Nelson said of the sophomore. “This is her first year starting, I think she is getting better with every match.”
The Lobos host Wyoming (10-6, 3-0) at noon on Saturday as they look to end their losing skid.
“It’s going to be more like today,” Nelson said. “They are good team with really good middles.”
The head coach said Wyoming would run their middles just like CSU did — thus he looked at Thursday’s defeat as good preparation for Saturday’s match.
Bo Yu is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He mainly covers Cross Country and volleyball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com.
