The New Mexico volleyball team rebounded in the final two games to revenge Fresno State 3-2 in Johnson Center on Thursday. The Lobos (13-12, 3-8 Mountain West) have begun finding the win column, notching three victories in their last four matches.
The New Mexico women’s soccer team was eliminated from postseason play after a match it didn’t even play in. Unfortunately for the Lobos (8-7-3, 4-5-1 MW), a 0-0 decision between Wyoming and San Diego State on Sunday means that, regardless of what happens during the last day of conference play, the Lobos cannot qualify for the Mountain West Conference tournament.
One goal was all the Lobos needed to climb two spots in the Conference USA standings on Wednesday night. Redshirt freshman Devin Boyce scored the second-half goal that gave New Mexico a 1-0 victory over the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers. The victory provided the Lobos with the three points they needed to move from seventh to fifth place. New Mexico — now with seven points on the season — holds an 8-6-1 overall record, including a 2-3-1 conference mark.
New Mexico football has a chance to do something Saturday in Hawaii that it hasn’t achieved in nearly 10 years — win three consecutive regular season games. The last time the Lobos won three in a row was the 2007 season, under head coach Rocky Long. The team actually accomplished the feat twice that season, en route to a 9-4 record. That’s not to say this team hasn’t experienced some recent success. The Lobos won seven games last season and had the Mountain division title in its reach until almost the very end. This season, New Mexico (4-3, 2-1 MW) is back over .500 and will showcase its best-in-the-nation rushing attack in the 10:00 p.m. (MT) road game against Hawaii (4-4, 3-1). The Lobos have won the last six meetings between the schools, including a 28-27 victory last season.
The Lobos are looking forward to a big home week, hosting Fresno State on Thursday and San José State Saturday — and they’re looking to exact some revenge on the two conference foes. The Lobos (12-12, 2-8 MW) just ended their eight-match losing skid in the Mountain West conference as they swept Air Force last Saturday after falling 3-0 to Boise State in the match prior. “Two tough road matches for us with the top teams in the conference,” New Mexico assistant coach JJ Glavan said. UNM ranks No. 10 in the conference standings, while its opponents Fresno State (12-9, 3-7) and San José State (10-12, 3-7) are tied for eighth. “(Last week) gets us going a little bit more for our big week here against Fresno State and San Jose State,” Glavan said.
The New Mexico men’s tennis season has apparently come to an end, failing to receive a bid to the ITA National Indoors despite some solid play at the regional tournament. Head coach Ben Dunbar said players had to advance into the semifinal round to be eligible to receive an at-large bid, but the team’s nationally ranked duo (No. 15) of Bart Van Leijsen and Hayden Sabatka bowed out in the quarterfinal round. Doubles partners Ricky Hernandez-Tong and senior Rodolfo “Fito” Jauregui did advance to the semifinal round and lost in a tiebreaker to the eventual champion, but the performance wasn’t quite enough to earn a berth to nationals. The head coach said the absence of a national ranking for Hernandez-Tong and Jauregui probably hurt their chances when the selections were made.
New Mexico cross country will try to begin its push for nationals when the squads compete at the Mountain West Championship on Friday in Boise, Idaho. “There are always goals that we have, some for individuals and some are for team,” head coach Joe Franklin said in an interview. UNM has tasted the sweetness of achieving some team goals recently, limiting the time spread at Wisconsin two weeks ago, as the women placed fourth while the men won the open race.
New Mexico women’s soccer traveled to Fort Collins desperately needing a win against Colorado State. Fortunately for the Lobos, the team pulled out a win on Sunday to keep its postseason hopes alive. Anything less than wins in both of their final games would have meant elimination, and the Lobos still need some help to qualify for the conference tournament. Sixth-place Wyoming would need to drop in the standing, tying or losing their final two games.
The New Mexico men’s soccer team has to survive one more road match to hold onto its hopes of advancing into postseason play. A tie or a loss doesn’t necessarily end the season, but an outright victory would secure a spot in the conference tournament. The Lobos are traveling to Birmingham, Alabama to take on the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers on Wednesday night.
The Lobos managed to stay undefeated at home on Saturday, but it wasn’t necessarily the result they were looking for. New Mexico hosted the Marshall Thundering Herd, battling through two overtimes over 110 minutes to end in a 2-2 draw. “Tough one today,” said head coach Jeremy Fishbein. “Third overtime game in a row. We had a 1-0 lead, then 2-1. We slipped up. We made some little mental mistakes.” The Lobos took control of the match outshooting Marshall (6-8-1,1-3-1 C-USA) 27-9, and leading 10-3 in corner kicks. Unfortunately for them, the final score didn’t show that domination.
The Lobo football team finally got solid play — and scores — in all three phases of the game as the team recorded eight touchdowns from eight different players en route to a 59-17 thumping of Louisiana-Monroe Saturday at University Stadium. Junior cornerback Jadon Boatright, who has logged limited minutes this season due to a turf toe injury, proved he is back as healthy as ever, and made an immediate impact in the game on defense.
Only the top six teams in the Mountain West Conference advance to the conference tournament, and both squads playing on Friday night needed a positive result, making the fixture between New Mexico and Wyoming a critical match. New Mexico (7-7-3, 3-5-1 MW) entered the match tied for the seventh spot, with Wyoming (9-7-1, 5-4-0 MW) sixth in the standings. Unfortunately for the Lobos, it just wasn’t their night, with the team suffering a 3-0 shutout.
The Lobos ended their eight-game losing streak in the Mountain West conference, sweeping Air Force 3-0 on Saturday afternoon. New Mexico (12-12, 2-8 Mountain West) showed some courage and earned a split during the week, dominating Air Force (9-14, 0-10) in a 25-17, 29-27, 25-19 sweep after falling to Boise State on Thursday evening. “It was nice to get a win on the road,” New Mexico head coach Jeff Nelson said.
The Lobos were only able to put up 16 points in their D1A-Western Conference matchup against Utah state, as the final score heavily favored the Aggies, 54-16. With the loss, New Mexico’s rugby squad drops to 0-3 in D1A Conference play, and the team is still searching for the first win of the season. Although the game didn’t have a lot of positives for UNM, two Lobos were able to score tries.
Those who worried about New Mexico football stumbling in a “trap” game didn’t need to do so. The Lobos scored on their first offensive — and defensive — possessions and never looked back in a Saturday night win against Louisiana-Monroe. The defense hadn’t created a turnover since game four of the season against San Jose State, an Austin Ocasio interception return for touchdown in a 48-41 win.
After three tough road matches, the Lobos are ready to get back on their home pitch, where the team is undefeated and hungry for another win. New Mexico’s men’s soccer hosts the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday, a team that, when it comes to conference play, has found itself in a similar position as the Lobos. Marshall currently holds a 6-8 overall record while the Lobos are 7-6. Both teams are 1-3 in Conference USA and have three points each.
The Lobos were eight seconds away from tying the No. 5 team in the country. Instead, they walked away Wednesday night with a 2-1 loss to the Denver Pioneers, who remain undefeated and improve to a 13-0-2 record. The loss is the third straight for the Lobos, all of which were on the road. The road has been rough for New Mexico with the team managing to record only one win out of seven matches played.
In their last two home fixtures, the Lobos won 2-0 against Utah State and tied 0-0 in a contentious affair against Boise State. But the Lobos are currently seventh in the Mountain West Conference standings, and only the top six progress to the conference tournament. However, the Lobos (7-6-3, 3-4-1 MW) are only two points behind sixth-place Wyoming, against whom New Mexico will do battle on Friday night in a game that has a lot of stakes for both sides.
The UNM rugby team hits the pitch against Utah State in a home battle this Saturday as part of the 45th annual High Desert Classic. The team, competing in a sport not widely-recognized on campus, competes in both the USA Rugby D1A Conference — the biggest college rugby conference in the nation — and the Rio Grande Rugby Football Union (RGRFU). The team, currently sitting at 0-2 in D1A Conference play, has taken losses to Wyoming 33-24 and Texas Tech 31-29.
New Mexico football looks to get back over .500 for the first time since it won the home opener — and win back-to-back games for the first time this season — when it takes on Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday New Mexico (3-3, 2-1 Mountain West) will host the Warhawks(2-4, 1-2 Sun Belt) at University Stadium, in a non-conference match nestled between eight Mountain West contests. The outcome could have big implications as the Lobos try to take another step toward becoming bowl-eligible, while also trying to avoid looking ahead to the next opponent.
Solutions by The State News
