From Monday to Mon-dazed in moments
Lobo volleyball had optimism, and now it requires patience
One and done was not what the University of New Mexico volleyball team had in mind for its 2020 season.
Nonetheless, shortly after completing their first preseason practice on Monday, the Lobos found out their fall season was, at best, postponed. Talk about a buzz kill.
“The timing did kind of amplify the blow,” UNM coach Jon Newman-Gonchar said. “We just had a great first day, everyone’s excited and right after practice you get the call. Our players and coaches were as bummed as anyone.”
Monday’s emotional roller coaster was tied to the Mountain West Conference’s announcement that fall sports — football, cross country and women’s soccer in UNM’s case, as well as fall golf — are off because of the coronavirus pandemic.
It was a tough pill for MWC athletic programs to swallow, and UNM’s volleyball squad was no exception. After struggling through much of an 11-19 season in 2019, Newman-Gonchar’s Lobos won five of their final seven matches and were buoyed by a strong recruiting class that appeared to address most of last season’s weaknesses. With a mix of international players, transfers and freshmen, Newman-Gonchar was anticipating drastic improvement from a taller, more physical team. That will have to wait. “Our players get it,” Newman-Gonchar said. “There certainly were signs that this could be
coming but you have to keep preparing as though there will be a season. This group’s been through a lot over the last five months just to get everyone here, and they’re strong people who want to play volleyball. It’s hard to just change that mindset in the span of a few hours.”
Making things that much harder is lingering uncertainty about the future. The Mountain West on Monday said only that it would “begin to explore the feasibility of rescheduling fall sports competition, including the possibility of those sports competing in the spring.”
Not exactly a rallying cry to boost the spirits of coaches or student-athletes. Nor has there been an announcement about whether fall sports athletes will be allowed to train at on-campus facilities during the upcoming semester.
Still, after giving his team 24 hours to absorb the shock, Newman-Gonchar did his best to push the “reset and respond” philosophy he consistently preaches.
“The players obviously know this is a setback,” he said. “We just told them they can still control the day and use the time in a positive way. If we can still be in the gym in some format over the next few months, my team wants to do it.”
Newman-Gonchar shares the opinion of other coaches around the country that keeping student-athletes engaged and involved is preferable to shutting down workouts entirely. UNM, he said, has been strictly adhering to state and NCAA protocols for battling the spread of COVID-19.
“I feel like this is the safest place for our players,” he said. “The Mountain West had to make a decision on fall sports and I appreciate that they put the health of student-athletes, coaches and everyone else first. I just hope we can come up with a situation that allows everyone to keep building and working toward goals. Even when you know it might happen, having everything shut down all at once just kind of slams you in the face.”