ENMU women set for return to pitch

PORTALES — Entering her first year as the Eastern New Mexico University women’s soccer coach, Abbey Barnum wasn’t all that surprised to find her squad near the bottom of the league’s preseason poll.

Picked for 12th in the 14-team circuit, the Greyhounds begin to try proving their detractors wrong when they open the campaign with a noon match on Thursday against Colorado State-Pueblo at Greyhound Stadium.

It’ll be the first official event for ENMU in the 2020-21 sports season, and the first of five consecutive outings for the Hounds against Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference squads.

“It was expected,” Barnum said of the poll. “We were the only team (in the LSC) not to get to play last year.

“We’ll try to build on past successes, but we also have a lot new faces. Our main priority is to come together as a team.”

Also, ENMU volleyball and cross country teams are preparing for season-opening competition this weekend. The volleyball squad will play four matches in an event hosted by Dallas Baptist, while cross country teams travel to Lubbock on Saturday for the Texas Tech Open.

Barnum, who played in the LSC at Midwestern State (2013-16) and most recently was an assistant coach at Division I Southern Mississippi, said her players recently selected senior defender Makenzie Mendez, sophomore defender Kinzie Mitchell and sophomore midfielder Salena Casias as team captains. Mitchell and Casias were members of the 2019 squad, which finished 8-8-1 overall (5-8 LSC).

While Barnum is hoping for a lot from those three, she said all positions are open as the season begins. Senior Whitney Dockweiler is the leading contender at goalkeeper, but Barnum said two others are “pushing hard” for the position.

She said culture and chemistry are key elements for the Hounds.

“We’ve been talking to our girls about that,” Barnum said. “If we have that, all the other stuff will follow.”

She said favorites Dallas Baptist and Angelo State figure to be tough to beat in the LSC.

“They’ve been two standout teams in the conference,” Barnum said. “I think if we’re competitive with those teams, it’ll put us in a good spot. But we still have some growing to do.”

Volleyball — Veteran coach Sia Poyer returns to the sideline for the first time since September 2019. He took a leave of absence for medical reasons in the first few weeks of that season, with assistant coach Katie Burnett taking over.

The Hounds went 5-21 overall in 2019 including 3-15 in the LSC. They were picked for last place in the 18-team circuit in the league’s preseason poll.

“Preseason polls don’t really change anything,” Poyer said. “We want to get to the conference tournament, and then get to the NCAA (Division II) tournament.”

The team is a mix of veterans and newcomers. Senior Jasmine Gannon of Texico led the Hounds in kills (245) in 2019, while among others back are middle blockers Adriana Puni and Gracelyn Stubbs, and sisters Rae and Qitana Sapiga at setter.

Junior college transfers Daejia Rodriguez and Jordan O’Connor-Dempsey should help in the middle, Poyer said. Top freshmen are Kali Nelson, Mikaela Garvin, Eliana Luteru, Riley Mapes and Portales High’s Kinzie Davis, all outside hitters.

Poyer said Davis could also spend some time at libero.

“The thing about her is she’s athletic,” he said. “We’ve had some injury concerns, and it’s nice to have Kinzie to step in.”

In two season-opening tourneys, ENMU will get an early look at some of their LSC foes.

“All the teams are good,” he said. “Our team chemistry is so important. Offensively, all of our hitters can put the ball away.

“This weekend, we’ll just kind of get a taste of it.”

Cross country — In the conference preseason polls, ENMU squads were tabbed for a tie for eighth in the 16-team women’s league and 12th in the 15-team men’s circuit.

Fifth-year coach Jeff Kavalunas, though, said that prior to missing last year the women’s program had finished in the top three in the LSC for nine of the previous 10 seasons, running fourth the other year, and said the squad returns the bulk of its roster.

“We have everybody coming back this year,” Kavalunas said of the women’s contingent. “It was kind of rough for us to have to sit back (last year) and watch other teams compete for the conference championship.

“We have pretty good depth. We’re gearing everything towards the LSC meet (in November at Lawton, Okla.).”

The Hounds have just four meets prior to that, beginning with Saturday’s event at TTU.

Seniors Aminata Kenyawani, the LSC’s Newcomer of the Year in 2019, and Neri Getraide are the top returnees for the women. Others who will help include senior twins Malethabo and Lethabo Seema and freshman Marta Pascoa.

Top runners for the men are juniors Kelvin Kipkemboi, Sylvestre Kibara and Devis Cheruiyot and sophomore Japhet Toroitich, all originally from Kenya.

“We don’t have quite as much depth on the men’s side,” Kavalunas said. “But I think our top four runners are pretty strong.”

Since all his runners also compete for Kavalunas in track, he noted that they basically lost three seasons — cross country last fall, and indoor and outdoor track in the spring.

“Both our men and women want to be on the podium at the Lone Star championships,” he said. “We’re shooting for top-three finishes this season.”