Fans are encouraged to wear pink for Thursday’s match as the Aggies continue to raise awareness for breast cancer during October. Youth Day will be celebrated on Saturday as kids can go on the court after the match and enjoy a ‘Kid’s Spike’ as they spike the ball over the net.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Thursday’s match will be televised live by the AggieVision production team. Aggie fans in New Mexico can catch all of the action on Comcast Cable channel 77. Fox Sports Arizona will also pick up the AggieVision live feed. FSA can be found on DirecTV channel 686 and Dish Network channel 415. The match will also be streamed live on NMStateSports.com and on ESPN3. Click HERE for the ESPN3 free link.
Saturday’s match will be broadcast live over Las Cruces radio on KGRT AM 570 with Adam Young on the call and will also be available via an Internet stream on NMStateSports.com. The Lobo match will also be on KGRT AM 570.
LIVE STATS ON THE WEB: Live stats will be available for fans at www.NMStateSports.com at no cost all season long. Fans can click on the ‘Live Events’ link at the top of the NMStateSports.com home page or go to the volleyball schedule page and click on the ‘related links’ tab to access the live stats.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Get all the updates of Aggie Athletics on Twitter and Facebook. Get in-game statistics and in-game updates on Twitter @NMStateAggies. Find out about all Aggie Athletics promotions and events on Facebook (NM State Aggies and The Aggie Student-Athlete). Also, new this season, follow us on Instagram at NMStateAggies for photos from all the Aggie sports world.
ABOUT THE AGGIES: NM State will try to make it three WAC titles in a row in 2014. It will attempt the feat with a young roster that includes six true freshman and only two seniors. The Aggies will depend heavily on three juniors, outside hitter Bradley Nash, middle blocker Gwen Murphy and setter Taylor Livoti. All three were selected to the All-WAC preseason team. Although young, NM State was still picked to win the conference regular season in the WAC preseason coaches’ poll, garnering six of eight first-place votes.
The Aggies began the season by participating in four tournaments, including two at home. During tournament play NM State welcomed No. 30 California, No. 14 Colorado State and No. 9 BYU to the Pan Am. The Aggies swept their final tournament, the Holly Young Invitational, winning three-straight matches.
NM State began WAC play by winning three-straight, including two five-set thrillers, before suffering its first WAC loss in Seattle. More recently, the Aggies swept Texas-Pan American at home.
SCOUTING REPORTS
Missouri-Kansas City
• The Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos are off to their best start in school history at 16-3 and their best WAC start in school history at 4-0
• Have won a school record 12 matches in a row
•Have already surpassed last season’s win total of 15 matches
· Defeated in-state rival Missouri on Monday for the first time since 1994
•OH Sydney Crimmins is this week’s WAC Player of the Week, the third different Roo to win the award this season joining OH Jessica Hendin and L Taryn Miller
•2nd in the nation in digs/set (18.30) and 4th in attacks/set (39.11), lead the WAC in both categories
• Also lead the WAC in assists/set (12.80), hitting percentage (.215) and kills/set (13.73)
•LIbero Taryn Miller leads the WAC in total digs (454) and digs/set (5.82)
• Lost both meetings versus NM State last season, the first two times the teams have met
Chicago State
· The Chicago State Cougars are 6-13 on the season are still seeking their first WAC win of the season (0-5)
· Are currently on a five-match losing streak
· Most recently lost to Seattle U and Utah Valley at home
· Lead the WAC in service aces (117) and service aces/set (1.67)
· Eli Woinowsky leads the team in kills (200) and kills/set (2.86), Sarah Metcalfe leads in assists (521) and assists/set (7.44), Julia Menhart leads in digs (232) and digs/set (3.62)
· Lost both matches to NM State last season in straight sets, first meetings between teams
New Mexico
· NM State vs UNM preview on Sunday
STATE STATS: Junior outside hitter Bradley Nash leads the Aggies with 135 total kills and a 2.41 kills/set average……… Junior Gwen Murphy leads the team with a .328 hitting percentage………. Junior setter Taylor Livoti has a team-leading 354 assists and a 6.21 assists/set average…………Redshirt senior libero Hannah Walker leads NM State with 235 digs, a 4.20 digs/set average and 13 service aces………….Redshirt freshman Sasha-Lee Thomas leads the team with 63 total blocks and a 1.11 blocks/set average
AGGIES IN THE WAC: NM State as a team ranks…...first in the WAC in opponent’s hitting percentage (.145)…….. second in hitting percentage (.202) and blocks (2.63/set)………third in kills (12.93/set), digs (15.46/set) and assists (12.09/set)
Gwen Murphy is second in the WAC in hitting percentage (.328) and eighth in blocks (1.09/set)………..Hannah Walker is fifth in the WAC in digs (4.20/set)………….. Sasha-Lee Thomas is fifth in the WAC in blocks (1.11/set)………………Nathalie Castellanos is seventh in the WAC in hitting percentage (.294)……………Taylor Livoti is ninth in the WAC in assists (6.21/set)
NATIONAL ATTENTION: NM State is ranked 13th in the country in opponent’s hitting percentage (.145) and 29th in blocks/set (2.63)
THE MICHAEL JORDAN ERA: Mike Jordan is now in his 17th season at the head of the Aggie volleyball program. He is the all-time winningest volleyball coach at NM State with a 362-166 record. In 2013, Jordan won his sixth Coach of the Year Award (two with the Sun Belt Conference and four with the WAC) and led the Aggies to their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013).
THE RECENT PAST: The Aggies defeated Texas-Pan American in straight sets for their 11th-consecutive WAC win inside the Pan American Center during their only match last week. NM State defeated the Broncs 25-21, 25-16, 25-23.
ON THE HORIZON: After the match in Albuquerque on Monday, the Aggies hit the road for two conference matches. NM State plays Bakersfield in Bakersfield, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 23, beginning at 8 p.m. (MDT) before heading to Phoenix, Ariz., to meet Grand Canyon on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 2 p.m.
AGGIES CAUGHT STREAKING IN LAS CRUCES: NM State is currently on an 11-match WAC winning streak at home that dates back almost two years. The Aggies last lost inside the Pan American Center to a WAC opponent on Nov. 15, 2012, when they lost to former WAC member Idaho.
DOUBLE VISION: Junior setter Taylor Livoti doubled her two double-doubles on the season in one day as she marked double-doubles in both matches on Saturday, Sept. 20, first versus Brown and then versus New Hampshire. Livoti now leads the Aggies with four double-dippers on the season.
Junior Bradley Nash picked up her third double-double of the season in the win at Utah Valley last week after posting 15 kills and 12 digs. Freshman Ashlyn Brown picked up her second-career double-double in the same match after a career-high 21 assists and 10 digs.
Freshman Jordan Abalos has made an immediate impact on the Aggie squad. The outside hitter from Safford, Ariz., picked up her third double-double after finishing with 11 kills and 13 digs versus BYU (Sept. 13).
Nathalie Castellanos picked up her second double-double of the season versus Bakersfield (Sept. 27). Andrea Tauai also has two double-doubles on the season.
NM State Double-Double Totals – 16 on the season from six different players
MURPHY NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Junior middle blocker Gwen Murphy was named to the Utah Classic All-Tournament team during the Aggies opening tournament of the season. Murphy finished the tournament with 24 total kills in three matches. She had a match-high 13 kills versus Montana State (Aug. 30), which is also tied her for the season high for the Aggies in the early season. She also had 12 block-assists during the three matches, giving her an average of 1.20 blocks/set
AGGIES PLACE THREE ON ALL-TOURNEY TEAM: Junior middle blocker Gwen Murphy was named the Holly Young Invitational MVP after leading NM State to a sweep of all three opponents in the tournament. She finished the tournament in New Hampshire with 22 total kills for a 2.44 kills/set average, 15 total blocks for a 1.67 blocks/set average and a .450 hitting percentage including two matches hitting at or above .500. Redshirt freshman middle hitter Sasha-Lee Thomas and redshirt libero Hannah Walker joined Murphy on the all-tournament team.
2013 RECAP: NM State finished 22-11 overall in 2013 and won its second-consecutive WAC championship after defeating Bakersfield in straight sets during the championship match of the 2013 WAC Tournament. The Aggies also won the regular-season crown, their first outright WAC regular-season title and second overall, after posting a 14-2 conference record. The WAC title meant a seventh, and second-straight, trip to the NCAA Tournament for NM State. The Aggies would go on to lose to Arizona during the first round of the tournament in San Diego.
Former Aggie middle blocker Desiree Scott was named the WAC Player of the Year while head coach Mike Jordan won his fourth WAC Coach of the Year award (sixth total conference coach of the year, two with Sun Belt). Scott was also part of the WAC All-Tournament team, joining teammates Ciara Brown, Bradley Nash and Stephanie Ziegler. Fellow middle blocker Gwen Murphy joined Scott on the All-WAC first team.