NM State Volleyball News | Stout Defense Secures Series Sweep Over MTSU
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico – After returning to the win column with a four-set victory on Friday, NM State Volleyball hit the floor once more on Saturday. The Aggies hosted Middle Tennessee for the series finale, toppling the Blue Raiders in four frames once again. A strong defensive showing powered the Crimson & White triumph, holding the visitors to a .104 hitting percentage and forcing 30 attack errors. With the win, NM State ended the weekend at 13-10 overall and 6-4 in CUSA play.
Set-by-set: NM State wins 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20)
FIRST SET
The Aggies struggled to find a rhythm early on Saturday, falling behind 6-1, prompting a timeout from the home side. After the stoppage, the Crimson & White appeared more organized, battling back to a 12-9 contest courtesy of Maggie Lightheart (two kills, one block) and Jaelyn Kohli (two kills) during the run. Kohli later notched a solo block to tie the contest for the first time at 14-14 before an MTSU error put the Aggies on top heading into the media timeout. The teams continued to trade blows for the duration of the opening set, though 12 total Blue Raider errors, along with Kohli’s fourth and fifth kills of the set, secured the first frame victory by a score of 25-22.
SECOND SET
Similar to the first set, NM State found themselves trailing early in the second set, falling behind 8-2. The hosts chipped away at the MTSU lead to later force a Blue Raider timeout with a deficit of 12-10. Though NM State would keep the frame close, ten Aggie errors and 19 Blue Raider digs were too much for Mike Jordan’s offense to overcome. MTSU evened the affair with a 25-22 set victory.
THIRD SET
The trend of close sets continued early in the third, with neither team gaining much separation as runs came at a premium. The Blue Raiders would be the first team to 15, taking a one-point edge into the media stoppage. After 12 kills and four lead changes, Maggie Lightheart pushed her side in front for good courtesy of a 19-18 kill. Lightheart added two more kills before Mia Fox’s smash sent her high school teammate Jacqueline Corcoran to the service line up 24-20. The redshirt freshman landed a timely perfect serve, acing her way to a 25-20 set win.
FOURTH SET
Following a 4-2 Aggie edge, neither team would hold a multi-point advantage until Maggie Lightheart landed two kills in a three-rally span (11-9). The junior later commanded a 4-0 run at the service line fueled by a multitude of MTSU errors. Jaelynn Kohli came through with a pair of kills amid a 4-1 run and swelled the lead to 19-15. Makayla Martinez held serve for three points down the stretch before Mia Fox’s kill established set point for the second straight frame. Rilen Garcia’s 12th and final assist of the day was beautifully dialed up for Lightheart, who ended the weekend on a back-row kill at 25-20.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
- With three denials in Saturday’s win, freshman Kate Sinclair has now tallied at least one total block in 22 of 23 matches for NM State this season, only failing to do so in a Sept. 12 matchup with New Haven.
- Jaelynn Kohli’s six blocks were the most in her young career, aided by two solo stuffs.
- The freshman also picked up 12 kills across four sets, doing so with a .300 hitting percentage and just three errors.
- Nellie Reese led the team with 19 assists and added five digs in the win, pacing her squad in assists for the 16thtime during her senior campaign.
- The Aggies tallied 23 total blocks over the weekend, holding MTSU to a .132 combined hitting percentage.
- After her career-best 23 kills on Friday, Maggie Lightheart put up 19 on Saturday, doing so on a .222 clip alongside 11 digs.
- Makayla Martinez led the way with 16 digs in the win, adding four assists and an ace.
- Mia Fox only needed 15 swings to tally eight kills (.467), adding five blocks on Saturday.
- NM State now holds a 10-2 all-time record against MTSU, including a 5-1 record since joining CUSA in 2023.
FROM THE FLOOR
Head Coach Mike Jordan, on the win: “We’re still a bit of a roller coaster. We still make a lot of mistakes, but we’re starting to make more plays, too. Our block is starting to come back around a little bit and we’re serving the ball better. There are things going in the right direction, but you have to be able to play three, four or five points in a row without making a mistake. We’re not quite there yet. We came back from some deficits, which was good, but we shouldn’t have gotten into them in the first place. We’re grinding, though.”
Freshman outside hitter Jaelynn Kohli, on her performance: “A lot of things were not perfect today. We just had to come together to find a way to win, even when we’re playing bad, because a win isn’t always going to be pretty. Figuring that out was good for us. I chatted with the setters recently to try to figure some things out individually. I’m starting to realize that you have to just play. You can’t overthink it too much, because the sun will still shine tomorrow. Just play and do what you can to help get a win.”
Senior setter Rilen Garcia, on the weekend: “Keeping the other team on their toes was important. We ran some different things today and all made sure we were locating the ball well. We called plays and executed them pretty well, especially down the stretch. I really think the consistency and competitiveness of this team are going to be huge the rest of the way. We’re trying to find different ways to score and stay fresh with a positive energy no matter what.”
UP NEXT
A four-match stint away from home looms on the horizon for NM State. The Aggies open up their road trip at LA Tech next weekend. The Bulldogs (7-17, 0-10) have yet to find a CUSA victory, most recently dropping all six sets at Missouri State over the weekend. The Halloween match (Friday, Oct. 31) will be streamed live on ESPN+, while both affairs, including Saturday’s, will be available to follow via nmstatesports.com/stats.
