NMSU volleyball evens season series against New Mexico, winning in five sets.

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - The Tuesday night bus ride from Albuquerque to Las Cruces was a bitter and quiet one for NM State Volleyball.

After allowing the Lobos to come back and win in five sets, the Aggies had less than 24 hours to prepare for round two with their in-state rival.

On Wednesday, NM State flipped the script, roaring back to defeat New Mexico in five sets and exacting revenge from the night prior.

The victory was the program’s first in the series since the rivalry’s rebirth a year ago. 

Set-by-set: NM State wins 3-2 (25-18, 23-25, 18-25, 25-23, 15-7) 

FIRST SET

Kate Sinclair got the home crowd off its feet early, landing a pair of kills to start the evening. Following a kill and a block from Mia Fox on consecutive points, the hosts jumped ahead by four at the media timeout. Nellie Reese expanded the lead with an ace before a quick Lobo run cut it to one. Maggie Lightheart followed up with an ace of her own that kickstarted a 6-0 burst that was capped off by two straight Tess Fuqua hammers. Jaelynn Kohli sent the home squad across the net with a set-ending kill at 25-18.

SECOND SET

Tess Fuqua came out scorching in set two, notching four early kills to put her side ahead 7-5. Neither team would create much separation until a 4-1 run gave UNM a 16-12 edge. The Aggies failed to cut the deficit within two until a Claudia Rossi ace made it 24-23. Unfortunately for the home fans, the 5-1 push would come to an end there, with UNM knotting the affair on a kill to take the frame 25-23. 

THIRD SET

The Lobos controlled the third set, posting their best hitting percentage of the night at .438. Meanwhile, the hosts posted nine attack errors to hit just .049. An early 10-4 lead was enough for UNM to never look back. Jon Newman-Gonchar’s bunch took a lead via clinching the third set by a seven-point margin. 

FOURTH SET

A remarkably close fourth set produced 17 ties and eight lead changes between the two sides. One of Makayla Martinez’s two aces in the frame handed NM State the first two-point edge for either group at 13-11. Zoe Ziegler and Mia Fox would combine for a block to swell the lead to three, but the Lobos clawed back. Martinez’s second ace of the night broke a 21-all tie, forcing a UNM stoppage. Three different Aggies landed kills in the final four points of the set, knotting up the contest with a 25-23 heart-pounding victory. The frame was capped off by a Ziegler kill that found its way to the floor and ended a 27-second rally.

FIFTH SET

As was the case on Tuesday, the hosts took the opening set before falling behind 2-1. Again, the home side forced a decisive set five. The Aggie kills came in pairs to start the frame, beginning with Jaelynn Kohli notching the first two. Tess Fuqua followed up with consecutive kills before Mia Fox later did the same amid a run that gave her squad a three-point edge as the teams swapped ends. 

Kohli then ended a 4-1 burst with a kill that forced UNM into its final timeout down 12-7. After a Lobo attack error, Maggie Lightheart stepped back to the service line with the crowd on its feet. Her third ace of the night set the Pan American Center ablaze and prompted match point. Just seconds later, the junior delivered the most memorable touch of her career, sending yet another serve off the hands of a Lobo receiver and into the crimson seats. Lightheart’s heroics at the line sealed a classic comeback at 15-7, sending the Aggie faithful home with their first Battle of I-25 victory in six years. 

NUMBERS OF NOTE

-       After missing three matches due to injury, Albuquerque native Makayla Martinez returned to the starting lineup on Wednesday.

-       NM State now holds a 48-33 all-time record against New Mexico.

-       UNM’s win streak in the rivalry was snapped at three, ending their longest stretch since 1998.

-       The Aggies have now notched eight or more blocks in eight of 10 matches this season. In 2024, NM State did so in just 16 of 33 matches. 

-       After 11 kills the day prior, Mia Fox notched 10 on Wednesday, marking her first time with double-digit totals in consecutive matches. 

-       Kate Sinclair’s eight kills tied her career single-match high, which was set yesterday in Albuquerque. 

-       Three Aggies tallied five blocks on the night (Kohli, Lightheart and Sinclair). The Aggies combined for 12 total rejections, setting a new team high. 

-       Jaelynn Kohli’s five total blocks were her most during a single match in her young career.

-       Maggie Lightheart’s total was also a new best, surpassing her previous mark of three.

-       The Las Cruces native notched four more aces, bringing her season total to a staggering 27, ranking inside the nation’s top five. Makayla Martinez led last year’s squad with 30 aces.

FROM THE FLOOR

Head Coach Mike Jordan, on the win: “This team needed that kind of comeback victory to help their confidence. You try different things and people have to step up. That’s on them, and they did a good job. Tess [Fuqua] really stepped up and Kate Sinclair did great things for us. It was a great effort on our part tonight.” 

Sophomore libero Makayla Martinez, on her return from injury: “It was nice being back and playing at home. I think our team did really well working together. We didn’t play as individuals; we were a team tonight. I stepped back in there and knew we needed a fire in our eyes and to not play soft. We had a great energy tonight and I think we did a good job of staying level-headed the whole way.”

Junior outside hitter Maggie Lightheart, on what it took to come back late in the match: “We didn’t want them to come in and beat us on our home court. We had some more fire because of how yesterday went, and we just wanted to be tougher than them. In one of our timeouts, Coach [Jordan] just told us we had to go to the next level. Everyone had a lot of heart tonight and really wanted this win. We had to just keep fighting.”

UP NEXT

NM State’s stretch of seven matches in nine days rolls on this weekend from Oklahoma. The Aggies will take part in the Tulsa Volleyball Invitational, playing two matches on Friday before their non-conference finale on Saturday. The Crimson & White will face off against the hosting Golden Hurricane first, with the contest scheduled for 10:00 AM MT (11:00 local). That bout will be the Aggies’ lone streamed match of the weekend (ESPN+), but all three will be available to follow via nmstatesports.com/stats.