LAS CRUCES, N.M. - While in the midst of their Conference USA bye week, NM State will stay busy with a non-conference match at home. The Aggies will welcome Chicago State back to the Pan American Center, as two former members of the Western Athletic Conference square off. NM State is coming off a pair of road matches against Jacksonville State in which they split wins. The Gamecocks took the first match in five sets, before NM State responded with a sweep victory the next day. The Aggies now stand at 14-9 overall and 7-5 in CUSA action.
Chicago State at NM State: Monday, Oct. 30 at 6:00 PM MT
Up next for the Aggies is a matchup with a familiar opponent; the Chicago State Cougars. The two sides have met 20 times before, and the Aggies have gone perfect. Mike Jordan and his squad have never lost to the Cougars, meeting as recently as Oct. 12, 2022. The series began in 2013, with the Aggies coming out on top in 60 of 67 total sets, earning 15 sweeps in the 20 victories.
Scouting the Cougars
Chicago State sits at 10-5 on the season, and is led by Tony Trifonov. The head coach boasts a career record of 414-258, including his 21 seasons with Florida A&M. Trifonov has a 36-40 record in his four seasons at the helm in Chicago.
The Cougars went 8-15 a year ago in their first year of independence. The CSU athletics department collectively departed from the WAC after the 2021-22 academic year, and remains independent to this day.
The Cougars' season has been highlighted by seven straight-set victories in their 10 wins. Notably, on Sep. 1 of this season, Chicago State pulled off one of those sweeps in a strong victory over the Aggies' most recent opponent; Jacksonville State. The Cougars posted 10 service aces and blocked the Gamecocks six times in the win. Jax State is the only CUSA opponent on Chicago State's schedule to this point. After visiting the Pan American Center, the Cougars will travel 40 minutes down I-10 to take on UTEP in what will be their third and final matchup with a CUSA team this season.
Offensively, the Cougars are led by Yanlis Feliz, who boasts nearly double the attempts (983) of Whitney Barnes, who is second on the team with 495. Feliz's hitting percentage in 2023 is .191, and she leads the team with 345 kills and 4.37 per set. The redshirt junior outside hitter is also second on the team in digs, with 217 and 2.75 per set.
Defensively, Andrea Calderon paces the Cougars with 326 digs (4.02 per set). The redshirt sophomore libero has also posted 97 assists and 17 service aces on the season. At the net, Mesalina Severino has been the Cougars' stalwart, tallying 69.0 blocks, and nearly one per set (0.87). Severino also ranks fourth on the team with 113 kills on the season.
In their most recent matchup, the Cougars fell to the Aggies in three sets. NM State outhit Chicago State .326 to .018, behind 11 kills apiece from Molly Johnson and Mari Sharp. Lia Mosher added three blocks as part of a seven-block team effort. Darian Markham collected 13 digs in a solid performance for just three sets. However, the number was far short of her previous best against the Cougars. Markham's career high for digs in a single match came against the Cougars, when she posted 32 in a win on Oct. 7, 2021; a record that still stands today.
How to Follow
The match will be streamed live on ESPN+, and is available to follow via Stat Broadcast. Those links can be found at nmstatesports.com.
For complete coverage of NM State Volleyball, follow us on Twitter (@NMStateVBall), Instagram (@NMStateVBall) and like us on Facebook (NM State Volleyball). You can also follow along with Aggie Volleyball via NMStateSports.com.
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