MIAMI – While it comes a couple rounds earlier than years prior, NM State Volleyball eyes yet another postseason showdown with Western Kentucky this weekend. The Aggies open their stay at the CUSA Championship by taking on the second-seeded Hilltoppers in the quarterfinals on Friday. The bout will be a rematch of each of the past two league title bouts, with WKU coming away victorious in 2023 and 2024. Head Coach Mike Jordan's club looks to make a third straight trip to the league championship match and ultimately clinch its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019. 
 
WHAT TO KNOW
Who: [7] NM State (14-15, 7-9 CUSA) versus [2] (RV) Western Kentucky (24-5, 15-1 CUSA)
What: CUSA Championship Quarterfinals 
Where: Ocean Bank Convocation Center – Miami, Fla.
When: Friday, Nov. 13 at 3:00 PM MT (5:00 PM local)
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Statistics: StatBroadcast
All-Time Record vs. WKU: 6-9
Last Meeting: [3] NM State 1 vs. [1] (RV) WKU 3 – Nov. 24, 2024 (CUSA Championship Final – El Paso, Texas)
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Aggies hosted Kennesaw State last week for the regular-season finale. The Owls swept the series, taking both matches in four sets. Maggie Lightheart led the way with 28 total kills, largely from Nellie Reese's back-to-back 22-assist showings. After Friday's contest, NM State recognized seven soon-to-be graduates (Claudia Rossi, Peyton Castillo, Nellie Reese, Kaylee Peterson, Ashley Herman, Bianca Perez and Rilen Garcia). 
 
WHAT'S AT STAKE
A pair of wins would guarantee Mike Jordan his 25^th consecutive season with at least a .500 record. The legendary 28^th-year head coach sits with a winning percentage of .691, needing just two more victories to become the first Aggie to surpass 600 in a career. A 3-0 stay in Miami would result in an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years and snap Jordan's longest drought of his career.
 
NOTHING LIGHTHEARTED ABOUT HER
Since 2023, Maggie Lightheart has blossomed from a walk-on to an All-CUSA caliber star. Over the past four series, the junior has notched 117 kills and 55 digs, averaging 3.66 kills per set on a .285 hitting percentage. Earlier this week, the junior was named to the All-CUSA Second Team after a breakout campaign as a six-rotation staple for Head Coach Mike Jordan.
 
In 2025, the Las Cruces native started 28 of 29 regular-season matches, only missing the opener at Missouri State. The junior has the most Aggie kills (339) this season and has led the group in 14 matches thus far. Her 258 digs also place her second on the team leaderboard, only behind libero Makayla Martinez. In total, her 4.19 points per set rank fourth-highest across all of league play.
 
Additionally, Lightheart paces CUSA with 57 aces on the campaign, placing her sixth across all of NCAA Division I. The third-year Aggie has landed three or more aces in 11 contests this year, staking her claim as one of the nation's elite at the service line. Last Friday, she passed Jackie Choi in 2006 for second-most aces in a single season by an Aggie, leaving her 14 short of the all-time program record (71 - Kim Bevington, 1982).
 
AGENT ZERO
Coming out of Las Cruces, Tess Fuqua committed to Arizona in the fall of 2023. The outside hitter suffered a pair of ACL injuries that led her back home for a 2024 season on the Aggie bench. This fall, Fuqua finally got her long-awaited collegiate debut, and she has not disappointed. 
 
The two-time New Mexico Gatorade Player of the Year has averaged 2.90 kills per set this season, in addition to 201 total digs as a regular starter for NM State. Over Nov. 6-7, she racked up 27 kills on a remarkable .453 hitting percentage, adding 11 digs and a block at Jax State. She sits among the team's top three in kills (270), kills per set (2.90) digs (201), digs per set (2.16), aces (29) and aces per set (0.31).
 
WOAH, NELLIE
In the offseason, only one starter returned from the 2024 squad. Nellie Reese, who appeared in every set last year, was the starting setter in all but one match a season ago as she led her team with 678 total assists (5.60 per set). 
 
The senior is now amid her second campaign as an Aggie since transferring in from Montana State. This regular season, Reese started 18 of 29 matches, leading the way with 534 assists on an average of 5.09 per set. The Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, native also holds 23 aces and 149 digs this fall, ranking fourth on the team in both categories.
 
FLYING JAE
Over the 2024-25 offseason, Jaelynn Kohli graduated from nearby Eastlake High School a semester early, getting to work with NM State in the spring. The 6-foot-3 outside hitter from El Paso, Texas, has shown few signs of hesitation in her first year of collegiate action. The freshman averaged 2.70 kills per set on a .211 clip this season, entering double-digit kill territory in 14 of 23 outings. Kohli led all Aggies with 45 blocks in CUSA regular-season play, landing 11 solo rejections to boost an average of 0.73 blocks per set in league bouts. 
 
TINY BUT MIGHTY
Makayla Martinez emerged as a consistent starting libero in her sophomore season with Mike Jordan's group. The second-year Aggie has nearly doubled her dig total from a year ago, leading the team with 333 in 2025. Her 3.40 average per set is good for the 10^th-best mark in CUSA.
 
The Albuquerque native has led the team in digs 18 times this year, including each of the past nine matches. She has surpassed 20 digs twice in 2025, with her most coming against Little Rock (27). The sophomore has also racked up 104 assists and 27 service aces this year, ranking fourth and third on the team, respectively. 
 
FEELIN' FOXY
Among the Aggies' 13 returners, few took a leap quite as large as Mia Fox. After notching just 17 kills and six blocks as a freshman, the middle blocker started the first 23 matches of the year, accepting a much heavier load in 2025 as the lone program veteran at her position.
 
This year, Fox amassed 197 kills and 78 blocks while being the only Aggie to appear in all 112 sets of regular-season action. The sophomore has led the squad in denials on 10 occasions, including five times in CUSA contests. In 16 league bouts, she totaled 108 kills and 38 blocks from the front row. 
 
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
WKU is under the direction of Travis Hudson, who boasts a record of 804-239 in his 31 years with the program. The Hilltoppers finished the regular season with a 15-1 record, sullying a six-year unbeaten streak in CUSA play that stretched to exactly 100 matches.
 
The squad is led on the floor by Kaira Knox, a first-year right-side hitter. Averaging 3.40 kills per set on a .305 hitting percentage, she was named CUSA Freshman of the Year earlier this week. Fifth-year setter Callie Bauer was not only named Setter of the Year in the same announcement, but also earned Alyssa Cavanaugh CUSA Player of the Year honors. The redshirt senior led the league with 10.24 assists per set in Hudson's 5-1 system, adding 80 kills, 22 aces and 196 digs.
 
EXTRA MOTIVATION
NM State just wrapped up its third regular season as a member Conference USA. Only four Aggies on the roster predate the move to the league on July 1, 2023. Since then, WKU has ended both campaigns for the Crimson & White in a pair of CUSA Championship finals (2023 and 2024). Last year, Mike Jordan's bunch took the opening frame in El Paso, Texas, before the Hilltoppers clawed back to win in four sets. With a win on Friday, NM State would keep its hopes of a conference title alive and snap a streak of six straight seasons with WKU appearing in the conference title match.
 
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