JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – On Thursday, NM State Volleyball commenced its final road trip of the 2025 regular season in a matchup at Jacksonville State. The Aggies roared out to a two-set lead, but lost steam down the stretch as the hosts pulled off a reverse sweep. The loss was the visitors' second in a row, dropping the group to 14-12 on the campaign with a 7-6 mark in league play.
 
Set-by-set: NM State loses 2-3 (25-13, 25-12, 23-25, 16-25, 6-15)
 
FIRST SET
NM State came out swinging to start the series, with Maggie Lightheart's three early kills leading the way before a Zoe Ziegler and Jaelynn Kohli block forced a Gamecock timeout at 8-1. Tess Fuqua landed a pair of kills before Maggie Lightheart did the same on consecutive points to cap a 6-2 run that pushed the visitors ahead 18-9. Seven attack errors from the hosts and Lightheart's 50^th ace of the season propelled the Aggies to an opening-set victory by a margin of 25-13.
 
SECOND SET
The momentum stayed in the hands of Mike Jordan's bunch to start frame two, with two Kohli kills securing a 6-1 advantage. Makayla Martinez landed her first ace of the night before Nellie Reese commanded a six-point service run that saw five Gamecock attack errors (15-5). After a small push from the hosts, Fuqua returned to the kill column, racking up four on just five swings in the set. Four more errors from the hosts plagued the final five points, granting NM State a comfortable 25-12 frame win.
 
THIRD SET
The closest stanza of the evening saw six ties and five lead changes. The widest margin of the game came after Kate Sinclair's fourth block forced a Jax State timeout down 11-6. Lightheart poured in three more kills and an ace to keep a five-point advantage at 17-12, bringing Derek Schroeder into his final huddle. Following the stoppage, 19 more points were played, with Tess Fuqua's two kills highlighting the Aggie offense. Thirteen of the 19 rallies went to the hosts, however, courtesy of five aces amid a flurry that saw the Crimson & White cough up the lead, falling 25-23 in a blink.
                                           
FOURTH SET
Three straight miscues early on left Mike Jordan in need of a stoppage down 9-3, but a comeback never materialized. After tallying 38 kills in the first three frames, NM State combined for just seven in the fourth, led by three apiece from Mia Fox and Jaelynn Kohli. Following another timeout down 16-7, the Crimson & White failed to cut it within eight, heading to a decisive fifth set after falling 25-16.
 
FIFTH SET
By the time Jax State had nine of the necessary 15 points in the final game, NM State had just three Gamecock errors to its name, trailing by six. Lightheart and Fuqua then managed to cut the margin to 9-5 with back-to-back kills. However, a single block from Mia Fox and Jacqueline Corcoran would be the only positive production the rest of the way for the road squad, suffering its second reverse sweep of 2025.
 
NUMBERS OF NOTE

• NM State now holds an all-time record of 4-2 against Jax State, falling to 3-2 against the Gamecocks since joining CUSA in 2023. 
• As the visitors pulled ahead two sets to none, the offense totaled a .500 hitting percentage, amassing 25 kills and only two errors.
• Across the final three sets, NM State hit a combined .156 and racked up 12 attack errors. 
• Captain Rilen Garcia earned her fifth start of 2025, tallying 22 assists for her second-highest output of the campaign.
• Makayla Martinez led the way with 10 digs in the loss, pacing her club for the 15^th time this season and the sixth consecutive outing.
• For the 12^th time this season, Maggie Lightheart paced NM State in aces, tallying three for her 10^th showing of the fall with at least that many.
• The junior's perfect serve in the first set gave her 50 on the year, becoming the fifth Aggie to ever total half a hundred in a single season. Lightheart is the first member of the program to surpass 50 since both Jackie Choi (55) and Alice Borden (51) did so in 2006.
• Last Friday, NM State recorded its first hitting percentage of .300 or higher in a four-set win at LA Tech (.336). In the opener at Jax State, the unit hit .300, suffering its first loss with a clip that high since Nov. 2, 2024, at WKU.
• NM State's 14 attack errors in the loss were tied for its fewest in any match this season.
• The Aggies tallied just four aces during the match, falling to 1-10 in contests when finishing with five or less.
• NM State is now 15-11 in the first set this season, with a record to match in frame two. The Aggies fell to 9-17 in all third sets in 2025.

• The loss was the second reverse sweep of the campaign suffered by the Crimson & White.

 
Head Coach Mike Jordan, on the loss: "We were playing well and Jax State made a lot of errors. Once they put pressure on us though, we folded like a cheap tent again. This is on me. I'm not tough enough on them day-to-day and the result is that they just can't handle stress."
 
UP NEXT
NM State and Jax State will clash once more on Friday, doing so at 1:00 PM MT (2:00 local) from Pete Mathews Coliseum. The Aggies look to avoid a three-match losing skid, while the Gamecocks hope to end the weekend at .500 in CUSA play. The series finale will be streamed live on ESPN+ and available to follow via nmstatesports.com/stats.
 
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