LAS CRUCES, N.M. – NM State Volleyball rounded out its coaching staff on Monday, Head Coach Mike Jordan announced. The Aggies will bring Chris Hertel back for the 2025 campaign, reuniting with a five-year former assistant. This time around, Hertel will be tabbed as associate head coach, earning the distinction as the top assistant to Jordan, his longtime friend and colleague.
 
Chris Hertel, on returning to the Aggie bench as associate head coach: "I want to thank Dr. Amber Burdge and Head Coach Mike Jordan for this great opportunity. Las Cruces and this program mean a lot to me, so I'm very grateful to be back with this team."
 
Hertel spent 2019-23 as an assistant for the Crimson & White, helping guide the program to three straight WAC regular-season championships. In 2019, he aided the Aggies to their most recent NCAA Tournament trip after a remarkable 27-4 campaign that included a 16-0 conference mark.
 
Spanning nine seasons with Radford, Hertel was an assistant from 2011-18 and head coach in 2024. During his time with the Highlanders, he amassed 177 wins, a pair of Big South Tournament Championships and four runner-up finishes. In that span, the program made two trips to the NCAA Tournament (2013 and 2017) alongside a two-game stint at the 2018 NIVC.
 
No stranger to the Aggie program, Hertel worked as a volunteer assistant for the Crimson & White, assisting in practice and scouting opponents for six seasons, beginning in 2005. The 2011 graduate of New Mexico State also played an essential role in the Aggies' success from 2006-08, when the team made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Hertel was a part of the NM State coaching staff in 2007, when the program reached its highest-ever ranking in the AVCA poll, climbing to 13th nationally. He also assisted in the team's NCAA run in 2008, when the Aggies reached the second round of the postseason tournament after earning the squad's first-ever at-large bid.
 
Over the course of his career, Hertel has proven to be a winner at every stop. In 255 conference matches between the WAC, Big South and CUSA, his clubs have come out victorious more than 71% of the time, boasting a record of 182-73 with 18 wins in the postseason.
 
Hertel rejoins the staff alongside Chelsea Rose, a fellow former Aggie after her addition as an assistant coach earlier this offseason. The duo aided Jordan for three seasons from 2019-21, guiding the group to a trio of regular-season championships in the WAC with Rose as the director of player development. 
 
Head Coach Mike Jordan, on the addition of Chris Hertel to the 2025 staff: "We're really happy to have Chris on board as associate head coach. He's a long-time Aggie and has been a part of some great teams here. It's always great to have that kind of experience and trust on the court with you, so I look forward to it."
 
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