LAS CRUCES, N.M. – A six-match road trip to start the season has come to an end, marking the return of Aggie Volleyball to the Pan American Center. NM State (4-2) is set to host New Haven (1-4) this weekend for a pair of contests on Friday and Saturday. The Aggies are at the halfway mark of non-conference play as they continue to gear up before their third season in Conference USA.
 
WHAT TO KNOW
Who: New Haven (1-4, 0-0 NEC) at NM State (4-2, 0-0 CUSA)
Where: Pan American Center – Las Cruces, N.M.
When: Friday, Sept. 12 at 6:00 PM / Saturday, Sept. 13 at 6:00 PM 
Live Stream: ESPN+ 
Live Statistics: nmstatesports.com/stats
All-Time Record vs. New Haven: 0-0
Last Meeting: N/A
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Aggies had a two-day stay at the Saluki Bash, hosted by Southern Illinois. NM State went 2-1 on the weekend, taking a five-set victory over the hosts to start the tournament. Later that night, Eastern Illinois took a three-set win against the Crimson & White. On Saturday, NM State cruised past Kansas City in straight sets, improving to 4-2 overall. 
 
NOTHING LIGHTHEARTED ABOUT HER
Last weekend, Maggie Lightheart dominated the competition and established multiple new individual bests. In the opener at hosting SIU, the junior went for a career-high 17 kills and 21 digs. Twenty-four hours later, she tallied 47 attempts, landing her 18^th kill on the match-winning point and finishing with a .319 hitting percentage.
 
The Las Cruces native now leads the team with 69 kills on the season after a 46-kill weekend on a .250 clip. Her 79 digs also rank highest on the team after leading the club in three of her past five outings. Additionally, Lightheart paces all of Conference USA with 14 aces on the young campaign.
 
TESS IS MORE
After a stellar high-school career, Tess Fuqua left the City of Crosses to go play for Arizona. Before seeing action, she tore her ACL, missing all of the 2023 season. In the spring of 2024, she suffered the same injury once again, ruling her out for the entirety of that fall as well. The Centennial High School product decided to rehab back home, transferring to NM State ahead of Fall 2024, where she watched from the Aggie bench.
 
This past offseason, Fuqua returned to the floor for her redshirt sophomore campaign. She has started all six matches to begin 2025, leading her team in kills three times. Her 19 kills at SIU are the most by any Aggie in a single match this season. The Arizona transfer ranks among the squad's top three in kills (62), kills per set (2.70), digs (63), digs per set (2.74), service aces (seven) and aces per set (0.30).
 
A LONG-AWAITED DEBUT
Jacqueline Corcoran came to NM State from Augusta, Kan., during the summer of 2024. The Circle High School product geared up all offseason and played in the Crimson & White scrimmage before redshirting the rest of the season.
 
Finally, after more than 12 months of practice and anticipation, the second-year Aggie made her collegiate debut last weekend. Corcoran entered all three matches at the Saluki Bash, tallying two digs, two receptions and four serves in five sets of action.
 
THE FOX SAID WHAT?!
As a freshman, Mia Fox appeared in 15 sets and landed 17 kills, recording a high of four kills in a single match. Across three contests at the UC San Diego Invitational, the sophomore obliterated her previous records in nearly every category. With six kills against EWU, nine versus Northwestern and 11 at UCSD, the middle blocker set a new personal best in each outing, tallying a total of 26 kills and more than doubling her career mark. Her total led the team on the weekend while she hit a remarkable .548 en route to CUSA's best opening-weekend clip. Defensively, she also added 10 total blocks, setting a new career best twice. 
 
PERSONNEL GROWTH
The 2025 roster stands at an average of 6-foot-0, nearly an entire inch above the final 2024 edition. This fall's squad boasts six Aggies of at least six feet tall that were not active on the 2024 club, including four newcomers. Freshman Jaelynn Kohli and transfer Ezgi Duzgezen each stand at 6-foot-3 in their first year with the program. Kate Sinclair (6-foot-4) and Zoe Ziegler (6-foot-6) would each have been the tallest on last year's team, with the latter coming in as the tallest on record in program history. Peyton Castillo and Tess Fuqua were also both inactive in 2024 as they recovered from injury. 
 
CAN'T GET RID OF 'EM
Over the offseason, several familiar faces returned to the Aggie staff. Twenty-eighth year head coach Mike Jordan brought back longtime assistant Chris Hertel after a season apart in which Hertel was head coach at Radford. Chelsea Rose, a member of the 2010 Aggie squad and former director of player development, also reclaimed a spot on the bench.
 
ENDLESS OPTIONS
With 20 student-athletes, the Aggies boast the largest roster in Conference USA for the second straight season. Additionally, six setters give the Crimson & White the most in the league once again. No other league program entered the season with more than four. 
 
LOCAL PRODUCTS
Seven Aggies hail from the Land of Enchantment, including four from Las Cruces. Rilen Garcia, Maggie Lightheart, Tess Fuqua, Bella Castro, Jazlyn Vasquez, Mia Mendoza and Makayla Martinez all call the Land of Enchantment home. Jaelynn Kohli also recently graduated from Eastlake High School in El Paso, Texas.
 
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