CARBONDALE, Ill. – Aggie Volleyball was back in action on Friday, taking on Southern Illinois and Eastern Illinois at the Saluki Bash in Carbondale. NM State took down the hosting Salukis in five sets to open the tournament before falling in straight sets to the Panthers. With the split, the Crimson & White stand at 3-2 overall with one match to play before their home opener next weekend. 
 
MATCH ONE – NM State at Southern Illinois
Set-by-set: NM State wins 3-2 (25-23, 18-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-11)
 
FIRST SET
The early start time seemed to get to the Aggies, forcing Mike Jordan into a timeout and a quick five-point deficit. Maggie Lightheart answered the call, ripping off three kills in a four-point span to bring her side within one. A Nellie Reese ace tied up the affair at 11-11 before Lightheart notched a solo block, kill and an ace in a matter of minutes to pull ahead 15-12. The junior later followed up with yet another kill and solo denial on consecutive points, taking a 23-22 lead. A Saluki kill brought about the 10^th and final tie of the frame, before a Zoe Ziegler kill sent Lightheart back to the service line for set point. The Las Cruces native delivered, nailing her second ace of the morning to take set one by a 25-23 score. 
 
SECOND SET
An 8-1 advantage was enough to pull ahead and never look back for SIU. While the other four sets were all tied or within one point after both teams reached the ten-point mark, the two sides drew no closer than four points apart for the remainder of frame two. NM State combined for 15 errors in the set, including eight while attacking. SIU cruised to a 25-18 victory and tied up the match.
 
THIRD SET
Tess Fuqua made her presence felt out of the break, landing five kills. Three of those came in the first 12 points, giving the visitors an 8-4 advantage. The Salukis roared back to take their first lead of the set at 14-13, but Fuqua responded once more. The redshirt sophomore broke a 16-16 stalemate with a kill and an ace on back-to-back points to force the hosts into a timeout. Four ties ensued in the final 12 points, but Zoe Ziegler kept the SIU comeback at bay with two more kills. Eventually, Kate Sinclair's solo block sealed the set at 25-23 and put NM State within one set of victory. 
 
FOURTH SET
A slow start was erased by back-to-back Tess Fuqua kills and a Makayla Martinez ace that left the Aggies trailing 5-4. Over the ensuing 23 points, there were six ties and neither team built a margin larger than two. Fuqua and Lightheart, who combined for eight of the Aggies' 12 fourth-set kills, snapped the skid. Each smashed home a kill to gain an 18-15 advantage and send SIU into its timeout huddle. After building a 21-19 lead, the Salukis ripped off a 6-0 run to steal the set and force a decisive fifth game. 
 
FIFTH SET
For the fourth straight match to open its season, SIU headed to a fifth frame. Meanwhile, the match marked the first instance of anything other than a four-set affair for NM State. Three different Aggies notched an early kill as they pulled out in front with a commanding 7-1 lead. Following a service error from NM State, SIU responded with a stretch of four straight kills that prompted Mike Jordan's final stoppage and brought the match to a nail-biting 11-10 margin. Lightheart's 17^th kill set up match point, which was capitalized on two points later courtesy of a long Saluki serve. 
 
MATCH TWO – NM State vs. Eastern Illinois
Set-by-set: NM State loses 0-3 (23-25, 23-25, 20-25)
 
FIRST SET
Despite it being their second match of the day, the Aggies got out to a much hotter start against Eastern Illinois. Makayla Martinez racked up five digs and an ace in just the first 10 points while her offense charged out to an 8-2 lead. Eight Aggie attacking errors later, they found themselves staring down a two-point deficit in their second timeout. Fuqua's five early kills helped NM State draw back within one point on four separate occasions, but the comeback fell short at 25-23.
 
SECOND SET
The second frame told a similar story to its predecessor, with four ties and three lead changes. Jacqueline Corcoran, however, spiced up the affair with her collegiate debut. The redshirt freshman spent the 2024 campaign on the sidelines before stepping into a regular-season contest for the first time, recording two serves. Ultimately, seven attacking errors were too many to overcome, including four after the Aggies eclipsed the 20-point mark. EIU took a 2-0 set lead with its second straight 25-23 victory. 
 
THIRD SET
Mia Fox commanded a 5-0 run from the service line, capping it off with an ace that put her squad ahead by two early on. The sides traded errors until reaching the 12-12 mark, which would prove to be the penultimate tie of the evening. Fuqua and Lightheart teamed up once again to lead the offensive push, amassing seven of 11 team kills in the frame. A 20-20 deadlock showed signs of life for NM State, but five consecutive errors to conclude the match put an abrupt end to any hopes of a comeback.
 
NUMBERS OF NOTE

• The Aggies' .242 hitting percentage against SIU was their highest of the season, doing so with 62 kills.
• The previous Aggie single-match high in kills was 49 in the opener against Eastern Washington.
• Entering the day, Maggie Lightheart had career highs of 13 kills, 35 attempts and 12 digs. All of those records were broken against SIU, as she notched 17 kills on 41 attempts and a team-best 21 digs. 
• Tess Fuqua had the Aggies' best kill count in both matches, recording 19 and 14. The outside hitter's 33 kills came alongside 16 digs, a block and an ace.
• For the first time this season, Rilen Garcia earned a start, doing so against EIU and already matching her total from a year ago.
• After three straight four-set matches last weekend, NM State had its first five-set and three-set affair of 2025 against SIU and EIU, respectively.
• Jacqueline Corcoran made her NM State and collegiate debut on Friday, entering in the second set against EIU. The redshirt freshman did not see action in 2024. 
• Makayla Martinez set a new career high with 18 digs in the three-set loss to the Panthers, pacing both teams. The sophomore had 11 digs in the opening frame alone. 

• The Aggies' .128 hitting percentage versus the Panthers was their lowest of the campaign.

 
FROM THE FLOOR
Head Coach Mike Jordan, on the split: "The early match wasn't easy for us. We were fortunate to win considering the way we got killed at the serve and pass parts of the game. We made some timely digs when we needed them and stayed low-error attacking it late."
 
"Eastern Illinois played a good, clean game offensively with very few errors. We had trouble getting out of our own way. In terms of level of play, the bar has to be set higher. We can't take turns making errors on our side."
 
UP NEXT
Tomorrow, NM State will wrap up its stay at the Saluki Bash. The Aggies are set to renew an old rivalry as they take on former WAC foe Kansas City (0-5) at 10:00 AM MT. The contest will not be streamed, but fans can follow live via Statbroadcast at nmstatestats.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.