Chris Hertel begins his fourth year as an assistant at NM State following an eight-year stint at Radford.
Hertel assisted in leading the Aggies to their third-straight WAC Regular Season Championship as they were crowned winners of the West Division with a conference record of 10-4 in the Fall of 2021. With the help of Hertel, Katie Birtcil, Lia Mosher and Shaney Lipscomb each earned First Team All-WAC honors while setter Carly Aigner-Swesey was named Second Team All-WAC. Additionally, Mosher, Birtcil and Darian Markham each earned WAC Player of the Week recognition during the season.
During the Spring 2021 season, Hertel helped guide the Aggies to a 15-1 regular season and a second-straight WAC Regular season title. Under Hertel's tutelage, Lia Mosher and Savannah Davison were named First Team All-WAC with Shaney Lipscomb and Victoria Barrett earning Second Team honors. Barrett was also named WAC Freshman of the Year while Mosher earned an AVCA All-Midwest Region award.
The 2019 season was another banner for the Aggies as they went 27-4 with a perfect 16-0 conference record including WAC regular season and tournament titles. With Hertel's help, Megan HArt was named WAC Player of the Year, AVCA All-Region and an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American.
While at Radford, Hertel served as the Highlander's assistant coach from 2011-2018. His team posted a 167-82 record during that time and went 83-35 during Big South conference play. The Highlanders reached six championship matches during the Big South tournament under his guidance and came away with a pair of titles and NCAA tournament appearances. In 2018 alone, Hertel's assistance helped Radford reach the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) for the first time in program history, where the squad came away with an opening-round victory.
Hertel guided over 30 athletes to all-conference status in the Big South while at Radford. He helped Maddie Palmer reach new heights as the two-time Big South Player of the Year, just the third player to win the conference's top award during back-to-back season. Palmer was also named an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Southeast Region Honorable Mention.
Not only have Hertel's teams shown success on the court, his squads were named AVCA Team Academic Award winners from 2012-2017. In 2016, his team's grade-point average ranked in the top-25 nationally across all division one volleyball programs.
No stranger to the Aggie program, Hertel worked as a volunteer assistant at NM State and assisted in practice and scouting opponents for six seasons, beginning in 2005. A 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 13th nationally, the highest ranking ever for New Mexico State in the AVCA poll. He also assisted in the team's NCAA run in 2008, when the Aggies reached the second round of the postseason tournament.
