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The NM State volleyball team closed out play at the Bradley Invitational on Saturday morning, taking UTRGV to five sets inside Renaissance Coliseum. After dropping the first set, the Aggies responded by claiming the next two frames. However, the Vaqueros rallied to force a fifth set and ultimately escaped with a 3-2 victory (25-22, 14-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-10).
Jaelynn Kohli recorded a team-high 16 kills while hitting an impressive .520 on Saturday morning. This becomes her sixth game with 10 or more kills in a match this season, and third in her last six contests.
Maggie Lightheart matched Kohli with 16 kills, a new season high for the Las Cruces native. Adding one service ace and one block assist, this becomes her sixth straight match with at least one block assist.
After posting 15 kills in the Friday night win over Bradley, Ashley Herman finished with 12 kills while hitting .391 against UTRGV. Posting six digs, this represents a new season best and her most in a single game since Sept. 29, 2023 against LA Tech.
Paige Nelson dished out 26 assists and eight digs, matching her career high in assists, set previously against UC San Diego (Sept. 11). Makayla Martinez anchored the back row with a game-high 21 digs, a new season best for the junior Libero.
The Aggies held advantages in kills (61-49), digs (51-45) and hitting percentage (.255-.246).
“It’s tough to win long matches on such a short rest period, and we had a few players struggling with their stamina late,” said head coach Mike Jordan. “Credit to UTRGV for serving tough, I clearly need to toughen us up a little. We're good for stretches... but consistency is key and we need more than just Maggie, Ash[ley Herman], and Jaelynn scoring.”
The Aggies opened play at the Invitational on Friday with a pair of matches, beginning the day against Lindenwood before battling host Bradley. The Aggies dropped their first contest in four sets before responding with a resilient five-set victory over the hosts to conclude the day with a 1-1 record.
Lindenwood beat NM State 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-20) and the Aggies defeated Bradley 3-2 (18-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 15-12)
First-year Aggie Paige Nelson recorded a career-high four service aces against Lindenwood, adding a fifth on the day against Bradley. The Pleasanton, Calif., native now leads the Aggies with 15 aces on the season.
Jacqueline Corcoran tallied a pair of block assists in the match with Lindenwood, posting five over her last two matches. In the Aggies’ first eight games of the season, she totaled just one block assist.
Maggie Lightheart finished with 24 kills across both matches on Friday, including a team-high 11 in the first match of the day against the Lions, while hitting .440 with 13 kills in the five-set win over Bradley.
Ashley Herman totaled 21 kills on a combined .447 hitting percentage during the doubleheader, including a team-best 15 kills on a blistering .519 clip.
Tess Fuqua posted a double-double in the win over Bradley, tallying 13 kills and 10 digs for her third double-double of 2026 – posting just three such instances in 17 matches a year ago.
Katrina Catalan and Paige Nelson combined for 89 assists in the two matches, with Catalan recording 27 against the Braves. This becomes the third contest this season she has recorded at least 27 helpers.
Libero Makayla Martinez totaled 18 digs against Lindenwood and 13 digs against Bradley. Through 12 matches this season, the Albuquerque, N.M., native has 10 or more digs in all but one contest (Sept. 5, v. Southern Utah [9]).
Freshman Sadie Ross earned the first start of her collegiate career in Friday night's victory over Bradley, following a match against Lindenwood that saw the Sherwood, Ore., native tie her single-match career high in kills (3).
NM State recorded 12 service aces against Lindenwood, marking the Aggies' highest team total in a match this season.
NMSU will return home on Monday, Sept. 21, for a rivalry matchup with New Mexico inside the Pan American Center. This game will serve as the Aggies’ last game before conference play starts. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT, with the match streamed live on ESPN+, and live stats available at nmstatesports.com/stats.
