Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

PHOENIX, AZ - New Mexico State ran its winning streak to five straight in beating Grand Canyon 3-1 in Western Athletic Conference action Thursday night at GCU’s Antelope Gymnasium.

NM State (14-5, 4-0) remained unbeaten in WAC play, downing GCU (2-14, 0-4) 25-22, 25-22, 17-25, 25-19, but Aggie head coach Mike Jordan didn’t think his team played all that well.

“We were not very good especially in the second and third sets,” said Jordan. “We were very high in errors, which is something that we have not been much this year. Our attack choices left a lot to be desired, but other than that we did some solid things. Fortunately we rebounded and played a very good fourth set.”  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State started slowly, but came on strong at the end as the Aggies beat Missouri-Kansas City 3-1 on Saturday to remain unbeaten in Western Athletic Conference play.

NM State (13-5, 3-0) handed UMKC (9-5, 2-2) the loss 17-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-17 at the Pan American Center in front of 1,233 fans. The Aggies are alone in the lead of the WAC.

“UMKC is a very good team, I think they’re a little banged up right now,” said NM State Head Coach Mike Jordan. “We got off to a slow start, but we changed a little bit and started doing what we’re capable of doing.”

The Aggies got 16 kills from senior All-American candidate Gwen Murphy of Elfrida, Ariz./Valley Union. Murphy also hit .600 for the match and tallied six total blocks.

“She’s a great player, she’s versatile, and the setters did a pretty good job of finding her and getting her when we needed to,” said Jordan.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State had a chance to play the roster tonight, as the Aggies had no trouble in downing Chicago State 3-0 in Western Athletic Conference play on Thursday night.

NM State (12-5, 2-0) needed only an hour and 14 minutes to dispatch the Cougars (1-15, 0-3) 25-15, 25-17, 25-18 in front of 1,169 at the Pan American Center.

“We were physically a better team and as long as we played efficiently we were going to win,” said NM State Head Coach Mike Jordan. “I’m happy we got everybody in the match, some of the kids that came off the bench did a nice job contributing for us.”

But Jordan was quick to point out the Aggies didn’t play well in one area of the game.

“Defensively we’ve got to not miss so many assignments. I was upset with that. Other than that I thought we did fine.”  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State got outstanding play from senior outside hitters Gwen Murphy and Bradley Nash to take the volleyball Battle of I-25 with a 3-1 win over New Mexico Tuesday night at the Pan American Center.

NM State (11-5) downed the Lobos (8-7) 20-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-22 in the closely contested match.

“It’s a good win,” said NM State Head Coach Mike Jordan. “I felt we were the better team, especially at home, but that doesn’t mean anything in a rivalry match. You got to come out and play well. And we did.”

The Aggies were paced once again by Murphy, a senior from Elfrida, Ariz./Valley Union who posted 15 kills, including the one that ended the match, and hit .312. She also led the Aggies with six total blocks in the match.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State got a solid performance on the floor Saturday afternoon as the Aggies opened Western Athletic Conference play with a 3-0 victory over the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

NM State (10-5, 1-0) swept the Vaqueros (7-8, 0-1) 25-18, 25-18, 25-17 at the Pan American Center.

The Aggies were led by the powerful play of senior Nathalie Castellanos of Vado, N.M./Gadsden, who tallied 10 kills with a .429 hitting percentage and two blocks.

“They physically just couldn’t deal with her,” said NM State Head Coach Mike Jordan. “Nathalie has that kind of presence. She’s a great player. She made a lot of plays.”

Senior Gwen Murphy of Elfrida, Ariz./Valley Union, hit an amazing .727 in the match, with eight kills on 11 attempts. Murphy also led the Aggies with three total blocks.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

TUCSON, AZ - The New Mexico State Aggies gave the second-ranked Texas all it wanted in the final day of the Wildcat Classic, but the Longhorns held on against the scrappy Aggies to win 3-1 at the McKale Center.

NM State (9-5) battled in every set to No. 2 Texas (10-1) before falling 22-25, 27-25, 23-25, 19-25.

"It was a tough one," said NM State Head Coach Mike Jordan. "I was happy with the way we played. We had the chance to go up two sets on the No. 2 team in the country."

"The difference was they're ability to score running the slide."

Senior Gwen Murphy of Elfrida, Ariz./Valley Union had another strong match, leading all hitters with 16 kills and two blocks, while senior Nathalie Castellanos of Vado, N.M./Gadsden added 13 kills with four blocks. Sophomore Jordan Abelos of Safford, Ariz. Chipped in 12 kills as well.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

TUCSON, AZ - The New Mexico State Aggies had no problem on Friday evening at the McKale Center against Savannah State, winning 3-0 in their second match in the Wildcat Classic.

NM State (9-4) trounced the winless Tigers (0-14) 25-9, 25-14, 25-13.

"We're glad everyone got a chance to play and for the most part, played well," said NM State Head Coach Mike Jordan. "We needed to get that."

The Aggies got stellar performances from Arizonans Gwen Murphy and Jordan Abelos.

Murphy, a senior from Elfrida, Ariz./Valley Union, collected eight kills, hit .800 for the match and collected five blocks.

Abelos, a sophomore from Safford, Ariz., also recorded eight kills to go with 12 digs and five assists.

The Aggies hit .333 as a team in the three set match, and force SSU to hit minus .105. Five Aggies recorded at least four kills in the match.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

TUCSON, AZ - The New Mexico State Aggies fought another nationally-ranked opponent tooth-and-nail, but the No. 16 Arizona Wildcats held on to take a 3-1 win to open the Wildcat Classic Friday morning at the McHale Center.

NM State (8-4) fell 15-25, 26-24, 19-25, 23-25 to the home-standing Wildcats (9-1).

“Arizona’s got a great team,” said NM State Head Coach Mike Jordan. “But neither team played very well in the match. There were a lot of attack errors (48). It was really hard to watch at times.”

NM State hit .191 for the match, while Arizona hit .201. Both teams collected double-digit blocks, with the Wildcats posting 13.0 team blocks to the Aggies 11.0.

Senior Gwen Murphy of Elfrieda, Ariz./Valley Union once again set the pace for the Aggies. She collected 16 kills with five blocks. Senior Nathalie Castellanos posted 12 kills as the pair both hit .333 to lead the team.  Continue Reading This Post >>

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Senior middle blocker Gwen Murphy notched a career-high 20 kills to help the Aggies outlast Denver 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.

After holding a pair of five point Aggie leads at 12-7 and 19-14, Denver rallied to tie the set at 22. Murphy notched a pair of kills followed by a service ace from Jordan Abalos to give the Aggies the final three points of the set.

Denver dominated set two jumping out to an 11-3 lead as the Aggies hit just .025 in the set with nine attack errors in the set.

The third set saw a much tighter battle with the Aggies holding a three point advantage at 10-7 before things would tighten up. With the set tied at 13, neither team held more than a one point advantage as the match sat tied at 21 apiece. The Aggies would score four of the set's final five points to win 25-22.  Continue Reading This Post >>