OCTOBER 17 vs. WESTERN STATE: LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
OCTOBER 18 vs. CSU-PUEBLO: LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
LAS VEGAS, N.M. – With the first half of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play in the books, the New New Mexico Highlands volleyball team (8-12, 3-7 conference) faces a critical weekend in its effort to make the RMAC Tournament, sitting 1.5 games out of eighth place. The Cowgirls kick of play Friday night (Oct. 17) at 7 p.m. when it hosts winless Western State (0-14, 0-10 RMAC).
As luck would have it, the team who sits in a tie for eighth is CSU-Pueblo (11-9, 5-6 RMAC), who Highlands faces Saturday night (Oct. 18) at 7 p.m.
Friday and Saturday at all sporting events, all Highland fans are encouraged to wear pink to help raise awareness about breast cancer. The volleyball team will "Dig Pink" by wearing pink socks. Members of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council will be going through the stands asking for donations to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
Also available is a limited supply of "Kick Cancer" t-shirts. All proceeds will be donated to the American Cancer Society.
The Cowgirls look to build upon the past week, where they went 2-1 with road wins over Eastern New Mexico and Fort Lewis. Freshman
Katie Trammel had a great week with 2.09 kills per set and a .419 hitting percentage. She began the week right, with 14 kills and only one error on 18 swings (.722 hitting percentage) against the Zias.
Senior
Jessica Piper also turned in a great week from the back row. She averaged 4.25 digs per set and had no reception errors.
To read more about the Eastern New Mexico match, click
here. To read more about the thrilling five set win over Fort Lewis, click
here. To read about the loss to #17 Colorado Mesa, click
here. Senior
Alicia Moreno continues to lead to Cowgirls with 2.75 kills per set while Piper is ninth in the RMAC (173rd in the nation) with 3.99 digs per set.
Scouting Western State The Mountaineers enter Friday's match looking for their first win of 2014, having only won nine of 51 sets played this year. Western State ranks near the bottom of the NCAA in nearly every statistic, but boasts one of the best liberos in the RMAC. Morgan Stansberry is fifth in the conference and 76th in the nation with 4.73 digs per set.
Taylor Castillo leads the team with 2.33 kills per set as the Mountaineers are hitting .100 as a team for the season.
Scouting CSU-Pueblo The Cowgirls will face a huge test on Saturday night when the Thunderwolves roll into town on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
The Highlands offense might have problems finding the court on its kills as CSU-Pueblo is ninth in the nation with 2.44 blocks per set.
Individually, Mariangel Perez is 49th in the nation with 3.75 kills per set. The Thunderwolves also boast a pair of players with more than a block per set as Alex Winkler is 33rd in the nation with 1.12 blocks per set. Oni Latti is 41st in the nation with 1.09 blocks per set.
Next Up The Cowgirls take to the road for a pair of matches this week. On Wednesday (Oct. 22), New Mexico Highlands battles rival Western New Mexico in Silver City at 5 p.m. Highlands concludes the weekend Saturday (Oct. 25) at Adams State at 7 p.m.High
