at BLACK HILLS STATE (Sept. 25): LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
at CHADRON STATE (Sept. 26): LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
at UC-COLORADO SPRINGS (Sept. 27): LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
SPEARFISH, S.D., CHADRON, Neb. And COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – It will be another busy weekend for the New Mexico Highlands volleyball team (4-8, 0-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) as it travels to three states in three days looking to even its conference record.
Highlands begins Thursday Night (Sept. 25) against Black Hills State (3-8, 1-2 RMAC) at 7 p.m. in South Dakota. The Cowgirls will battle Chadron State (2-9, 1-2 RMAC) Friday (Sept. 26) at 6 p.m. before finishing out the weekend Saturday (Sept. 27) at UC-Colorado Springs (4-7, 1-2 RMAC) at 5 p.m.
Highlands began conference action with a trio of home losses against three of the top teams in the conference as Colorado School of Mines is #12 in the nation while Metro State is receiving votes.
Senior
Alicia Moreno continues to lead the team and is 238th in the nation with 2.85 kills per set while classmate
Jessica Piper leads the Cowgirls with 3.82 digs per set.
Highlands, as a team, is 131st in the nation and fourth in the conference with 54 aces on the year.
Scouting Black Hills State The Cowgirls will begin play Thursday night in South Dakota at Black Hills State. While the Yellow Jackets may be only 3-8 on the year, they are a force at the net on defense. They are 17th in the nation with 2.41 blocks per set. But even if the Cowgirls are able to get it past the block, the back row for Black Hills State is formidable. The Yellow Jackets are 77th in the nation with 16.41 digs per set.
Holly Hamlin leads the RMAC and is 12th in the nation with 1.34 blocks per set. Lacy Stevens is sixth in the conference with 4.65 digs per set with teammate Sydney Enderhoff contributing 3.6 digs per set.
Scouting Chadron State Friday will be a reunion when Highlands takes on Chadron State at 6 p.m. The Eagles head coach is Chris Wells, former assistant for Cowgirls volleyball. The Eagles are in rebuilding mode, ranking in the bottom third of every statistic in the country as a team.
Lelalelei Nomura ranks as the best hitter for the Eagles with 2.92 kills per set. While that is higher than Highlands best hitter, the Cowgirls are averaging 0.7 kills per set more than Chadron State (11.03-10.33).
Scouting UC-Colorado Springs Finally, Highlands wraps up the busy weekend ONLY four hours from home when it takes on UC-Colorado Springs on Saturday night at 5 p.m.
The Mountain Lions may be only 4-7, but they are one of the top hitting teams in the nation. They are 65th in the nation with 12.88 kills per set. However, if the Highlands back row can keep points alive, it may be advantage Highlands as UC-Colorado Springs is middle of the pack in the nation with only a .172 hitting percentage.
Kim Catlett leads the hitters for the Mountain Lions as she is third in the RMAC and 29th in the nation with 3.95 kills per set. Setter Celeste Henderson is among the nations leaders in assists, thanks in part to Catlett, with 10.24 assists per set.
Next Up It will be an odd split weekend for the Highlands volleyball team as it travels to Silver City, N.M., to take on Western New Mexico on Tuesday night (Sept. 30) before returning home to battle Adams State Friday (Oct. 3) at 4 p.m.
