Las Vegas, New Mexico - The preseason tournaments are in the rear view mirror and the Cowgirls are set to open RMAC play with a pair of matches this weekend. On Friday evening Adams State travels to Las Vegas for the 2024 conference opener for both teams. Then on Saturday evening the Cowgirls are in Colorado to play CSU-Pueblo at 6:00 pm.
Head Coach:
Meg Grose is in her first season leading the New Mexico Highlands volleyball team. She was named the new head coach in December of last year after spending the 2023 season as the Head Coach at Lawrence University. She spent time as the assistant coach at New Mexico Highlands from 2020 to 2023.Â
NMHU Roster: The 2024 roster features 19 players with 12 returning from last year's team. The Cowgirls added seven new players to the roster this season, five freshmen and two transfers.
Roster Breakdown:
By Class      By Home State
Freshman 5 Â Â Â New Mexico 12
Sophomore 9Â Â Â Texas 2
Junior 3 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Wisconsin 2
Senior 2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Arizona 1
                          California 1
                          Colorado 1
Last Week: The Cowgirls went 1-2 at the Iceman Invitational at UT-Permian Basin last weekend. NMHU beat Sul Ross State to start the weekend on Friday afternoon. On Saturday they dropped matches to Southeastern Oklahoma State and the host Falcons.
After the tournament last week, Grose said, "We are excited to finally play at home after being on the road for our first seven matches of the season. We've seen bits and pieces of the system we are working on and once it clicks the future is going to be bright for this young group."
Cowgirl Honors: Freshman
Meg Pfannerstill was named to the 2024 Iceman Invitational All-Tournament Team at UT-Permian Basin as she recorded 10 kills, 26 digs and six blocks in the tournament.
Scouting The Opposition: Adams State comes into Friday's match with a record of 2-7 overall. The Grizzlies played at the Midwestern State Invitational and Maverick Fall Classic tournaments to open the season. Their wins came against Western New Mexico and Texas A&M Kingsville. Adams State, 8-18 overall and 4-10 in the RMAC last year, was tabbed to finish 12th in the RMAC Coaches Poll. The Grizzlies are led by first year head coach Garcia Ramser. Friday's meeting is the first of two between the Cowgirls and Grizzlies as they will play a non-conference match in Alamosa on October 1st as part of the RMAC Regional Pod play.
On Saturday evening the Cowgirls make the trip up I-25 to face CSU-Pueblo in a 6:00 pm contest. The ThunderWolves are 5-3 to start the 2024 campaign. They played in their own Steel City Showcase and the Route 92 Classic in the San Francisco Bay area in their preseason tournaments. CSU-Pueblo was 13-14 overall and 10-4 in conference play in 2023. The RMAC Coaches placed the ThunderWolves 5th in their Preseason Poll. Austin Elbers is in his sixth season leading the CSU-Pueblo program.
Last Season: The Cowgirls were 3-25 overall and 1-13 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference last year.
RMAC Poll: The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference released the 2024 Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll last month and New Mexico Highlands received 23 points in the voting by the conference's 15 coaches.
Follow The Cowgirls: Both matches will have LiveStats and the RMAC Network broadcast available. Details can be found on the
NMHU Volleyball home page.
RMAC NETWORK: With the exception of the October 8th match at Western New Mexcio, all of the remaining Cowgirls matches will be broadcast on the RMAC Network. Once again this season, NMHU home matches will be handled by New Mexico Broadcaster of the Year Scott Galetti.
Up Next: The Cowgirls have road matches at UCCS and Regis next weekend.
Season Tickets: Season tickets for the Cowgirls 2024 season are available for purchase at
NMHUAthletics.com/Tickets.
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