2025 Cowgirl Volleyball Season Recap

Historic Las Vegas, New Mexico-The 2025 New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls Volleyball program had one of its best seasons on the court; however, there was more to this Cowgirls team than met the eye.

Meg Grose entered her second season at New Mexico Highlands. She earned her first win as the head coach of the Cowgirls over Sul Ross State on September 13th, 2024, and her first conference win against Adams State on September 20th, 2024. She was previously the head coach at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

At the start of the season, Grose was asked about her feelings entering her second year: 

"I am excited for year two. We have a solid group of returners and a really great group of incoming athletes who have really pushed our returners, and we have had a really exciting preseason. It's exciting to kick the season off in New Mexico and get to play the Eastern and Western opening weekend."

SEPTEMBER:
The Cowgirls opened their non-conference schedule with a trip down to Silver City, New Mexico, to play in the Mustang Volleyball Invitational, where they would face three Lone Star Conference opponents, two of which are in-state rivals in Eastern and Western New Mexico, and one Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) opponent that they would see later in the season; however, it would not count towards their conference record. 
The Cowgirls started the weekend with a doubleheader. Facing the instate rivals, the Greyhounds of Eastern New Mexico, the Cowgirls would earn a 3-1 victory. However, later in the afternoon, the Cowgirls would face that other RMAC foe, Fort Lewis, and the Skyhawks would be victorious, 3-1. The next day, the Cowgirls would face Sul Ross State, the same program that Head Coach Meg Grose captured the first win of her Cowgirls head coaching career against.They completed their first sweep of the season in that win, and they went on to win 3-1 against the host Western New Mexico Mustangs to cap off the weekend being 3-1 headed into the Tiger Classic in Hays, Kansas.

The Tiger Classic was not as good for the Cowgirls, as they dropped their first three matches before capturing their fourth win of the season in five sets against Northwestern Oklahoma State. 
Grose said that the team's most significant lesson was:

 "We knew going into that tournament that it was going to challenge the team, but that was the goal going into weekend two to get us prepared for RMAC play. The team got challenged, and we learned how to work through things and make adjustments if needed."

NEW COWGIRLS ON THE BLOCK:
A couple players who were leading the charge one of which was transfer Naya Dornic, who had started the year strong with 123 assists through the first eight games, averaging 15.4 Assists Per Game

"Getting Naya was very important. We wanted to bring in another experienced setter, and she did very well at that role. Unfortunately, we only got her for one season. We are looking to replace her for next year, but we are very pleased we landed Naya and sad she is done after this year!" 

Meg Grose commented on how important it was to her and her staff that Dornic call Historic Las Vegas home for her final season of college volleyball.

Another spot the Cowgirls had to fill was the middle blocker position, following Jada Lawson's graduation. Meg Grose used the portal once again to bring in UT-Rio Grand Valley transfer Elise Fourt.

THE OCS' (ORIGINAL COWGIRLS):
However, for the Cowgirls, the competition had just begun as they entered RMAC play. The newcomers knew little to nothing about RMAC play. Returners such as Aziza Morris, Meg Pfannerstill, and Senior Abby Carlsen understood the RMAC competition. 

"The biggest difference between last year and this year heading into RMAC play was how quickly we bonded and settled into our new roles." Abby Carlsen stated that the most significant difference between this team and the teams she had been part of at Highlands in the past.

CONFERENCE TIME:
The Cowgirls would open conference play at home, facing a Westminster team that took them the distance to five sets but ultimately fell, then turn around to face a ranked Colorado Mesa team. Then the team went on to lose two more games, one to Colorado School of Mines and one to Adams State, before entering the RMAC Pod Play. In the pod play, they would face Adams State and Fort Lewis. A "Pod Game" is a game played against teams in the RMAC that will not count towards any of the teams' conference records.

Following a five-set loss to Adams State put the Cowgirls on a five-game skid before returning home for their second game of the season against Fort Lewis, who the Cowgirls were set to face for the second time this season in a non-conference but yet conference game.

OCTOBER:
The month of October would prove to be nice for the Cowgirls as they would get the win over Fort Lewis on the home floor and pick up back-to-back conference sweeps of Regis and Chadron State to go on a three-game winning streak before facing Lone Star Conference in-state rival Eastern New Mexico. The Cowgirls would head to Portales before returning to South Dakota for a pair of conference games.

The Cowgirls would fall to Eastern in four sets, moving to 2-1 against the in-state rivals of Eastern and Western New Mexico. They would fall to South Dakota Mines to start the trip in South Dakota before sweeping Black Hills State and returning home for the "Pink Weekend" conference games for the Cowgirls back home.

Pink weekend would feature two five-set games: one in a win over Western Colorado and one match against the Fort Lewis team for the third time this season.

"Playing them 3 times this year and only one counting towards our RMAC was different. They are a good team, so each time we played them, it was a battle and a fun match, so that was good for the team." 

Coach Meg Grose said about the weird situation: they were facing an RMAC team three times, and only one game counted toward their conference record.

They would fall in five sets to the Skyhawks as they would go 1-2 overall against Fort Lewis. They then had another RMAC Power Pod to play in up in Chadron, Nebraska, as October came to a close on Halloween, the Cowgirls. The Cowgirls captured a four-set victory in Chadron. 

In October, the Cowgirls would go 6-3.

NOVEMBER: 
November would prove to be the most brutal stretch of the schedule for the Cowgirls. They would start the month finishing off the RMAC Power Pod in Chadron with a win over Chadron State. Return home to face in-state foe Western New Mexico in a Tuesday "BLACK OUT" match, have senior day against CSU-Pueblo, then face Colorado Christian on the road, and finish their season with the top two teams in the RMAC, the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (UCCS) and eventual national champion MSU-Denver.

The Cowgirls would face in-state foe Western New Mexico. This would be no cake walk of a game, as they would go the complete five sets with the Mustangs, but ultimately prevail, going 3-1 on the season against the New Mexico schools.

"It felt great, and it showed we were progressing the program to become a better D2 in New Mexico." Abby Carlsen on what winning those games meant.

"Beating our in-state schools is also super important to us as a coaching staff when it comes to recruiting, and we make it a point to our team that we want to be the best NM team in the state." Coach Meg Grose on beating the New Mexico Schools.

However, the next four games would be the most challenging stretch yet. Three of the four teams would finish in the top three spots of the RMAC, and Colorado Christian was no pushover either, as they were battling for the playoff spot.  

On Senior Day, the Cowgirls would honor three seniors. Arianna Jamerson, who led the Cowgirls in kills (283), was followed by two senior leaders, the newest leader, the transfer Naya Dornic, and the four-year Cowgirl, Abby Carlsen. The Cowgirls would fall in the home finale and drop their next three to round out the season. However, the Cowgirls would have a winning record at home at the John A. Wilson Complex.

Coach Meg Grose on having a winning record at home:

"Defending our home court and winning at home was a goal of ours, and I am so proud of the team that we were able to do that."

SEASON MILESTONES:

Wins: This season marked the program's most wins since 2012.

Home Record: The Cowgirls had a winning record at home.

Running New Mexico: The Cowgirls went 3-1 vs. both Eastern and Western New Mexico this season. 

1,000: Abby Carlsen recorded a career assist 1,000 in a match against Chadron State.

Aces Up The Sleeve: The Cowgirls lead the RMAC in Service Aces with 1.81 Per Set