Volleyball Opens Conference Play At Home This Weekend

Las Vegas, New Mexico - The Cowgirls open RMAC play on Friday night when Westminster visits historic Las Vegas for a 5:00 pm match. Then, on Saturday night, nationally ranked Colorado Mesa is in town for a 7:00 pm match.

NMHU HEAD COACH: Meg Grose is in 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 and her first conference win against Adams State on September 20th, 2024. She was previously the head coach at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

LAST TIME OUT: NMHU went 1-3 in last week's Tiger Classic in Hays, Kansas. The cowgirls dropped matches to Fort Hays State, Bethel, and Augustana before closing out the tournament with a win over Northwestern Oklahoma State.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Westminster brings an overall record of 6-2 to Las Vegas after playing in tournaments at Cal State Monterey Bay and Northwest Nazarene to open the season. Sue Dulaney is in her fourth season as the head coach of the Griffins. Westminster has won five matches in a row over the Cowgirls including a 3-0 decision last November in Salt Lake City. NMHU's last win in the series came on October 19, 2018, in Las Vegas.

On Saturday the Cowgirls host Colorado Mesa at 7:00 pm. The Mavericks are 4-3 overall and ranked 23rd in this week's AVCA Division II Poll after opening the season at the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational and the Cal State LA Tournament. Austin Albers is in his first season at Colorado Mesa after spending the previous six seasons at CSU-Pueblo. Saturday marks the 57th all-time meeting between the Cowgirls and Mavericks with CMU holding a 46-10 lead in the series. The Mavericks play at Adams State on Friday night before heading to Las Vegas.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: As a team, the Cowgirls lead the RMAC with 18.67 digs per set and they are second in the conference with 2.17 aces per set.

Becca Wiersema is third in the RMAC with 4.30 digs per set.

Meg Pfannerstill is fourth in the RMAC with 0.57 aces per set.

Naya Dornic is 10th in the RMAC with 0.48 aces per set. 

Aziza Morris ranks 13th in the RMAC with 2.87 kills per set.

The Cowgirls 20 service aces in last week's win against Northwestern Oklahoma State is the most by an RMAC team this season.

RMAC POLL: As conference play begins in the RMAC, a quick look back at the 2025 Preseason Coaches' Poll…

NMHU was tabbed for a 14th place finish in the conference with 37 points. Westminster was 7th with 107 points and Colorado Mesa was second with 183 points and two first place votes.

2025 COWGIRL ROSTER BREAKDOWN:

By Class:
Freshman 4
Sophomore 3
Junior 7
Senior 3

By Home State:
New Mexico 9
Texas 3
Arizona 1
Colorado 1
Wisconsin 1
American Samoa 1
France 1

FOLLOW THE ACTION: 19 of the remaining 20 on the schedule will be broadcast on the RMAC Network with New Mexico Broadcaster of the Year Scott Galetti returning as the Voice of the NMHU Volleyball for all the matches in historic Las Vegas this season. Visit RMACNetwork.com for information on purchasing a subscription so you can follow the Cowgirls all season long.  LiveStats for all home matches can be found here. 

UP NEXT: The Cowgirls play road matches at Adams State on Tuesday and Colorado School of Mines on Saturday.

COME SEE THE COWGIRLS: Season tickets for the 2025 volleyball season are available at NMHUahletics.com/Tickets.