2025 Cowgirls Volleyball Set To Open In Silver City

Las Vegas, New Mexico - Volleyball season is set to get underway, and this year the Cowgirls will open up the season six hours away in Silver City in the Mustang Invitational.

Year Two:
2025 marks the start of Head Coach Meg Grose's second year at the helm of the Cowgirl program.

When asked about entering her second season, Grose commented,

"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."

Last Season:
In Grose's first year, the program went 5-21 overall and 2-12 in conference.

RMAC Poll:
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference released the 2025 Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll, and the Cowgirls received 37 points, good for a 14th-place finish, in the voting by the conference's 15 coaches.

2025 Roster:
The New Mexico Highlands roster features nine returning players and eight newcomers for the 2025 season. Jaylee Gonzales led the team in kills for the second straight year with 214. Abby Carlsen and Arianna Jamerson are players who have been a part of this team and are two of the three seniors on this roster. The third senior is transfer Naya Dornic. With only four true Freshman players on the roster, the veteran presence is undoubtedly there for the Cowgirls.

New Mexico Highlands played an exhibition match in Albuquerque against the University of New Mexico two weeks ago, and a week ago played an exhibition match with Oklahoma Panhandle State University.

"We have really been focused on our offense and gelling and getting into our flow! We have made really good strides so far this preseason. We are coming off an awesome home match with a ton of support from campus, so we are very excited to get on the road and compete!"
Coach Grose on what the focus has been following the two exhibition matches heading into this weekend.

Roster Breakdown:

By Class: 
Freshman 4
Sophomore 3
Junior 7 
Senior 3 

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

Weekend Schedule:
Friday
Eastern New Mexico 9:00 am
Fort Lewis College 2:00 pm

Saturday
Sull Ross State 9:00 am
Central Oklahoma 2:00 pm
*Times are Mountain Time

Scouting The Opposition:
The weekend kicks off with in-state rival Eastern New Mexico out of the Lone Star Conference, where the Greyhounds were 5-22 overall and 2-14 in conference. They enter year one of Head Coach Karli Bustos' first year at the helm. Bustos, at one time, was the head coach of the West Las Vegas volleyball program.

The Cowgirls then face a familiar foe from the RMAC, the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks from Durango, Colorado. The Skyhawks went 10-16 in 2024 with a 6-8 conference record. The Skyhawks went 2-0 against the Cowgirls last season. This is one of the first three match ups between these two teams this season.

Saturday morning, the Cowgirls will face Sul Ross State out of the Lone Star Conference. The Lobos went 2-20 last season. They also lost to the Cowgirls in four sets last season. The Lobos' two wins came in conference last season.

The weekend will conclude with another in-state foe and the host of the invitational, the Western New Mexico Mustangs. The Mustangs went 7-21 last year with a 3-13 record in the Lone Star Conference. Last year's meeting was a Cowgirl victory in four sets against the Mustangs in Silver City.

Follow The Cowgirls:
All four matches will be live-streamed and are available for purchase via the Flo College Network. Links to the individual broadcasts and LiveStats can be found at the Western New Mexico Athletics Page.

Up Next:
The Cowgirls will travel to Kansas and face Fort Hays State, Bethel College, Augustana University, and Northwestern Oklahoma State University in the Tiger Classic.