NM State begins season with tournament at Arizona.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The NM State Volleyball team has officially finalized its schedule for the 2022 season, Head Coach Mike Jordan announced Tuesday. The Aggies will partake in a trio of tournaments while also hosting UC Santa Barbara ahead of conference play.
Following a Crimson and White scrimmage on Tuesday, Aug. 16, the Aggies will face their first opponent on Saturday, Aug. 20, when they compete in an exhibition match versus in-state foe Western New Mexico that is set to start at 1 p.m. (MT).
The Aggies' regular season then gets underway when they travel to Tucson, Ariz., to compete in the Cactus Classic hosted by Arizona. Their first counterpart while in the Grand Canyon State will be LIU Brooklyn. NM State will face off with the Sharks at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 26, before duking it out with Arizona at 7:30 p.m. later that evening. This will mark the sixth time in the last seven years that the Aggies will see the Wildcats on their schedule.
"We've kind of developed a tradition of playing Arizona in the non-conference segment and playing in their tournament," Jordan said. "It's always well run and it's so close to us, so it just makes sense to do. Obviously, the marquee matchup is with U of A and we're looking forward to that contest."
NM State will conclude the season-opening tournament in Tucson with a contest against Alabama State on Saturday, Aug. 27.
Coach Jordan and the Aggies will then make their way to the eastern part of the country to take part in the Wildcat Classic in Davidson, N.C. The Aggies will take on Lindenwood and North Carolina A&T on Friday, Sept. 2, before meeting with host Davidson at noon on the following day.
"We were really looking for a tournament that we would hopefully be able to experiment with the lineup and provide a lot of people with the opportunity to play so I'm hopeful we can do that while at Davidson," Jordan explained.
NM State's next non-conference test comes at home when they welcome UC Santa Barbara on Friday, Sept. 9 and Saturday, Sept. 10, with matches beginning at 5 p.m. and 11 a.m., respectively.
"The Santa Barbara matchup kind of came as a result of us wanting to host a tournament, but a lot of teams didn't want to take us and Santa Barbara on in the same weekend so we're thankful that Santa Barbara is coming," Jordan stated. "This will also be the first of two years that we will see them as we'll do a home and away with them and visit their place next year. Traditionally, they have a strong program, so we're excited about that."
Perhaps the Aggies' biggest test will come in their third and final tournament of the non-conference season as they travel to Los Angeles to compete in the Trojan Challenge. The Aggies' stay in California begins with a match against host USC at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15. The Crimson and White then square off with San Jose State at 5:30 p.m. on Friday before seeing UW-Milwaukee on Saturday at 1 p.m.
"The USC tournament should be very strong," Jordan said. "San Jose State is improving under a new coach and Wisconsin-Milwaukee has a very good program out of the Midwest. The Trojans obviously have a long history of success and they're loaded with athletes and got maybe the best transfer in the country in Fields from Texas.
"Those three matchups should give us the opportunity to compete at a high level in three straight matches as we prepare for conference play."
The beginning of WAC competition is set to follow the Aggies' trio of matches in Los Angeles. NM State's league schedule begins with an array of matches in the Pan American Center as it will be at home for its first four matches – marking the first time the Aggies will open conference play with more than three home matches since joining the WAC in 2005.
"I'm disappointed in the WAC schedule," Jordan noted. "Everyone only gets to play each other once and, somehow, we end up having to go on the road to face the best teams in the conference, so it's not going to be easy. Also, the extra two matches they added only further imbalances the schedule and balance is the most important thing. There wasn't balance last year and the two best teams played each other in the first round of the WAC Tournament.
"At the end of the day, we're going to have a very good team and we're looking forward to seeing everyone in the Pan American Center this fall."
The first week of league play will come with a home match against UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday, Sept. 22, before taking on California Baptist on Saturday, Sept. 24. The homestand will then continue as NM State lines up against a pair of Utah-based schools. WAC newcomer Southern Utah makes the voyage to Las Cruces on Thursday, Sept. 29, while Utah Tech comes to town two days later.
The Aggies' first WAC road stint comes in the form of a trip to Texas where they will clash with Sam Houston State at noon on Saturday, Oct. 8. NM State will then turnaround and wrap up their two-match season series with UT Rio Grande Valley when they take on the Vaqueros on Monday, Oct. 10.
Then, a midseason non-conference matchup with former WAC member Chicago State will serve as a checkpoint for the Aggies as they host the Cougars on Thursday, Oct. 13.
"We were looking for home matches, so we were grateful to schedule Chicago State and get to see them again," Jordan said. "Tony Trifonov has done a really good job there and they've improved a lot under him."
The Aggies return to conference play as they head west for meetings with California Baptist and Grand Canyon on Oct. 20 and Oct. 22, respectively.
NM State will then get its first look at WAC newcomer UT Arlington as they visit the City of Crosses on Oct. 27. The Aggies will then immediately hit the road to make it to Nacogdoches, Texas, in time for a 10 a.m. match versus Stephen F. Austin on Oct. 29.
The Aggies' bags will stay packed as they travel to Utah Valley and Seattle U on Nov. 3 and Nov. 5, respectively, before returning home for the conclusion of WAC play.
NM State will get to see Tarleton on Nov. 10 at home while the final chance for Aggie fans to catch NM State volleyball at home will come on Nov. 12 when Abilene Christian makes its way to the Pan Am for a Senior Day contest that is set to begin at 1 p.m.
The second week of November marks the point when the Crimson and White can turn its full attention to chasing a sixth WAC Tournament title. The 2022 rendition of the WAC Tournament will take place from Nov. 17-19 in Edinburg, Texas, on the campus of UT Rio Grande Valley.
Regardless of how the Aggies perform in Edinburg, they are still guaranteed one more meaningful match as they are set to travel to I-10 rival UTEP on Nov. 23.
The Aggies are coming off a steady campaign in Fall of 2022 when they finished the season with an overall record of 19-10 and posted a 10-4 win-loss record in conference play to capture their third-straight WAC regular season championship.
NM State returns a trio of starters from last year's team including First Team All-WAC honorees Lia Mosher and Katie Birtcil. In total, the Aggies roster will feature 10 returners while 14 newcomers will make up the remainder of the depth chart.
COMPLETE 2022 SCHEDULE
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Tuesday, Aug. 16 - Crimson/White Scrimmage - 6 p.m. (Pan American Center)
Saturday, Aug. 20 - vs. Western New Mexico (Exhibition) - 1 p.m. (Pan American Center)
Cactus Classic - Tucson, Ariz.
Friday, Aug. 26 - vs. LIU Brooklyn - 1:30 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 26 - at Arizona - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 27 - vs. Alabama State - Noon
Davidson Tournament - Davidson, N.C.
Friday, Sept. 2 - vs. North Carolina A&T - 3 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 3 - at Davidson - 2 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 9 - vs. UC Santa Barbara - 5 p.m. (Pan American Center)
Saturday, Sept. 10 - vs. UC Santa Barbara - 11 a.m. (Pan American Center)
USC Tournament - Los Angeles, Calif.
Thursday, Sept. 15 - at USC - 8 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 16 - vs. San Jose State - 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 17 - vs. UW-Milwaukee - Noon
*Thursday, Sept. 22 - vs. UTRGV - 6 p.m. (Pan American Center)
*Saturday, Sept. 24 - vs. California Baptist - 1 p.m. (Pan American Center)
*Saturday, Sept. 29 - vs. Southern Utah - 6 p.m. (Pan American Center)
*Saturday, Oct. 1 - vs. Utah Tech - 1 p.m. (Pan American Center)
*Saturday, Oct. 8 - at Sam Houston - Noon (Huntsville, Texas)
*Monday, Oct. 10 - at UTRGV - 5:30 p.m. (Edinburg, Texas)
Thursday, Oct. 13 - vs. Chicago State - 6 p.m. (Pan American Center)
*Thursday, Oct. 20 - at California Baptist - 8 p.m. (Riverside, Calif.)
*Saturday, Oct. 22 - at Grand Canyon - 4 p.m. (Phoenix, Ariz.)
*Thursday, Oct. 27 - vs. UT Arlington - 6 p.m. (Pan American Center)
*Saturday, Oct. 29 - at Stephen F. Austin - 10 a.m. (Nacogdoches, Texas)
*Thursday, Nov. 3 - at Utah Valley - 6 p.m. (Orem, Utah)
*Saturday, Nov. 5 - at Seattle U - 2 p.m. (Seattle, Wash.)
*Thursday, Nov. 10 - vs. Tarleton - 6 p.m. (Pan American Center)
*Saturday, Nov. 12 - vs. Abilene Christian - 1 p.m. (Pan American Center)
WAC Tournament - Nov. 17-19 - Edinburg, Texas
Wednesday, Nov. 23 - at UTEP - Noon (El Paso, Texas)
* - denotes WAC match
All times listed in Mountain Time
