2024 Borderland Invitational Preview

NM State welcomes three opponents in first regular-season home action.

Source: NMSU Athletics
Photo by Matthew Knope for NMSU: Courtesy

For the first time in 314 days, NM State Volleyball returns to the Pan American Center. The Aggies will open their 38th season in their home arena -and their 51st in program history – with the annual Borderland Invitational. Head Coach Mike Jordanand his squad welcome Arizona, Abilene Christian and Texas Southern to the Land of Enchantment for a six-match volleyball weekend highlighted by three contests for the hosting Aggies.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Who: NM State (1-1) vs. Texas Southern (0-6) / Abilene Christian (2-4) / Arizona (6-0)

Where: Pan American Center – Las Cruces, N.M.

When: Friday, Sept. 13 – Saturday, Sept. 14

Live Stream: ESPN+ (NM State matches only)

Live Statistics: nmstatestats.com (all matches)

All-Time Record vs. Texas Southern: 2-0

Last Meeting: Texas Southern 0 @ NM State 3 (Aug. 26, 2023)

All-Time Record vs. Abilene Christian: 4-1

Last Meeting: Abilene Christian 0 @ NM State 3 (Nov. 12, 2022)

All-Time Record vs. Arizona: 3-25

Last Meeting: NM State 1 at Arizona 3 (Sept. 15, 2023)

THIS WEEKEND’S SCHEDULE

Each team will play three matches across the weekend, following a standard round-robin format. The full, six-match, 2024 Borderland Invitational schedule is listed below.

Match 1: Friday, Sept. 13 – Abilene Christian vs. Arizona (10:00 AM MT)

Match 2: Friday, Sept. 13 – Texas Southern at NM State (1:00 PM MT | ESPN+)

Match 3: Friday, Sept. 13 – Arizona vs. Texas Southern (1:00 PM MT)

Match 4: Friday, Sept. 13 – Abilene Christian at NM State (7:00 PM MT | ESPN+)

Match 5: Saturday, Sept. 14 – Texas Southern vs. Abilene Christian (11:00 AM MT)

Match 6: Saturday, Sept. 14 – Arizona at NM State (2:00 PM MT | ESPN+)

QUICK HITS

– On Saturday, NM State snapped a three-match losing streak with a win over CSUN

– The Aggies shared the Western Athletic Conference with Abilene Christian for 2021-22

– Last season, Arizona took down NM State in a tight four-set match in Tucson

– Starr Williams was named Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, Sept. 2

– Darian Markham leads all of CUSA with 100 digs this season, ranking 69th in the nation

– Nicole Briggs spent three seasons playing for Arizona, but will now square off with the Wildcats on Saturday and look to continue her personal hot streak

– Texas Southern last came to Las Cruces on Aug. 26, 2007, falling in straight sets to Mike Jordan‘s 26-win squad

– Yasso Amin leads the Aggies with five service aces on the season, including two her last match versus CSUN

LAST TIME OUT
The Aggies took down Cal State Northridge in four sets, winning the final three frames to snap a three-match losing skid. As a team, the Crimson & White tallied 22 block assists and 14 total blocks, easily setting season-high marks in each category. Additionally, NM State recorded a .250 hitting percentage, reaching that mark for the first time since the season opener against Coastal Carolina.

The win over CSUN concluded a three-match trip to the Sacramento State Invitational, in which the Aggies walked away 1-2. NM State suffered back-to-back five-set losses to open the tournament, including a heartbreaking reverse sweep at the hands of the hosting Hornets on Friday.

FEELIN’ 22

After three seasons with Arizona, Nicole Briggs transferred to NM State in the summer of 2024. The Chino, Calif. native joined Mike Jordan‘s squad after playing 54 matches, including all 31 last season, for the Wildcats. Briggs quickly made her mark for the Aggies, setting three career highs during a win over CSUN in the fifth match of the season. Briggs has already set new single-match bests in kills (8), total blocks (12), block assists (10), points (14), total attempts (19) and tied career highs in digs (2) and solo blocks (2).

TAKING NOTICE

Conference USA unveiled its 2024 volleyball preseason awards on Thursday, Aug. 22, which included both a head coaches’ poll and a 13-member All-CUSA Preseason Team. The Aggies received two first-place votes en route to finishing second in the poll, behind five-time defending regular-season champion Western Kentucky. Four Aggies (Yasso Amin, Darian Markham, Mari Sharp and Ryleigh Whitekettle) were named to the preseason team, giving NM State the most representatives in the 10-member league.

SIGHTS SET HIGH

The Aggies returned every starter and 97.7% of all point production from a season ago. The 2023 squad turned in an eight-match winning streak towards the end of the season to vault to the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, eventually advancing to the CUSA Championship Game. In the offseason, four freshmen and five transfers bolstered the roster up to 25 Aggies. Notable additions include 2023 CUSA First-Team selection Yasso Amin from FIU and three-year Pac-12-starter Nicole Briggs from Arizona.

LEGENDS ON THE BENCH

Entering 2024, Mike Jordan already amassed 565 wins, 12 regular-season conference titles and seven conference tournament championships. With Gregg Whitis already back for his fourth year as an assistant, Jordan added two of his greatest former players to his coaching staff. In February, Operations Director Tatyana Battle was elevated to assistant coach. In July, Jordan brought Lia Mosher back to Las Cruces after playing last season professionally overseas. Battle and Mosher played a combined 10 seasons for the Crimson & White, including two as teammates (2017-18). The duo combined for a 97-17 (.851) WAC record, six regular-season titles and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. Battle and Mosher tallied 262 matches played, 2,154 kills, 1,145 digs and 617 blocks. They will undoubtedly bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to share with the 2024 roster.

INJURIES OF NOTE

The Aggies entered 2024 with several notable names absent from the action, highlighted by Ryleigh Whitekettle. The redshirt junior was a First Team All-CUSA selection in 2023, and was poised for another strong 2024 campaign after being named to the All-CUSA Preseason Team in August. Whitekettle will miss this season after undergoing back surgery over the summer. Bianca Perezled the Aggies in assists and assists per set in 2023, but will not see action in 2024 after suffering a torn ACL in practice ahead of the season. Peyton Castillo will also miss this season as she continues to recover from a torn ACL in the 2023 campaign.

FIFTH-YEAR AGGIES

Darian Markham and Mari Sharp each came to Las Cruces in the fall of 2020, making their Aggie debut in Spring 2021. Each have won multiple individual awards and a pair of WAC titles, and both are in their fifth season with the Crimson & White in 2024. Both Markham and Sharp were named to the All-CUSA Preseason Team in August after a 2023 campaign in which they were named CUSA Libero of the Year and All-CUSA Second Team selection, respectively.

For complete coverage of NM State Volleyball, follow us on Twitter (@NMStateVBall), Instagram (@NMStateVBall) and like us on Facebook (NM State Volleyball). You can also follow along with Aggie Volleyball via NMStateSports.com.

Article posted by:

Levi Gwaltney

Levi Gwaltney is the Editor In Chief of Las Cruces Digest. The Editor makes editorial and posting decisions regarding content published on this site. In most cases, the Editor makes little if any contribution to content published, and takes no credit for the content of republished posts. If available, the source or author of posts is provided at the top of the article.