Thursday, November 17, 2016
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The 2016 WAC volleyball award winners, as selected by the league’s eight head coaches, were announced tonight at the WAC Tournament banquet. CSU Bakersfield senior outside hitter Carol Grasso was named WAC Player of the Year, while NM State’s Ariadnne Sierra was named Libero of the Year and UMKC’s Kaylyn Brandt was named Setter of the Year. Meanwhile, Seattle U’s Katarina Marinkovic was named WAC Freshman of the Year and Utah Valley’s Sam Atoa was named WAC Coach of the Year.
Grasso earned WAC Player of the Year honors after leading the league in kills (4.47), service aces (0.87) and points (5.59) and ranking eighth in digs (3.06) in WAC play. She also set the all-time WAC records for service aces (46) and service aces per set in a single season for WAC matches only and posted double-doubles in eight of 14 WAC matches. She was named WAC Player of the Week twice during the season.
Sierra earned WAC Libero of the Year honors after averaging 4.65 digs, 0.87 assists and 0.45 service aces per set in WAC play. She posted double-digit digs in 13 of 14 WAC matches, with 30 or more digs once and 20 or more digs five times. She was the only libero to earn WAC Player of the Week honors during the season.
Brandt earned WAC Setter of the Year honors after leading the league with 11.17 assists per set in conference play. She set the Roos to the best hitting percentage in the WAC (.241) during conference play and posted double-doubles in five of 14 WAC matches. She was named WAC Player of the Week once during the season.
Marinkovic earned WAC Freshman of the Year honors after ranking second in the league in service aces (0.51), third in points (4.41), fourth in kills (3.68) and 10th in hitting percentage (.261) during WAC play. She had four double-doubles on the season and all came in WAC matches.
Atoa led his team to tie for second place finish the WAC standings and the No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament after being picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll. His team ranks sixth nationally in blocking and enter the tournament having won five straight matches and 11 of its last 13.
2016 WAC Volleyball Postseason Award Winners
| First Team | School | Yr. | Pos. |
| Jordan Abalos | NM State | Jr. | OH |
| Tatyana Battle | NM State | So. | OH |
| Madison Dennison | Utah Valley | Jr. | MB |
| Carol Grasso | CSU Bakersfield | Sr. | OH |
| Emma Hagedorn | UMKC | Sr. | MH |
| Bojana Mitrovic | UT Rio Grande Valley | Jr. | RS |
| Madison Mosier | UMKC | Sr. | OH/RS |
| Second Team | School | Yr. | Pos. |
| Kaylyn Brandt | UMKC | Sr. | S |
| Sydney Haynes | CSU Bakersfield | Jr. | MB |
| Katarina Marinkovic | Seattle U | F | OH |
| Ariadnne Sierra | NM State | Jr. | L |
| Sasha-Lee Thomas | NM State | Jr. | MH |
| Lexi Thompson | Utah Valley | Jr. | OH |
| Alisha Watson | UT Rio Grande Valley | Sr. | RS |
| All-Freshmen Team | School | Pos. |
| Alicia Harrington | UMKC | OH |
| Izzie Hinton | Utah Valley | RS |
| Katarina Marinkovic | Seattle U | OH |
| Alexsa Parker | NM State | S |
| Barbara Silva | UT Rio Grande Valley | MB |
| Kory White | Seattle U | MB |
WAC Player of the Year: Carol Grasso, CSU Bakersfield
WAC Libero of the Year: Ariadnne Sierra, NM State
WAC Setter of the Year: Kaylyn Brandt, UMKC
WAC Freshman of the Year: Katarina Marinkovic, Seattle U
WAC Coach of the Year: Sam Atoa, Utah Valley
Monday, November 14, 2016
WAC Player of the Week
DENVER – NM State sophomore outside hitter Tatyana Battle has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 31-Nov. 6. This is her first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The Albuquerque, N.M., native had a career night, posting her seventh double-double of the season in a crucial road win at UT Rio Grande Valley to give the Aggies at least a share of the WAC regular-season title. Battle posted a career-high 28 kills on .333 hitting to go with a career-high 18 digs in a 3-2 victory over the Vaqueros. The sophomore also added three blocks and a service ace in the win. However, it was her six kills in the fifth set that propelled the Aggies to the road victory. Battle entered the week averaging 3.60 points, 3.13 kills, 2.11 digs and 0.26 blocks per set. Last week she nearly doubled her production, averaging 6.20 points, 5.60 kills, 3.60 digs and 0.60 blocks per set.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield’s Kate Dunbar-Lowe averaged 4.00 kills on .500 hitting, 0.50 digs and 0.50 blocks per set as the Roadrunners went 2-0 last week ... Randahl Powers of Grand Canyon finished with 19 kills in a win over Chicago State to snap an 18-match losing skid ... UT Rio Grande Valley’s Alisha Watson averaged 2.33 kills, 1.00 digs and 0.67 blocks per set as the Vaqueros went 0-2 last week ... Sierra Starley of Utah Valley averaged 9.38 assists, 2.38 digs, 1.38 blocks, 1.00 kills and 0.50 service aces per set as the Wolverines went 2-0 on the week.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Monday, October 24, 2016
WAC Player of the week
DENVER – NM State junior libero Ariadnne Sierra has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 17-23. This is her first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The El Paso, Texas, native set two career highs and averaged 6.12 digs, 1.12 service aces and 1.12 assists per set as the Aggies picked up a pair of key road wins last week to remain the only unbeaten team in WAC play. Sierra opened the week with a career-high 31 digs in a five-set win over Utah Valley. She also added five assists and three service aces. In a sweep of Seattle U on Saturday, she finished with 18 digs, a career-high six service aces and four assists to give the Aggies their 23rd consecutive WAC victory and a three-match lead in the WAC standings. Sierra, who entered the week averaging 4.54 digs and 0.29 service aces per set, now ranks third in the WAC in both digs (4.68) and service aces (0.36) per set.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield’s Marina Sanches finished with 11 kills on .562 hitting and five blocks in a sweep of Grand Canyon ... Heidi Carpenter of Grand Canyon posted a double-double of 19 assists and 10 digs in a loss to CSUB ... UMKC’s Madison Mosier finished with 11 kills on .458 hitting in a sweep of Chicago State ... Katarina Marinkovic of Seattle U averaged 4.62 kills, 2.25 digs, 0.62 blocks and 0.50 assists as the Redhawks went 1-1 on the week ... UT Rio Grande Valley’s Ragni Steen Knudsen averaged 3.50 kills and 1.50 digs per set on the week ... Madison Dennison of Utah Valley averaged 2.70 kills, 1.10 blocks and 0.80 digs per set as the Wolverines went 1-1 on the week.
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Monday, September 19, 2016
The Safford, Ariz., native led the Aggies to the Brown Invitational title with a perfect 3-0 record and was named tournament MVP after averaging 6.10 points, 5.60 kills on .431 hitting, 3.80 digs and 0.40 service aces per set. In a sweep of Central Connecticut State, Abalos tallied a career-high 22 kills on .462 hitting to go with 13 digs, one assist, one service ace and one block. In a 3-1 win over Binghamton, she finished with 21 kills, 17 digs and two service aces for her second double-double of the tournament. In a match that took just over an hour, Abalos closed out the week with 13 kills on .500 hitting and eight digs in a sweep of the host Bears. She currently leads the WAC in service aces per set (0.36), ranks second in double-doubles (nine), third in both kills per set (3.66) and points per set (4.15), and sixth in both hitting percentage and digs per set (3.43).
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield’s Marina Sanches averaged 3.33 kills on .361 hitting and 0.67 blocks per set en route to all-tournament team honors at the Roadrunner Classic ... Megan Klavitter of Chicago State was named to the all-tournament team at the Omni Invitational after averaging 3.43 digs and 2.00 assists ... UMKC’s Kaylyn Brandt averaged 9.28 assists, 2.45 digs and 0.60 blocks and was named to the all-tournament team at the Arkansas Invitational last week ... Matea Mamic of Seattle U averaged 4.60 kills, 2.40 digs, 0.60 blocks and was named to the all-tournament team at the Rutgers Invitational ... UT Rio Grande Valley’s Ragni Steen Knudsen averaged 4.62 kills and 2.00 digs per set en route to all-tournament team honors at the Owls Classic ... Nakisha Willden of Utah Valley averaged 4.31 digs and 0.92 assists per set and was named to the all-tournament team at the UVU/BYU Challenge last week.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
NM State received six of the first-place votes and 48 total points to earn the top spot in the poll. CSU Bakersfield earned one first-place vote and 38 total points, followed by Seattle U with one first-place vote and 34 points in third place. UMKC was picked to finish fourth with 31 points, followed by Utah Valley in fifth with 27 points. UT Rio Grande Valley was picked sixth with 24 points, while Grand Canyon and Chicago State round out the poll with 15 and seven points, respectively.
NM State placed the most players on the preseason All-WAC team with four, while UMKC had three, and CSU Bakersfield and UT Rio Grande Valley had two apiece. Joining Thomas on the preseason team are teammates Jordan Abalos, Brianna Ainsworth and Tatyana Battle, UMKC’s Kaylyn Brandt, Emma Hagedorn and Madison Mosier, CSU Bakersfield’s Carol Grasso and Sydney Haynes, UT Rio Grande Valley’s Bojana Mitrovic and Alisha Watson, Grand Canyon’s Natalie Tardy, Seattle U’s Matea Mamic and Utah Valley’s Madison Dennison.
The 2016 season begins next Friday, Aug. 26, with all eight teams in tournament action. The 2016 WAC Tournament, hosted by NM State, will be held Nov. 17-19, at the Pan American Center, and will include the top six eligible teams in the regular-season standings.
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
US News and World Report; Top Universities
New Mexico State University
Summary
New Mexico State University is a public institution that was founded in 1888. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 12,784, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 900 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. New Mexico State University's ranking in the 2016 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 199. Its in-state tuition and fees are $6,729 (2015-16); out-of-state tuition and fees are $21,234 (2015-16).
There are five New Mexico State University locations, with the main campus situated in Las Cruces, about 50 miles north of the Mexican border. Undergraduates at NMSU can choose from nearly 90 bachelor's degrees, and graduate students can pursue more than 50 master's programs, including those in the colleges of business, engineering and education. Freshmen who are eligible for NMSU's honors program can take small, specialized classes called "Journeys of Discovery." The university is also home to the Chile Pepper Institute, an organization that researches and promotes the state vegetable.
Students at NM State, as it is also known, can get involved on campus by joining more than 200 organizations, pledging with about 20 fraternities and sororities, and running for student government. Student athletes can play at the recreational level or try out for the New Mexico State Aggies varsity teams, which mainly compete in the NCAA Division I Western Athletic Conference.
School mission and unique qualities (as provided by the school):
New Mexico State University prides itself on being accessible to students of all ages and from all cultures and educational backgrounds. The state's land-grant...
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Wednesday, February 24, 2016
General | | Bill Powers
US Bank/NM State Athletics Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2016
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State Athletics Department, in conjunction with US Bank, is proud to announce the three distinguished former student-athletes selected as this year's inductees into the US Bank/NM State Athletics Hall of Fame.
The class of 2016 includes baseball All-American Billy Becher, and volleyball All-Americans Stevi Adams Maytubby and Kim Oguh Nield.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at halftime of the Feb. 20 men's basketball game when the Aggies close their home schedule against Seattle U at the Pan American Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Becher (2003-04) is one of the most decorated baseball student-athletes ever at NM State. Twice named first team All-America by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers, USA Today, College Baseball's Louisville Slugger and College Baseball Insider, Becher set the Aggie record and led the NCAA in home runs with 32 in 2003. He was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 2003 and a finalist for the Dick Howser and Rotary Smith Awards as National Player of the Year He led the team again in 2004 with 25 to set the Aggie career mark with 57 round-trippers in two seasons. Drafted by the Oakland A's, he played three seasons in the minor leagues. Now living in Gilbert, Ariz., Becher is the assistant sales manager at Earnhart Nissan in Mesa, Ariz.
Adams Maytubby (2001-04) was an Aggie star on the hardwood court. The Houston, Texas native was named an honorable mention AVCA All-American her senior year in 2004 as well as first team AVCA All-Region. She was named All-Sun Belt Conference three times, twice first team in 2003 and 2004, and once second team in 2002. When she graduated, the outside hitter left as the Aggies all-time leader with 1,559 kills and was third in career service aces (145) and career digs (1,281). When she ended her playing career, she was the only player in school history to be ranked in the top five in career kills, digs and aces. She is now an advertising account manager for Houstonia Magazine in Houston.
Oguh Nield (2004-07) is the only three-time All-American in NM State volleyball history, named an honorable mention in 2005, 2006, and 2007. The El Paso middle blocker was also named AVCA All-Region, a first team All-Western Athletic Conference and WAC All-Tournament player as a sophomore, junior and senior. Her prowess at the net still has her ranked third in career blocks (463), third in single-season blocks (175 in 2006) and third in career hitting percentage (.337), while recording 1,150 career kills. Now in a career as a human resources consultant for ADT, she lives in Houston.
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