Aggies battle Aggies for WAC first-place spot
It’s not easy to win a volleyball game in a hostile environment.
But in the midst of the New Mexico State baseball players shouting out inappropriate things with pantyhose on their heads?
USU outside hitter Amanda Nielson remembers that kind of a setting from last year’s game against the NMSU Aggies (a team that ranked 11th in the nation last year in home attendance) in Las Cruces, N.M., Nov. 12.
“We had some trouble when we were down there last year with their crowd,” Nielson said of the game, which NMSU won, 3-1. “The baseball team dressed up and they said things that shouldn’t be said. They were just terrible.”
The pantyhose, Nielson said, was to make them look like the NMSU volleyball coach, Mike Jordan (a USU assistant in 1996 and 1997), who is bald.
USU ended up beating NMSU in the WAC tournament semifinals in five games.
For Nielson and the rest of her team, now is the time to get 24th-ranked NMSU Aggies back again.
Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Spectrum USU hosts their foes from the south.
“We’re ready,” Nielson said. “I think we’re ready. Conference is always a big rivalry, especially New Mexico State. I think we kind of have a little personal battle with them. We’re just really excited to play them. I am, anyway.”
What makes this Thursday’s 7 p.m. match-up with the southern Aggies (16-0, 2-0 in WAC play) in the Spectrum even more intriguing is the fact that these two teams are tied for first place in the WAC (Hawai’i is ranked 15th in the nation with a 6-4 record, but they have not played any league games yet).
USU (9-7, 2-0) is coming off of two four-game wins last weekend against Fresno State and San Jose State.
NMSU took down Idaho and Boise State last week in three games apiece.
New Mexico State is certain to give USU fits.
It’s clear why they are undefeated when the following stats are considered: the southern Aggies have a .299 attacking percentage this year (USU has gone above that six times this season).
Plus, NMSU has held its opponents to a .099 average attacking percentage, while USU’s average is .167.
“New Mexico State is obviously a very good volleyball team,” USU Head Coach Grayson DuBose said. “They’re ranked and they deserve to be ranked. They have beat some nice opponents.”
NMSU ranks first in the WAC in team hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, blocks per game (3.06), kills per game (15.76) and service aces (126).
The southern Aggies have two players (Amber Simpson and Kim Oguh) who are first and second in the WAC respectively in hitting percentage.
On top of all that, NMSU has swept its last seven opponents, and has 12 sweeps overall this season.
“[Mike Jordan has] done a wonderful job over there,” DuBose said. “He’s got some nice athletes. We’ll have to be on our A game if we’re gonna have a shot.”
USU is led by Nielson, who is averaging 4.13 kills, 1.96 digs and 0.74 service aces per game.
Freshman Hailey Jeppson, who was tabbed as last week’s WAC player of the week, is averaging 3.14 kills, 2.76 digs and .60 blocks per game.
So far this season, NMSU is 17th in the nation in home attendance. A crowd of 2,437 witnessed NMSU defeat Boise State last week.
DuBose is hoping USU Aggie fans will put up the same kind of effort.
“Hopefully we can get a lot of fans out,” he said. “That would be great to have a big, loud crowd for when they come up here and make it a bad experience for them.”
Aggie notes: NMSU assistant coach Debby Baker played volleyball at USU in 1992 and 1993, graduating in 1994. She was also a volunteer assistant at USU in 2000. She was assistant coach at New Mexico in 2001 with DuBose…The last team to beat NMSU was USU on Nov. 25, 2005, in the WAC tournament…USU has started league play 2-0 only three times in the past 26 years.