Aggies vs. Lobos: Maybe next year
Rivals playing well, but not each other
UNM (14-3, 5-1 Mountain West) and New Mexico State (13-4, 4-1 WAC) do not face each other this volleyball season, but Lobos coach Jon Newman-Gonchar said it is just a one-year hiatus.
“I want to play New Mexico State,” he said. “(Aggies coach Mike Jordan) has a great program and we definitely want to play them. We started scheduling late this season because of COVID and we couldn’t get together on a date, so Mike and I agreed to put it off just for this year.”
NMSU leads the all-time series 42-28 and won the last three meetings. The teams did not meet in 2020 due to COVID restrictions.
Jordan could not be reached for comment but NMSU athletic director Mario Moccia said he wants the in-state series to resume.
“From my perspective, I always want us to play UNM in every sport,” Moccia said.
The Rio Grande rivals have been on-again, off-again volleyball competitors dating back to 1980. The Lobos and Aggies played twice a season from 198090 but met just five times from 1991-2001.
After resuming home-andaway matches from 2002-06, UNM and NMSU met once a season from 2007 through the Aggies’ 2019 win in Las Cruces.
UNM and NMSU had various sports matchups canceled during the spring of 2020 and fall/ winter 2020-21 because of pandemic restrictions. They also did not meet in baseball or softball last season.
New Mexico State volleyball plays begins a home-and-home WAC series with Grand Canyon (11-3, 3-2) Thursday in Las Cruces. The Aggies visit GCU on Saturday.
The Aggies’ Ratings Percantage Index, per the NCAA, is No. 125 of 340 schools. UNM’s is 120.