PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo women's volleyball team opens up Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play this Friday, Sept. 15 as the ThunderWolves travel to Las Vegas, N.M. for a 6 p.m. match at New Mexico Highlands University. The match is the first of 14 RMAC matches this season.

The Pack enters Friday's RMAC opener sporting a 1-7 overall record after going 1-3 at last weekend's Skyhawks Invitational in Durango, Colo. At the event hosted by Fort Lewis, the Pack opened with a 3-1 setback to Angelo State, before picking up its first win of the season with a three-set sweep over Southwestern Oklahoma State. On the second day of action, the Pack was swept by Texas A&M-International and fell in four sets in its final match of the event to East Central (Okla.).

CSU Pueblo's 1-7 start to the season is the worst since starting the 2017 season with a 1-10 overall record. Despite the slow start to the season, the Pack has played a difficult early season schedule as their eight opponents have posted an overall record 42-23, including three teams (Quincy, Angelo State and Texas A&M-International) that have lost one match each and are sporting 21-3 records.

In the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, the Pack were tabbed to finish fifth as they received 147 points in voting by the league's 15 head coaches. Last season, CSU Pueblo went 19-9 overall and 12-6 in the RMAC and advanced to the NCAA South Regional Tournament for the second consecutive season.

Friday's match-up with New Mexico Highlands marks the 79th all-time meeting in the series between the two schools with the Pack holding a 45-33 all-time edge. The Pack have won four straight matches and seven of the last 10 meetings overall. In the team's most recent meeting last season in Pueblo on Sept. 23, the Pack collected a three-set sweep over the Cowgirls.

ABOUT THE THUNDERWOLVES
CSU Pueblo has been paced in the early going this season offensively by redshirt sophomore outside hitter Payton Van Veen (Springfield, Mo./Washburn) and sophomore outside hitter Sadie Scoville (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove). Van Veen, who was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Skyhawks Invitational, leads the team in kills (100), kills per set (3.23) and blocks (19) and is hitting .268, while Scoville, who was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Invitational, is second on the team in kills (84), kills per set (2.71), but leads the team in digs with 80 and has had nine aces and 11 blocks. Scoville is also hitting .223 on the season.

One other Pack player has recorded 50 or more kills this season as sophomore opposite hitter Kendall Harrington (San Antonio, Texas/Tom C. Clark) has had 59 kills, is averaging 2.27 kills per set, is hitting .278 on the year. Harrington joined Van Veen on the All-Tournament Team as last weekend's Skyhawks Invitational.

The Pack offense is directed by senior setter Grace Jansen (Sandy, Utah/Jordan) and junior setter Sabrina King (Parker, Colo./Lutheran). Jansen is averaging 5.10 assists and 1.58 digs per set and leads the team in aces with 15, while King is averaging 4.87 assists and 1.52 digs per set and is second in aces with 13 and has recorded two double-doubles.

Five Pack players have recorded 10 or more blocks on the season as Van Veen leads the way with 19 and is averaging 0.61 per set, while sophomore middle blocker Golden Finch (Albuquerque, N.M./Cal State-Bakersfield) has had 18 blocks and is averaging 0.95 per set and junior middle blocker Josey Nunn (Kingwood, Texas/Porter) has had 17 blocks and is averaging 0.55 per set. As a team, the Pack have recorded 53.5 blocks and are averaging 1.73 per set, which is sixth-best in the latest RMAC statistics.

As a team, CSU Pueblo has recorded 384 kills, 407 digs, 57 aces and is hitting .212. The Pack are also averaging 11.32 assists per set. CSU Pueblo's opponents, though, are hitting .244 on the season and have recorded 378 kills, 52 blocks and 56 aces in 31 sets and eight matches.

ABOUT NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
The Cowgirls come into Friday's conference opener sporting a 1-8 overall record as they have lost eight straight matches since opening the 2023 campaign with a 3-1 win over Ouachita Baptist at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Invitational, before suffering a three-set home sweep to Angelo State and then going 0-4 at last weekend's Fort Hays State Invitational. The Cowgirls and the Pack have played five similar opponents (Ouachita Baptist, Quincy, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Tiffin and Angelo State) thus far this season. The Pack is 0-5 against those schools, while Highlands is 1-4 against those schools.

Leading the way offensively for the Cowgirls this season is junior outside hitter Angelina Burton. Burton is averaging 2.53 kills per set and has had 10 blocks. In addition to Burton, freshman outside hitter Jaylee Gonzales leads the team in kills (60) and is also averaging 2.14 kills per set. Three other Cowgirls have had 40 or more kills on the season as freshman outside hitter Aziza Morris has had 56 kills, while freshman outside hitter Seraiah Morgan has had 46 and freshman outside hitter Amirah Young has had 40 kills.

The Cowgirls offense is directed by junior setter Megan Waghorn and freshman setter Ashleigh Meyer. Waghorn leads the team in both assists (135), assists per set (4.66) and is second in digs with 61 as she is averaging 2.10 per set, while Meyer has had 113 assists and leads the team with 10 aces.

Defensively, Highlands is paced by the play of sophomore libero Abby Carlsen, who has recorded 119 digs and is averaging 4.10 digs per set, while junior middle blocker Jada Lawson is averaging 0.73 blocks per set and has had 19 and sophomore middle blocker Layla Hooks has had 19 blocks and leads the team with three solo blocks.

As a team, the Cowgirls are hitting .115 as a team and have recorded 301 kills, 286 assists, 376 digs and 43 blocks. Highlands has also had 41 aces and their opponents are hitting .241 on the season.

The Cowgirls are coached by Tom Duke, who is in his fourth season of his second stint with Highlands and has compiled an all-time record of 73-131, including being 19-45 with the Cowgirls since 2020. During his first stint with the program from 2003-07, Duke led the program to two second place finishes in the RMAC West Division and won a program-best 19 matches in 2005 and led the 2021 Cowgirls with an appearance in the RMAC Tournament.  

In the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, the Cowgirls were tabbed to 13th out of 15 schools as they earned 42 points from the league's head coaches in the preseason poll.

UP NEXT FOR PACK
Following Friday's RMAC opener at New Mexico Highlands, the Pack will play its first of seven home matches this season on Tuesday, Sept. 19 as the ThunderWolves host Adams State in an RMAC match. The match will begin at 7 p.m. and is being billed as the program's annual "So Long Summer" match. That Adams State match will be the only home match in the month of September for the Pack.