LAS CRUCES, N.M. – New Mexico State needed a fifth set its last match of the Borderland Classic to post a victory against Denver on Saturday, ending a three-days series that saw the Aggies rack up three wins, but also injuries to two starters.
 
NM State Head Coach Mike Jordan expected the match against Denver to be close as the Pioneers also fell to Oklahoma the day before, a team that given the Aggies its only loss at the start of the Borderland Classic in another five-set match.
 
But the fortunes of the five-set went to the Aggies favor by frequent rotation of players and strategic use of its strongest players.
 
"Grinding, grinding, grinding," Jordan said after the win. "We changed the line-up constantly. That's our style of coaching and our team knows to expect that. We do whatever we have to – we call it morphing."
 
The need for a constantly changing line-up was also driven by two starters being injured – the most recent and severe being senior Andrea Tauai of New Zealand/Hillsborough, who suffered a compound dislocation to her left pinky finger the night before and will probably be out for about four weeks, according to Jordan.
 
From the start of the match against Denver, the Aggies were also battling fatigue.
 
"We have had four matches in 40 hours," Jordan said. "They had only three, so they were a lot fresher and it showed."
 
After an uneven start, the Aggies were able to pull ahead of Denver enough to take the first set 25-22. But the Aggies then lost their groove in the second set to allow the Pioneers to rack up nine unanswered points for 15-25 loss.
 
In the third set, Nathalie Castellanos, a sophomore from Vado, N.M./Gadsden and Gwen Murphy of Elfrida, Ariz./Valley Union were able to get the team's aggressive play back on track. Kills from Castellanos would flank the third set's 25-22 comeback.
 
But Denver would be able flip that score in fourth set, forcing a fifth set.
 
Murphy's stats of seven kills with shooting percentage of .778 in the second set and 18 kills with .452 shooting percent don't do justice to her astute play that would quickly shift from subtle tips to merciless spikes.
 
By the fifth set, the Pioneers had learned how to block freshman Tatyana Battle of Albuquerque, N.M./Cibola low spikes, which she had used to successfully pull of the Aggies out of swapping points. But sophomores Sasha-Lee Thomas of Pottsville , Pa./Pottsville and Jordan Abalos of Safford, Ariz./Safford scored kills to give the Aggies a seven-point lead that the Pioneers were never able to make up. Murphy would finish off the fifth set for a final score of 15-10.
 
The Aggies are back in action next weekend in Tucson, Ariz., for the Wildcat Classic where they face a pair of top 15 team in Texas and host Arizona.