Box Score TROY, Ala. – With the 3-0 sweep of Valparaiso (2-2) on Friday, New Mexico State head coach Mike Jordan reached rarified air earning his 400th career win. The Aggies (3-2) captured the win with a 25-9, 25-19, 25-21 decision.
 
"I have had a lot of great players and a lot of great coaches in my career," said Jordan. "I am proud to be the coach here at New Mexico State. Reflecting back, there have been a lot of big wins, but I think about all of the players too. That's the cool part about this win, it brings me back to my first season here and all of the memories."
 
In his 19th season at NM State, Jordan now holds a career coaching record of 400-179, all with the Aggies. He is the winningest coach in NM State volleyball history, a title he claimed in 2004.
 
As for the match itself, Jordan said, "Sometimes we are high error, but that comes with a young team still learning how to play. When we are not high error, we are pretty good. We hit for good percentages and do a lot of things well. I like seeing the development of some of our players. Crash [Parker] is so much better this weekend than last weekend, and we were hoping to see that. We are getting more balance as we go along. Overall, I don't have much to complain about. We are learning, and it's not pretty sometimes. However, there is a lot to be excited about."
 
NM State had two players with double-digit kills. Junior Kassandra Tohm paced the Aggies with 15 kills and an impressive .542 hitting percentage. Western Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year Sasha-Lee Thomas logged 13 kills and four blocks. Redshirt-freshman Megan Hart contributed with five blocks.
 
The Aggies picked up right where they left off from the match earlier in the day. They opened the match with a 9-3 lead early in the first frame. NM State would then go on an 8-0 run, their longest of the season, to push the lead to 17-3. The Crusaders tried to rally late in the set, but it was too late as the Aggies won the frame 25-9.
 
Valpo came to life in the second set as neither team could gain an advantage for most of the set, which featured nine ties. NM State finally broke away with a lead of 13-10. Thanks to multiple sustained runs, the Aggies took the frame 25-19.
 
NM State seemed to go cold coming out of the break as the Crusaders held an 8-3 lead early in the third set. However, they would battle all the way back to tie the set at 12-12 and take the lead 14-13. Valpo would tie the match again at 17-17 and 18-18, but NM State would claim the lead to stay at 19-18. The Aggies went on to claim the victory with a 25-21 decision in the third set.
 
NM State is back in action tomorrow as they face off against host Troy in the Trojan Invitational at 8 a.m. and against Southern at 1 p.m.