LAS CRUCES, N.M. – New Mexico State volleyball faces UT Rio Grande Valley for the second time this season when the Aggies host the Vaqueros at the Pan American Center on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 11 a.m. (MT). Fans can stream Saturday's contest for free on the WAC Digital Network.
REMARKABLE RANKINGS
NM State (14-7, 5-2 WAC) posts a .128 opponent hitting percentage, which ranks second in the nation. New Mexico State also ranks 35th in digs per set (16.81), 41st in assists per set (13.04) and 50th in kills per set (13.75). Additionally, the Aggies lead the Western Athletic Conference in assists, kills, and opponent hitting percentage.
Individually, Ariadnne Sierra is averaging 5.25 digs per set which ranks 30th nationally and second in the WAC. Lia Mosher (1.06) and Brielle Sterns (0.92) rank in the top-10 in the conference in blocks per set. The freshmen rank third and eighth, respectively. Sasha-Lee Thomas posts a .286 hitting percentage, which is sixth in the league. Kassandra Tohm (3.40) is sixth in kills while Tatyana Battle ranks 10th with 3.03.
In conference play alone, Thomas leads the league with a .405 hitting percentage and posts 3.12 kills per set for eighth in the conference. Tohm (3.85) and Battle (3.19) also rank in the top-10 for kills as they place second and seventh, respectively. Mosher is the lone freshman in the top-10 for blocks as she has 28 blocks total for a 1.08 blocks per set average.
TOHM TAKES HOME WAC WEEKLY HONORS
Tohm earned her first WAC Volleyball Player of the Week honor on Monday. The senior outside hitter led the Aggies to a pair of wins last week, averaging 4.57 kills on .373 hitting, 1.29 digs, 0.71 blocks and a WAC-best 5.00 points per set. She opened the week with 11 kills, four digs and four blocks in a sweep of CSU Bakersfield. Tohm followed the impressive performance with a match-high 21 kills on .390 hitting to go with five digs in a four-set win over Grand Canyon. Her .390 hitting percentage is a personal best this season in four-set matches.
SHINING SIERRA
Sierra currently ranks fifth all-time for career digs at New Mexico State. The libero posts 394 digs this season and 1,248 in her career. She only needs 33 digs to move into fourth place all-time. The senior is also the WAC's active career digs leader.
LAST TIME OUT
NM State took down conference foes CSU Bakersfield and Grand Canyon last weekend. The Aggies swept the Roadrunners with Battle and Thomas leading the charge with 12 kills each. After falling in the first set to the Lopes, New Mexico State rallied to take down GCU in four sets.
Most recently, the Aggies defeated Battle of I-25 rival New Mexico. The sweep of the Lobos was NM State's 10th-straight victory at the Pan American Center. Battle tallied a season-best 19 kills for NM State while Natalie Mikels recorded a double-double with 27 assists and 12 digs.
KNOW YOUR FOE: UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY
UT Rio Grande Valley comes into the match with a 12-8 overall record and a 6-1 record in conference play. The Vaqueros only loss in league play came at Seattle U where they fell 2-3 to the Redhawks. UTRGV is 1-5 on the road this season with the squad defeating Utah Valley in a four sets in Orem, Utah, for the lone victory.
Some standouts for the UT Rio Grande Valley team include Ragni Steen Knudsen, who is currently second in the league in kills as she posts 264 this season while averaging 3.57 per set. Dubravka Vukoja tallies 9.72 assists per set, which ranks third in the conference. Gysell Zayas comes into the match fifth in the league in digs per set with 4.44.
In the first match between the teams this season, the Vaqueros defeated the Aggies in the five-set thriller. New Mexico State fell in the first set, 23-25, but came back to take both the second and third sets 25-20. NM State lost the fourth set 23-25, but held a 12-10 lead in the fifth set before giving up a five-point run to close the match. Thomas led all players with 18 kills in the loss. Mikels posted 33 assists in the match while Ainsworth tallied 32.
COMING UP
Following the match with UTRGV, NM State hits the road for matches at UMKC and Chicago State. The Aggies take on the Roos at 6 p.m. (MT) on Thursday, Oct. 26. New Mexico State closes out the road trip against the Cougars on Saturday, Oct, 28 at 11 a.m.
