Match Nineteen
NM State (14-4, 5-1 WAC) at Grand Canyon (11-4, 3-3 WAC)
Saturday, Oct. 16 | 7:00 p.m. MT | GCU Arena | Phoenix, Ariz.
Watch | Live Stats | Tickets | NM State Match Notes
THE FIRST SERVE
• For the second time in 72 hours, NM State and Grand Canyon are set to duke it out as the Aggies head to Phoenix for a Saturday night showdown with the Lopes.
• First serve inside GCU Arena for the 21st all-time meeting between the two squads is set for 7:00 p.m. MT. ESPN+ and the ESPN app will carry all of the action.
SERIES HISTORY
Overall vs. Grand Canyon | 20-1 (.952)
Streak | NM State won 14
In Las Cruces, N.M. | 10-0 (1.000)
In Phoenix, Ariz. | 7-1 (.875)
At neutral sites | 3-0 (1.000)
Last five matches | 5-0 (1.000)
Last 10 matches | 10-0 (1.000)
In three-set matches | 13-0 (1.000)
In four-set matches | 6-0 (1.000)
In five-set matches | 1-1 (.500)
Jordan vs. Grand Canyon | 17-1 (.944)
Nollan vs. NM State | 0-12 (.000)
• Winners of 14 in a row over the Lopes, the Aggies head to Phoenix hoping to pick up the program's eight victory over Grand Canyon on the road.
LAST TIME OUT | NM State 3, Grand Canyon 1 • Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021
• Grand Canyon won the opening set, but NM State held serve and won the next three to collect a 3-1 victory over the Lopes inside the Pan American Center Thursday night.
• At the end of the night, Grand Canyon just couldn't contain Katie Birtcil who went off for a match-best 19 kills while serving up a career-best six aces.
• In all, NM State amassed 10 winners from the service line and Birtcil's six aces represented the second-highest total in a four-set match in NM State volleyball history. Those six aces were the ninth-most by an NCAA Division I volleyball player in a four-set match this season, too.
• Seven of Birtcil's terminations came in the third set.
• Senior Shaney Lipscomb put forth her first double-double effort of the season by finishing with 13 kills and a career-high 11 digs.
• Carley Aigner-Swesey submitted her team-leading ninth double-double in the Aggies' 14th-consecutive triumph over the Lopes. NM State's setter racked up 46 assists as well as 12 digs.
• NM State moved to 39-3 (.929) against WAC opposition inside the Pan American Center since the start of the 2015 season.
• Thursday night's match was head coach Mike Jordan's first on the Aggies' bench since Saturday, Sept. 25. Jordan missed a total of three matches after testing positive for COVID-19 in the final week of September.
WAC ATTACK
• A new-look Western Athletic Conference is making its debut season in the 2021-22 season, and the Aggies are hoping to continue their dominance in the league.
• Now in his 24th season in charge at NM State, head coach Mike Jordan has been nothing short of masterful in league action throughout his tenure. The Aggies' bench boss owns an impressive 284-66 (.811) mark in regular-season WAC showdowns as well as a 30-12 (.714) record in WAC Tournament bouts.
• NM State has been especially effective in racking up all manner of WAC hardware through the last seven seasons. In that span, the Aggies are 86-9 (.905) against league opposition in regular-season tilts and have claimed five regular-season WAC crowns as well as a trio of WAC Tournament titles.
• Since joining the WAC in 2005, NM State has secured seven regular-season titles. All told, Jordan has claimed 11 conference titles since his run in Las Cruces began in 1998.
ABOUT THE AGGIES
• NM State remains in first place in the WAC's West Division standings. The Aggies lead Utah Valley by one match for the top spot. A group of four teams - California Baptist, Chicago State, Dixie State and Grand Canyon - sit two matches back of the Aggies for the number-one spot in the division.
• Shaney Lipscomb extended her streak of matches with 10 or more kills to five. NM State's top kill threat is averaging 3.00 terminations per frame - a figure which ranks 10th among all WAC players.
• NM State leads the WAC in both hitting percentage (.247) and opponent hitting percentage (.149). The Aggies rank 17th among all NCAA Division I volleyball teams in opponent hitting percentage and 50th in the land in hitting percentage.
• Senior middle blocker Lia Mosher remains among the top ten players nationally in hitting percentage. The Ruidoso, N.M., product is attacking a clip of .441 this season - a mark which ranks nine among all NCAA Division I volleyball players.
• Since the start of the 2019 season, NM State has put forth an impressive 21-5 (.808) record in true road matches.
• With the exception of the spring 2021 season, consecutive matches against the same WAC adversary have been a rarity since the Aggies joined the league ahead of the 2005 season. Before the spring 2021 season, NM State had played the same WAC team in back-to-back matches just five times.
• NM State is 23-4 (.852) all-time when playing the same WAC team in back-to-back matches. In the spring 2021 season, the WAC went to back-to-back matches against the same opponent.
SCOUTING GRAND CANYON | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• After dropping consecutive matches for the first time this season, the Lopes return home where they haven't dropped a set - let along a match - thus far.
• Grand Canyon has swept all five of the foes it has hosted inside GCU Arena and has won 15 consecutive matches on its home court dating back to 2019.
• The Lopes continue to lead the WAC in terms of service aces, putting in an average of 1.76 per set. That's the 40th-highest mark among all NCAA Division I volleyball teams.
• Libero Teagan DeFalco stands at the head of the line for Grand Canyon in both service aces per set (0.39) and digs per set (5.06). The graduate student leads all WAC players in both of those categories, too.
• With DeFalco on their side, the Lopes rank second in the WAC and 43rd nationally in opponent hitting percentage (.166).
• Four of the WAC's top 25 players in terms of kills per set sport Grand Canyon uniforms. Leading the way in that category is McKenzie Wise (3.37 kills/set, sixth in the WAC) while Ashley Lifgren (2.41 kills/set, 17th in the WAC), Hannah Eskes (2.19 kills/set, 23rd in the WAC) and Annabelle Kubinski (2.31 kills/set, 19th in the WAC) help shoulder the Lopes' load offensively.
COMING UP NEXT
• Each of the Aggies' four matches remaining in the month of October will take place on the road. Phoenix, Ariz., will again be the destination for NM State next week as the Aggies duke it out with WAC newcomers SFA and Sam Houston. NM State and SFA will meet for the first time since 2003 Thursday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. MT while the Aggies and Bearkats are set for a 6:00 p.m. MT showdown the following evening. Both matches will be played at GCU Arena.
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