PHOENIX - Katie Birtcil powered NM State's offense by matching her career high with 24 terminations, but GCU used a 3-0 run in the fifth and final set to earn a 3-2 victory over the Aggies Saturday night at GCU Arena.
SET ONE | NM State 25, Grand Canyon 20
• A 6-0 run to start things off by the visitors gave NM State all the cushion it needed to gain an early upper hand. Two solo blocks by Lindsay Blakey began the match and Birtcil wrapped up the 6-0 scoring spurt with her first kill of the night.
• Though the Lopes managed to tie things up twice, they never grabbed the lead. After a Grand Canyon kill knotted matters at 8-8, NM State used two more Birtcil kills and a solo stuff by the same individual to power a 6-2 run.
• Birtcil showed no signs of slowing down on offense as she posted seven terminations in the opening set.
SET TWO | Grand Canyon 25, NM State 21
• Things looked good for the visiting team after a pair of blocks as well as a service ace from Carly Aigner-Swesey represented half of the points on a 6-0 Aggie run that broke an 8-8 deadlock.
• GCU, however, countered with an 8-1 spurt which was powered in part by a trio of service aces. Two more Birtcil kills were half of the Aggies' points during a 4-1 stretch that turned a 16-15 GCU lead into a 19-17 Aggie advantage.
• Errors loomed large for NM State down the stretch, though, as GCU's 8-2 run to close the set was aided by five unforced Aggie miscues. NM State hit just .075 in the set and while the Lopes' figure of .091 wasn't that much higher the untimely errors by the visitors allowed the home team to tie the match at one.
SET THREE | NM State 25, Grand Canyon 15
• The Aggies could seemingly do no wrong on offense in the middle frame, attacking at a clip of .550 through the set to grab the lead once again.
• NM State never trailed in the third and did not commit a single attack error. Birtcil and Cat Kelly led the Aggies' charge on offense, pounding down four terminations apiece. Defensively, NM State kept the Lopes at bay by amassing five rejections. As a result, Grand Canyon hit -.038 through the set.
SET FOUR | Grand Canyon 25, NM State 22
• Flipping the set one script, it was the Lopes who came out of the gates like gangbusters and hung on to force a decisive fifth set. The hosts started the frame on a 6-0 run and never allowed the Aggies to take the lead.
• Shaney Lipscomb came up with a solo block to pull NM State within one, 8-7, but that was as close as the Aggies would get to getting their hands on a lead. Seven of the next nine points went to the Lopes and though NM State staved off a fifth set by winning three-straight set point tries by Grand Canyon the Lopes finished the set with the last of their 15 kills in the frame to force a winner-take-all fifth.
SET FIVE | Grand Canyon 15, NM State 13
• A back-and-forth battle raged for the entirety of the last frame, but in the end the Lopes made the plays they needed to in order to win the match.
• There were a total of nine ties through the set, the last of which came when Ashley Lifgren responded to a termination by Lia Mosher with one of her own to knot matters at 13. Lifgren's kill represented the starting point of a match-clinching 3-0 run by the hosts.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Outside of Birtcil's match-best 24 kills, no other Aggie posted more that nine.
• Carly Aigner-Swesey turned in her third double-double in the Aggies' last four matches by finishing with 44 assists and 13 digs. NM State's setter served up two of the visitors' four aces on the night.
• Sharp (14) and Lauryn Taylor (11) also wrapped up their respective nights with double-digit digs. Darian Markham totaled a team-high 20 digs and was one of four NM State players who amassed double-digit digs.
• NM State's front-row defense more than did its job as the Aggies amassed a season-high 14 blocks in their setback. Birtcil and Lia Mosher each posted five rejections while Lindsay Blakey posted four.
• The Lopes' Teagan DeFalco finished with four of her team's eight service aces. Coupled with 13 NM State service errors, the hosts received a total of 21 points from the service game.
• Wise finished with a team-high 18 kills for the Lopes while Ashley Lifgren (12 kills, 13 digs) and Klaire Mitchell (46 assists, 15 digs) posted double-doubles.
• NM State's 14-match winning streak against Grand Canyon came to an end with Saturday night's setback. The Aggies' all-time record against the Lopes dropped to 20-2, too.
QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH MIKE JORDAN
"We were too high error and gave up too many scoring runs. Grand Canyon dug the ball well and out-served us tonight. We have to learn from it and do our jobs more consistently. That all starts with preparing better."
COMING UP NEXT
• NM State returns to GCU Arena next week for its next two WAC matches. The Aggies will face off against Southwest Division foes for the first time this season when they tangle with SFA and Sam Houston in Phoenix. NM State and SFA are set for a 3:00 p.m. MT tilt Thursday afternoon while the Aggies and Bearkats will battle at 6:00 p.m. MT Friday evening.
++NM State++
