SEATTLE – Over the course of the last two weeks, the NM State volleyball team has been logging multiple miles while in the midst of a five-match road swing.
 
Saturday afternoon, the endpoint of the Aggies' lengthy road stretch was Seattle, Wash., and NM State put the clamps on a two-match skid and set itself up nicely for a run at another WAC regular season crown in Las Cruces.
 
Shaney Lipscomb led a balanced offensive attack by striking for a match-high 13 kills on a .611 hitting percentage as NM State earned a 3-0 WAC victory over Seattle U Saturday afternoon at the Redhawk Center.
 
With the win, the Aggies remained within striking distance of the top spot in the WAC's West Division. NM State is in second place in the league standings following Saturday's action and trails league leader California Baptist by just one game.
 
SET ONE | NM State 25, Seattle U 18
• The only lead Seattle U enjoyed in the opening frame came when Sierra Bartlett began the match with a termination for the hosts.
• Following that kill, Cat Kelly fueled a 5-0 NM State run with a kill of her own followed by consecutive service aces.
• Seattle U threatened just once more when it knotted things at 6-6. From there, though, NM State regained control. Lia Mosher punched down a pair of kills through a 6-1 surge by the visitors which was capped off by a combo block by Lipscomb and Mosher.
• With their lead at 12-7, the Aggies never let the Redhawks get closer than three point away from tying things up. Through the late stages of the set, Lipscomb contributed three of her five terminations in the set while Katie Birtcil added three of her four.
• NM State piled up 16 terminations in the set and hit .344. Thanks to a solid defensive effort, the Aggies limited Seattle U to just nine kills and an attack percentage of .179 through the frame.
 
SET TWO | NM State 25, Seattle U 20
• Once again, the hosts had the upper hand early on before NM State took control. Four of the set's first six points went to the Redhawks prior to an 8-2 Aggie run that handed the visitors the lead the rest of the way.
• Lipscomb contributed another trio of terminations during NM State's run while Kelly added one more to cap the run.
• Following three straight points by the Redhawks to trim NM State's lead to 10-9, three different Aggies hammered home kills and Carley Aigner-Swesey served up an ace during a 5-0 NM State run which made the visitors' lead 15-9.
• Keke Holloway submitted third and final NM State service aces in the set, one that made matters 23-17. Though Seattle U made things mildly interesting by coming up with three straight points, back-to-back kills from Lipscomb and Kelly finished the frame and handed NM State a 2-0 lead.
• In addition to the Aggies' three aces, four uncontested Seattle U attack errors helped NM State's cause.
 
SET THREE | NM State 25, Seattle U 23
• Trying everything they could to force a fourth set, Seattle U was neck and neck with the Aggies throughout the third frame.
• In all, the final frame featured 16 ties with neither team able to string together runs of over three points.
• Directly after a bad set and an attack error by Kelly handed the hosts a 17-16 lead, NM State looked as though to have done enough to finally get the distance between it and Seattle U it needed. Mari Sharp and Lipscomb slammed down kills over the course of a 3-0 Aggie surge which put the visitors up 19-17. Following a kill from the hosts, two more points went to the Aggies and pushed their lead to 21-18.
• Seattle U never quit, though, using a pair of blocks to power a 4-1 run to tie things at 22-all.
• The teams swapped points after that to make maters 23-23, but NM State got the kills it needed to finish off the Redhawks. Mosher and Kelly ended the match by striking for back-to-back kills.
 
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• NM State picked up its 15^th-straight victory over Seattle U with Saturday afternoon's triumph.
• In addition to Lipscomb's match-high 13 kills, Birtcil and Kelly added nine apiece while Sharp had five to her credit.
• Kelly finished just one kill shy of a double-double, finishing with 13 digs and two of the Aggies' six service aces.
• No Seattle U player finished with more than eight kills. Eve Kirschenbaum led the way for the hosts with eight terminations on a .400 hitting percentage.
 
QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH MIKE JORDAN
"We played okay, and we were able to pass it better than we did two nights ago. It's tough being on the road for an extended period of time. We are tired and have some players who are sick and playing through nagging injuries. This has been anything but easy on this group, but it takes what it takes to be successful and win. We have players who are learning these lessons, too. I'm glad we won and I'm happy we get to go home and get back on our own practice floor. We need it."
 
COMING UP NEXT
• With just three WAC matches remaining on their regular-season schedule, the Aggies' focus turns to Dixie State. NM State meets the Trailblazers on the floor of the Pan American Center Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m.
 
++NM State++