Match Twenty-Seven
NM State (18-8, 9-4 WAC) vs. Chicago State (16-8, 9-4 WAC)
Saturday, Nov. 13 | 11 a.m. | Pan American Center | Las Cruces, N.M.
Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets | NM State Match Notes

THE FIRST SERVE

• The Aggies will be in a familiar spot as they compete to be crowned the WAC West Division Regular Season Champions against Chicago State in the season finale.

• After dropping a tough five-set match against UTEP on Wednesday, NM State will look to maintain an undefeated head-to-head record against the Cougars.

SERIES HISTORY

Overall vs. Chicago State | 18-0 (1.000)

In Las Cruces, N.M. | 7-0 (1.000)

In Chicago, Ill. | 10-0 (1.000)

At neutral sites | 1-0 (1.000)

Streak | NM State won 18

Last five matches | 5-0 (1.000)

Last 10 matches | 10-0 (1.000)

In three-set matches | 14-0 (1.000)

In four-set matches | 2-0 (1.000)

In five-set matches | 2-0 (1.000)

Jordan vs. Chicago State | 18-0 (1.000)

Trifonov vs. NM State | 0-4 (.000)

Last meeting | NM State 3, at Chicago State 2 (Oct. 7, 2021)

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 288-69 (.807) 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 89-12 (.881) 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 and will look to make it eight on Saturday. All told, Jordan has claimed 11 conference titles since his run in Las Cruces began in 1998.

LAST TIME OUT | UTEP 3, at NM State 2 | Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021

• After taking the first two sets, the Aggies fell in three straight sets to drop a stunner to rival UTEP.

• Katie Birtcil led the way for the second straight match, recording a career-high 25 kills on .279 hitting.

• Freshman Sidney McIntosh also had a breakout performance, turning in a career-high six kills.

• Carly Aigner-Swesey reached 50-plus kills for the second-straight match and third time this season, finishing with 51 total helpers.

• Cat Kelly was second on the team in kills with 12, while Shaney Lipscomb added 10 terminations for the Aggies.
 

ABOUT THE AGGIES

• With Chicago State coming off of a victory over Grand Canyon on Thursday night, the Aggies and Cougars will duke it out for the WAC West Division title in the Pan Am on Saturday.

• After playing exactly 100 sets this season, the Aggies lead the WAC in no fewer than five statistical categories including assists per set (12.57), kills per set (13.65), attack percentage (.257), total assists (1,257) and total kills (1,365).

• Senior middle blocker Lia Mosher continues to lead the WAC while ranking among the top players in the nation in terms of attack percentage. The Rui- doso, N.M., product is hitting .399 which ranks 13th among all NCAA Division I volleyball players.

• The hard-hitting tandem of Katie Birtcil and Shaney Lipscomb give the Aggies two of the top ten arms in the WAC. Birtcil's 3.57 kills per set rank seventh among all league players while Lipscomb's figure of 2.86 is the tenth-best in the league.

• With 19 more digs Wednesday night, libero Darian Markham pushed her digs per set average to 4.36 which ranks sixth among all WAC players.

• Carly Aigner-Swesey added 51 assists to her season total on Saturday, giving her an average of 10.24 assists per set in WAC play to rank second against WAC opponents.

SENIOR SENDOFF

• The Aggies will say goodbye to a pair of seniors on Saturday afternoon as Cat Kelly and Shaney Lipscomb approach the conclusion of their senior seasons.

• Kelly, an outside hitter from Albuquerque, N.M., is in her fourth season with NM State and has started 59 matches during her time spent in the crimson and white.

• The New Mexico product has amassed 577 kills and 428 digs across 91 total matches.

• Kelly will be looking to claim her third WAC regular season title on Saturday and will seek her third trip to the NCAA Tournament when the WAC Tournament comes to the Pan Am next week.

• Lipscomb, a right side from San Diego, Calif., has been a dominant offensive force on a pair of Mike Jordan-led squads.

• In just two seasons, Lipscomb tallied over 420 kills and recorded nearly 100 blocks.

• The San Diego native also currently ranks inside the top-10 in all-time hitting percentage in program history, hitting .325 heading into Saturday's contest.

• Lipscomb has already been a part of one WAC regular season championship run and will look to double that number on Saturday with a victory over Chicago State.

SCOUTING CHICAGO STATE

• The Cougars are riding a three-match win streak and are coming immediately off a sweep of Grand Canyon on Thursday night.

• In the season's first meeting between the two WAC squads, Chicago State was led by Yanlis Feliz's 23 kills. Feliz's mark of 5.18 kills per set ranks her first in the WAC and third among NCAA Division I players this season.

• The Cougars also boast one of the WAC's most efficient hitters as Mesalina Severino ranks seventh in the WAC in hitting percentage (.319).

• After getting pushed to five sets for just the second time in series history back in early October, the Aggies will look to pick up its 19th straight victory over CSU.

COMING UP NEXT

• With the conclusion of the regular season upon us, postseason play will be the only competition left for the Aggies. Beginning on November 18, NM State will serve as host to the 2021 WAC Volleyball Tournament. The conference's top eight squads will head to Las Cruces for a chance to claim an automatic birth into the NCAA Tournament.
 

AGGIE ACCOLADES

• Heading into the season, the Aggies ranked 14th among NCAA Division I programs with a .749 winning percentage from 2016-20. Counting matches played this season, NM State holds a .786 winning percentage since 2016 with an overall record of 118-32. 

• NM State picked up its first win against a Big 10 opponent since Sept. 20, 1986, with a five-set win over Northwestern in the Pan Am on March 3, 2021.  

• Alana Embry picked up the first two double-doubles of her career against Northwestern (19 assists, 12 digs) and UTEP (22 assists, 15 digs).

• Senior setter Carly Aigner-Swesey now has five double-doubles on the year after notching 15 assists and 10 digs against Western Carolina at the Colonel Challenge.  

• Kalli Schoening was unstoppable against Western Carolina, as she recorded a career-high seven blocks against the Catamounts. 

• Libero Darian Markham was named WAC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, Sept. 13, after averaging 4.89 digs per set at the Colonel Challenge.

• Cat Kelly posted her first double-double of the season in the Aggies' 3-0 win over South Florida on Sept. 17, 2021. Kelly registered 10 kills and an equal number of digs in NM State's victory. 

• After not being able to play a non-conference schedule in the spring 2021 season, the Aggies did so this season. Through non-conference play, NM State has posted a 9-3 record - the exact same mark as they did in 2019 en route to a 16-0 WAC record, the league's regular-season title and the WAC Tournament title. 

• Katie Birtcil's 24 kills in the Aggies' 3-1 win at Utah Valley on Sept. 23, 2021, represented the second-highest total by a WAC player in a four-set match this season. Additionally, those 24 kills rank as the 19th-most by an NCAA Division I player in a four-set match this season. For her efforts, Birtcil was named the WAC's Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, Sept. 27.