Match Twenty-Eight
NM State (19-8, 9-4 WAC) vs. Utah Valley (13-12, 8-6 WAC)
Thursday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m. | Pan American Center | Las Cruces, N.M.
Watch | NM State Match Notes | Tickets | Live Stats 
 

THE FIRST SERVE

• The Aggies kick off their quest for a sixth WAC Tournament Title on Thursday in a rematch of the WAC Tournament championship match in spring of 2021.

• This will be the third meeting of the season with the Wolverines. NM State is 2-0 in those matches as they have claimed victory by a score of 3-1 in both previous meetings.

SERIES HISTORY

Overall vs. Utah Valley | 16-5 (.762)

In Las Cruces, N.M. | 8-0 (1.000)

In Orem, Utah | 6-5 (.545)

At neutral sites | 1-0 (1.000)

Streak | NM State won 2

Last five matches | 3-2 (.600)

Last 10 matches | 7-3 (.700)

In three-set matches | 5-2 (.714)

In four-set matches | 8-0 (1.000)

In five-set matches | 3-3 (.500)

Jordan vs. Utah Valley | 16-5 (.762)

Atoa vs. NM State | 5-16 (.238)

Last meeting | NM State 3, at Utah Valley 1 (Nov. 6, 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 | at NM State 3, Chicago State 1 | Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021

• The Aggies did not quite have a "tune-up" game entering the WAC Tournament as they were battling one of the top team in the conference for the WAC West Division Title.

• After dropping the opening set 21-25, the Aggies dominated set two 25-17 behind six kills from Katie Birtcil.

• Seniors Cat Kelly and Shaney Lipscomb motored a six-point run in the third to help the Aggies take a 2-1 lead.

• Nine errors from Chicago State was the story in the final set as Kelly put away the Cougars with the final kill of the regular season.

ABOUT THE AGGIES

• The Aggies will play host for the WAC Tournament for the third time in WAC history. The Pan Am was also home to the tournament in 2007 and 2016.

• Entering postseason play, the Aggies lead the WAC in no fewer than five statistical categories including assists per set (12.63), kills per set (13.73), attack percentage (.262), total assists (1,314) and total kills (1,428).

• 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 .407 which ranks 18th 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 3.62 kills per set rank seventh among all league players while Lipscomb's figure of 2.88 is the tenth-best in the league.

• With 14 more digs Saturday night, libero Darian Markham pushed her digs per set average to 4.36 which ranks seventh among all WAC players.

• Carly Aigner-Swesey added 46 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.

SCOUTING UTAH VALLEY

• The Wolverines bring one of the WAC's top defenses to town as Utah Valley leads the league in blocks per set at 2.65.

• Senior middle blocker Sadie Hamson is tops on UVU individually in blocks per set, recording 1.23 a set.

• Offensively, Kazna Tanuvasa carries the Wolverines as she registers 3.66 kills per set.

• Junior outside hitter will also be a force the Aggie defense has to deal with, ranking second on the team in kills per set (2.29).

• Although the Wolverines dropped both matchups this year, UVU knocked off the Aggies in the most recent WAC Tournament, played in the Wolverines home gym in Orem, Utah.

FOUR AGGIES EARN ALL-WAC HONORS

• Highlighted by three members on the All-WAC First Team, the WAC West Division Champs received four total awards.

• Katie Birtcil finished the year ranked seventh in the WAC with 3.62 kills per set to receive First Team All-WAC honors.

• Joining Birtcil was Lia Mosher who posted a .407 hitting percentage to pace the WAC and lead a dominant Aggie offense.

• Shaney Lipscomb was also named to the first team, ranking among the top-10 in the WAC in both hitting percentage (6th, .326) and kills per set (10th, 2.88)

• Senior setter Carly Aigner-Swesey was the final Aggie who earned recognition, landing on the All-WAC Second Team after ranking second in the WAC in assists per set in WAC play (10.33)

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.

• The Aggies' Lia Mosher earned the third WAC Athlete of the Week award for the Aggies this season. She was named Defensive Player of the Week behind a week in which she averaged 1.11 blocks per set and helped the Aggies clinch the West Division title.