LAS CRUCES – A rematch of the WAC Tournament Championship from a season ago was the closing scene of the Aggies' 2021 year. As the host of the WAC Tournament, the Aggies fell to Utah Valley in five extremely tight sets, 25-22, 17-25, 26-24, 21-25, 12-15.
In the scorebook, NM State was led by
Katie Birtcil who recorded 24 kills and four blocks from the outside hitter position. Senior
Shaney Lipscomb was also impressive as she added another four blocks and tallied 14 kills. Carly-Aigner Swesey helped the offense operate, posting assists on 51 of the Aggies 63 kills.
SET ONE | NM State 25, Utah Valley 22
The Aggies had to fight to take the opening set as they led 15-11 at the media break. Up to that point, Birtcil led the way with four kills. Following the timeout, Utah Valley went on a five-point run to take the lead. A Birtcil kill ended the run and tied the match at 16-16. Utah Valley extended the lead to three points again before a
Cat Kelly kill helped the Aggies pull even. To conclude the set, NM State outscored the Wolverines 6-3, highlighted by more production from Birtcil and a
Shaney Lipscomb kill finished off the set.
SET TWO | Utah Valley 25, NM State 17
The beginning of the second set was indicative of how tight the WAC Quarterfinal would be the rest of the way as the biggest lead in the first 21 points was just two. After being tied 10-10, the Wolverines outscored the Aggies 6-1 to take a 16-11 lead. A pair of
Lia Mosher terminations were some of the few bright spots to close out the set as Utah Valley pulled even in the match.
SET THREE | NM State 26, Utah Valley 24
The tightest set of the match came in set three as NM State edged out a 26-24 win. In the set, the Aggies were led by seven kills from Birtcil, while Lipscomb registered four kills. After leading by two at the break, the Aggies capitalized by kills from
Lia Mosher and
Mari Sharp to take a 22-15 lead. However, the Wolverines would find a way to battle back, tying the set at 23-23. In some of the most exciting volleyball of the day, the Aggies finished off the set behind kills from Birtcil and Lipscomb.
SET FOUR | Utah Valley 25, NM State 21
In the fourth set, the Utah Valley size at the net seemed to impose its will as they hit .308 for the set and recorded four blocks. Early on, back-to-back services aces from the palm of
Darian Markham gave the Aggies a 12-11 advantage. Kills from Lipscomb and Kelly on the way to an 18-18 deadlock were the final showings of a potent Aggie offense as the Wolverines closed on a 7-3 run to push the match to a fifth set.
SET FIVE | Utah Valley 15, NM State 12
In front of an encouraging home crowd inside the Pan American Center, the Aggies opened the fifth set with a 3-1 scoring run that was powered by two kills from
Shaney Lipscomb. A pair of kills from Utah Valley's Kazna Tanuvasa saw the Wolverines capture its first lead of the final set before closing out the match. A kill from Birtcil was the Aggies last effort as UVU was able to take down the Aggies in the final WAC Quarterfinal matchup of the day.
