EDINBURG, Texas  – The New Mexico State women's volleyball team held UT Rio Grande Valley to .079 hitting and swept the Vaqueros, 25-20, 25-21, 25-15, in Edinburg, Texas to extend its WAC winning streak to 23 matches.
 
"The good news is, everybody got to play," said head coach Mike Jordan. "I don't think we were very efficient offensively, we can score more if the passing is a little better. We scored too many points for our opponent but at this point, I have to be patient because we are still a work in progress. We played three different lineups and since we didn't have a non-conference we're figuring some things out on the fly. UTRGV served well and we struggled with the service pressure but I was pleased with our defensive effort and the block was the best it's been all year."
 
After a hot start from the Vaqueros (0-5, 0-3 WAC) gave them a 5-3 lead, NM State (3-0, 3-0 WAC) went on a 12-5 run to lead 15-10 at the media timeout. The Aggies stayed in control out of the media, extending their lead to 19-11 late in set one. UT Rio Grande Valley battled back to cut the Aggie lead to 23-19 but two big blocks helped close out the set 25-20 in favor of NM State.
 
The Aggies came out of the gates firing in set two, building up an 18-9 lead late in the set. However, with Samaret Caraballo at the service line, the Vaqueros scored seven-straight points to make it 18-16. The two sides remained close but an exclamation mark kill from Lia Mosher ended set two 25-21 in favor of NM State. Savannah Davison hit five of her eight kills in the second set.
 
The third and final set was all Aggies who caught fire to end the match. As a team, NM State hit .433 in the set with 14 kills and just one attack error. New Mexico State held UTRGV to .038 hitting to cap off a dominant evening.
 
Davison and Mosher each finished with eight kills and five block assists while Mosher stayed hot with a .353 hitting percentage. Shaney Lipscomb and Victoria Barrett added seven kills apiece while Cat Kelly hit three kills on .429 hitting in her return from injury. Katie Birtcil contributed five kills on just 11 swings.
 
Setters Natalie Mikels and Carly Aigner-Swesey facilitated an Aggie offense that hit .269 with 41 kills. Mikels finished with 19 assists while Aigner-Swesey dropped 14 dimes.
 
NM State will look for the series sweep against the Vaqueros with another matchup tomorrow, Feb. 9, at 11 a.m. (MT) from Edinburg, Texas. Fans can catch all the Aggie action live on the WAC Digital Network.