RICHMOND, Ky. – The New Mexico State volleyball team dominated Eastern Kentucky in straight sets, 25-16, 25-22, 25-22, to open the Colonel Challenge in Richmond, Ky., with a win on Friday afternoon.
 
"Solid effort from us this morning," said head coach Mike Jordan. "We had a long day of travel yesterday, crossing two time zones, and we could've been flat but we handled it well. We have a short turnaround as we got the short end of the stick on the scheduling and have to play in less than two hours which will be tough on us."
 
NM State (4-3, 0-0 WAC) dominated the first set, hitting .333 with just four errors on its way to the 25-16 win. Katie Birtcil was unstoppable early as she hit seven kills on 10 swings in the frame while the Aggies held EKU to just .091 hitting.
 
The Colonels punched back in the second set, building early leads of 7-2 and 13-6 midway through the set. However, the Aggies battled and ripped off an 11-3 run to take a 17-16 lead after the media timeout. From there, the two sides went back-and-forth before Victoria Barrett ended the set, 25-22, from the back row.
 
In the third set, NM State raced out to a 12-6 lead before the Colonels eventually closed to 15-14 at the media timeout. However, the Aggies went on a 9-4 run to force set point up 24-18. Then, EKU scored the next four points, forcing head coach Mike Jordan to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, Kalli Schoening recorded the kill to end the set and the match in favor of the Aggies.
 
Birtcil led the way for NM State with 12 kills on 20 swings to finish the day hitting .500. Shaney Lipscomb added 10 kills on .350 hitting while Lia Mosher finished with seven kills and a .455 hitting percentage. This was the 10^th-straight match in which Mosher hit above .310, dating back to the spring. Mosher has yet to hit below .360 this season.
 
Carly Aigner-Swesey and Alana Embry facilitated an Aggie offense that hit .231 on the day with 18 and 17 dimes, respectively, for the NM State setters. Embry finished just one dig shy of a double-double with nine.
 
The Aggies now ready for a second match today, taking on Western Carolina at approximately 2 p.m. (MT). There is no stream but fans can keep up with all action with live stats.