First Serve
• After suffering back-to-back losses, NM State will head to Nacogdoches, Texas, to take on a Stephen F. Austin team that has claimed victory in seven of its last eight matches. The Lumberjacks are immediately coming off a win over UT Rio Grande Valley to represent the Vaqueros lone loss in WAC play this season.
• The Aggies will look to return to the win column on Saturday as they aim to avoid their first three-match losing streak since the 2017 season when they fell to Notre Dame, North Dakota and No. 11 UCLA in consecutive constests.
Last Time Out | UT Arlington 3, NM State 1 (25-13, 19-25, 27-25, 25-23)
• Coming home for one game before heading back on the road, NM State (12-8, 4-4 WAC) was unable to earn itself a bit of breathing room in a crowded conference field, falling to UT Arlington (14-7, 6-3 WAC) in four sets (13-25, 25-19, 25-27, 25-23).
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Katie Birtcil finished the night as the Aggies' leader in the box score with regards to the offensive side of things as she finished with 18 kills.
Molly Johnson also tallied double-digit kills – ending the match with 11.
• Defensively, the block continued to be a strong point for Jordan's squad as they finished with 12 total blocks, including five of which included freshman
Taylor Snow.
• The Aggies leader in kills per set,
Katie Birtcil paced the Aggies in kills for the 12th time this season as she reached 18 kills to mark her highest total in the last four matches.
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Molly Johnson tallied double-digit kills for the fifth-straight match and the ninth time in the season.
• Upon finishing the night with five total blocks, Snow has now turned in five matches this season with at least a handful of stuffs.
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Rylee Fay wrapped up the night just one assist shy of her career-high as she posted 34 assists against the Mavericks on Thursday night.
Cream of the Conference Crop
• Currently,
Rylee Fay is among the best in the WAC in a pair of categories as she paces the league in service aces per set (0.57) while ranking ninth in assists per set (6.26).
• Meanwhile, Mosher ranks second in the conference in hitting percentage (.365) and seventh in blocks per set (1.01).
• The attack of
Katie Birtcil has also been one of the most effective in the league this season as she ranks third in kills per set at 3.42 across 73 sets on the season. The do-it-all outside hitter also ranks fourth in points per set (3.77).
• Leading the Aggies' defense,
Darian Markham tallies the fifth-most digs among league Liberos at 4.38 per set.
• As a team, the Aggies are currently holding opponents to a .180 combined hitting percentage - a mark that is good for second in the conference.
• Also, the Aggies rank fourth in the league in assists (11.95) and kills (12.89) as a team.
Leaderboard Lia
• In addition to her dominance this season,
Lia Mosher continues to move up the all-time ranks in program history. The sixth-year senior currently sits in fifth all-time in Aggie history in both total blocks (448) and fourth in block assists (372) while she ranks ninth in solo blocks (76). She also ranks second all-time in career hitting percentage at .349.
Markham Better Than Most
Now in her third season with the Crimson & White,
Darian Markham has tallied 975 digs across 236 sets to average 4.13 digs per set with the Aggies. With that, the junior from McKinney, Texas, currently sits in second all time in digs per set in Aggie history.
The 'A' in Fay Stands for Ace
• The sophomore setter from Iowa City, Iowa is quickly putting together one of the best seasons in program history from the service line. She is currently responsible for 43 of the Aggies' 108 aces on the season - a mark that is just three away from cracking the top-10 in program history in single-season ace totals.
• From an individual match perspective, Fay put together two of the best performances by anyone to wear the Crimson & White. On Sept. 2, Fay recorded seven aces in a four-set win over North Carolina A&T to put herself in a tie for the most by any Aggie in a four-set match.
• Later in the season, Fay would equal that feat by notching seven aces in a four-set win over Southern Utah. With that seven-ace outing against the Trailblazers, Fay is the only server in the country to achieve seven or more aces in multiple four-set contests.
• Fay also prides herself as one of the most consistent servers in the country as she ranks 10th among all Division I servers in aces per set at 0.57.
Defending Our Side in Riverside
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Taylor Snows 11-block outing against the Lancers last Thursday put her in elite company as the single-match total places her in a tie for second-most in program history in a four-set match. The last time an Aggie recorded such numbers? Julianna Salanoa on Oct. 7, 2019, who also engineered an 11-block performance on the road against the Lancers.
• The dominant defensive showing from the Aggies also produced the most blocks by any Aggie team since NM State traveled to Riverside and collected 17 blocks against the Lancers in October of 2019.
Keep Up with the Aggies
Fans looking to tune in to this weekend's matches will be able to do so via
wacinternational.tv.
Live stats will also be available to fans this weekend via SideArm Stats at this link:
https://sfajacks.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary.
Up Next
Upon completing their tenth week of WAC action, NM State will return to the road as they prepare to take on Utah Valley and Seattle U before returning home for their final homestand of the season.
