LAS CRUCES, N.M. – NM State (14-11, 6-7 WAC) utilized one of its most efficient hitting nights of the season to take down visiting Tarleton (12-16, 4-9 WAC) in three sets (25-16, 25-16, 25-19) on Thursday night inside the Pan American Center.
 
Molly Johnson paced the Aggies in kills for the third-straight match as she finished with 16 kills while hitting a blistering .375 percentage. Meanwhile, Taylor Snow wreaked havoc at the net defensively – finishing the night with six of the Aggies' nine total blocks, including three of which came with no help.
 
Darian Markham also continued to prove why she is one of the elite Liberos in the conference as she finished with 20 digs to post her seventh match of 20-plus digs on the year. Rylee Fay played a big part in the win as well as she managed three aces on the night. With the three added to her season total, she now sits in a tie for fifth all-time in program history for aces in a season (48).
 
SET ONE
Tarleton was able to jump out to a quick 3-0 lead, but the two teams battled for much of the first set, unable to create separation until the Aggies used a 4-0 run of their own to take a 13-9 advantage to force a Texan timeout. Reigning WAC Offensive Player of the Week Molly Johnson provided three of her seven first-set kills during the run.
 
The Crimson and White maintained their lead for the rest of the match, swelling as high as eight (23-15), before ending the set in a 25-16 victory.
 
NM State hit .382 for the set, with just two attack errors while adding four blocks in the process. Meanwhile, the Aggie defense limited the Tarleton attackers to a .095 clip.
 
SET TWO
The Aggies were able to replicate their successes from the opening set, starting with a 5-0 run that was punctuated with a service ace by Rylee Fay. Aces appeared to be the theme in the second set as the two teams combined for five service aces in the second game – three for the Aggies and a pair for the Texans.
 
Taylor Snow's presence at the net allowed the freshman to rack up three blocks in the set as the Aggies cruised to a 25-16 victory in set two. After limiting the Texans to a sub-.100 hitting percentage in the first, the Aggie defense tightened its grip even more as they limited Tarleton to a combined .031 hitting percentage in set two.
 
SET THREE
In the third set, the Aggies continued to be locked in from the service line – tallying six total aces in the final frame.
After letting the Texans hang around a bit, Molly Johnson put up back-to-back service aces to tie things up at seven apiece while beginning to shift the momentum in the favor of the Aggies.
 
Rylee Fay also added a pair of aces to put NM State ahead in the set (12-10), while further cementing her place in the Aggie record book.
 
Mari Sharp joined in on the fun, collecting a pair of aces to put the Aggies up eight points late in the set (19-11). Sharp's aces came amidst a seven-point NM State run that put the home side in control before working its way to a 25-19 victory to secure the sixth sweep of the season.
 
MATCH NOTABLES

• Rylee Fay posted three or more aces for the fifth time this season as she moved up to fifth all-time in service aces in a single season by an Aggie.
• Molly Johnson posted double-digit kills for the ninth time in the last 10 matches as she continued to strengthen her case for a place on the all-conference team with a strong back half of the season.
• The Aggies' combined hitting percentage of .292 marks the fourth-best team outing of the season.
• NM State's 45 kills also finished as one of the best marks of the season as they have only recorded more kills in a three-set match one other time this season.
• Thursday also went down as the 12^th time during the 2022 campaign that the Aggies have finished with at least nine blocks as a unit. 

WAC TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS
The Aggies' current two-match win streak has them tied for sixth place in the conference which has them firmly in the mix for a berth into the eight-team WAC Tournament in Edinburg, Texas, next week.
 
With a 6-7 record in league play, the Aggies are tied with Southern Utah and California Baptist while sitting just ahead of Utah Tech (5-8). Entering Saturday, the Aggies still have several paths into the tournament field.
 
The first path is the simplest: win and they are in.
 
However, should the Aggies fall to Abilene Christian this weekend, there is still a way for the Aggies to get in as they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over both California Baptist and Southern Utah. In the event of a three-way tie, NM State would also earn a spot in the tournament field if they finished in a three-way tie with California Baptist and Southern Utah or California Baptist and Utah Tech.
 
Another scenario would be a four-way tie at 6-8 between the four schools fighting for the final three spots. In this case, NM State would earn the highest seed thanks to its 3-2 combined record against the other three programs.
 
UP NEXT
NM State will continue fighting to extend its season on Saturday as they are scheduled to host Abilene Christian on Senior Day at 1 p.m. this weekend.