First Serve
• NM State will look to bounce back on Thursday as they head to face the Wolverines in Orem, Utah, after falling in Nacogdoches, Texas, on Saturday morning.
• Both teams will have something to play for when it comes to the WAC Tournament, with Utah Valley currently holding a slight lead at the top of the conference, while the Aggies are currently in eighth, fiercely contending to maintain a spot in the tournament.
Last Time Out | Stephen F. Austin 3, NM State 0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-21)
• NM State (12-10, 4-6 WAC) suffered its third-straight loss after falling in three sets (25-14, 25-16, 25-21) to Stephen F. Austin (21-3, 9-2 WAC).
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Katie Birtcil led the way for the Aggies on the offensive end – finishing the day with 11 kills.
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Lia Mosher finished second on the team in kills with seven, while adding in a pair of blocks.
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Jayde Shelton tied a career-high with six kills on just twelve swings.
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Darian Markham added 12 digs in the match, doing so in all but one of the 22 matches she's played this season.
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 (0.54) while ranking ninth in assists per set (6.27).
• Meanwhile, Mosher ranks second in the conference in hitting percentage (.369) and eighth in blocks per set (1.00).
• The attack of
Katie Birtcil has also been one of the most effective in the league this season as she ranks second in kills per set at 3.43 across 76 sets on the season. The do-it-all outside hitter also ranks fifth in points per set (3.77).
• Leading the Aggies' defense,
Darian Markham tallies the fourth-most digs among league Liberos at 4.47 per set.
• As a team, the Aggies are currently holding opponents to a .186 combined hitting percentage - a mark that is good for third in the conference.
• Also, the Aggies rank fourth in the league in assists (11.97) and kills (12.92) 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 (450) and fourth in block assists (374) while she ranks ninth in solo blocks (76). She also ranks second all-time in career hitting percentage at .350.
Markham Better Than Most
Now in her third season with the Crimson & White,
Darian Markham has tallied 987 digs across 239 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' 110 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 12th among all Division I servers in aces per set at 0.54.
Defending Our Side in Riverside
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Taylor Snow's 11-block outing against the Lancers 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 within the United States looking to tune in to this weekend's matches will be able to do so via ESPN+ while international fans can find the match on wacinternational.tv.
Live stats will also be available to fans this weekend via StatBroadcast at this link:
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=419803.
Up Next
Following Thursday's match against Utah Valley, the Aggies will travel to the Pacific Northwest to face Seattle on Nov. 5. This will mark NM State's final road tilt before returning home for their final two matches of the season.
