OREM, Utah – Despite playing a hard-fought four sets, NM State (12-11, 4-7 WAC) fell on Thursday night to the first-place Utah Valley Wolverines (16-7, 10-1 WAC) inside Lockhart Arena.
 
"We looked better in stretches," noted Head Coach Mike Jordan. "But they are a really experienced team and it showed tonight."
 
Molly Johnson turned in a career performance as she reached a career-high in kills – tallying a match-high 18. She also added four blocks and four aces to help keep the Aggies competitive. Katie Birtcil ranked second among Aggie attackers with 11 kills while Utah native Mia Peterson turned in seven kills.
 
SET ONE
NM State opened up the set by equaling the WAC leaders through the first 16 points before Utah Valley tallied three-straight kills to take an 11-8 lead and force an Aggie timeout.
 
This would prove to be a turning point in the set as Utah Valley eventually took a 21-12 lead. The Aggies were able to push back by stringing together five straight kills, highlighted by terminations from Jayde Shelton and Mia Peterson.
 
Despite the resistance, NM State would be unable to cover the deficit as they fell 25-18 in the opening set.
 
SET TWO
Once again, neither side was able to gain early momentum as the beginning of the set went back and forth to leave the score at a 10-10 deadlock.
 
With the score still even at 14 points, NM State figured out a way to score five of the ensuing six points thanks in large part to three Utah Valley errors. The run would be capped off by an ace from Darian Markham which forced a Wolverine timeout.
 
The timeout taken by UVU Head Coach Sam Atoa proved to be useful as they went on a 7-1 run out of the break, giving the home side a 22-20 lead.
 
However, NM State was eventually able to respond as they score two of three to even the score at 23. After a bit of high-intensity back-and-forth play, the Aggies used a kill from Mari Sharp to claim a 28-26 win in the second game.
 
SET THREE
The Aggies used the momentum they closed the first set with to jump out to a commanding 7-1 lead to open the third set.
 
With the Aggies ahead by seven points (9-2), Utah Valley would utilize a four-point run to inch their way back into the set. Later, the Wolverines' attack would register a trio of kills as part of a 5-0 run that put them ahead by one point (13-12).
 
From there, the two teams would trade blows on their way to staring at each other with 21 points per side. However, Utah Valley would take control to close the set – winning set three by a score of 25-22.
 
SET FOUR
More highly competitive volleyball was on display to start the fourth set as the Aggies trailed by just one point after 19 total points had been played.
 
It was at this moment that UVU would stack four-straight points to go ahead 14-9. A pair of three-point Aggie runs split by a singular Wolverine point would help the Aggies take an 18-16 lead. The second three-point run came entirely off the serve of Molly Johnson who tallied three of her four service aces in the fourth set.
 
Unfortunately, this would not be enough as Utah Valley finish the match on an 8-1 run to collect their ninth win in a row.
 
MATCH NOTABLES

• Graduate transfer Molly Johnson tallied a career-high 18 kills while also matching her career-best mark in service aces with four. Additionally, Johnson did this while hitting a .424 clip to post her highest hitting percentage since she hit .450 against Milwaukee on Sept. 17. This also marked the fifth time in the last seven matches that Johnson led the Aggies in kills.
• Katie Birtcil secured 11 kills against the Wolverines to post her 14^th match with double-digit kills this season.
• Rylee Fay compiled 31 assists to secure 30-plus assists for the fifth time during her sophomore campaign.
• The loss means the Aggies are now winless across their last four matches to mark their first four-match losing streak since 2013.
• With the loss, the Aggies now sit in ninth place in the WAC standings to reside on the outside looking in with regards to a berth into the WAC Tournament.

 
UP NEXT
NM State will look to get right on Saturday when they pay a visit to a Seattle U (4-14, 0-10 WAC) squad that has yet to win a WAC match this season. The Aggies and Redhawks will collide at 2 p.m. MT inside the Redhawk Center on Saturday afternoon.