First Serve
• NM State is in need of a win after dropping its fourth straight on Thursday night against Utah Valley.
 
• The Aggies' tournament hopes might be on the line on Saturday as they will enter the tilt against the Redhawks sitting in ninth place in the WAC standings with just three matches to play.
 
• Despite the recent struggles, the remainder of the schedule looks promising for the Aggies as their final matches will come against three of the four teams that sit below them in the league standings.
 
Last Time Out | Utah Valley 3, NM State 1 (25-18, 26-28, 25-22, 25-20)
• 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.
 
• Molly Johnson turned in a career performance as she reached a career-high in kills – tallying a match-high 18. 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.
 
• Johnson 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.
 
• The loss means the Aggies are now winless across their last four matches to mark their first four-match losing streak since 2013.
 
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 (0.52) while ranking ninth in assists per set (6.34).
 
• Meanwhile, Mosher ranks second in the conference in hitting percentage (.353) and is tied for seventh 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 3.40 across 80 sets on the season. The do-it-all outside hitter also ranks fifth in points per set (3.75).
 
• Leading the Aggies' defense, Darian Markham tallies the fourth-most digs among league Liberos at 4.34 per set.
 
• As a team, the Aggies are currently holding opponents to a .188 combined hitting percentage - a mark that is good for third-best in the conference.
 
• Also, the Aggies rank fourth in the league in assists (11.98) and kills (12.90) 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 (454) and fourth in block assists (377) while she ranks ninth in solo blocks (77). She also ranks second all-time in career hitting percentage at .347.
 
Markham Better Than Most
Now in her third season with the Crimson & White, Darian Markham has tallied 1002 digs across 243 sets to average 4.12 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' 120 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
• 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 looking to tune in to this weekend's matches will be able to do so via ESPN+
 
Live stats will also be available to fans this weekend via StatBroadcast at this link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=419030.
 
Up Next
Following Saturday's match against Seattle U, the Aggies will return to the friendly confines of the Pan American Center for a two-game homestand to close out the 2022 regular season. To start, NM State will host Tarleton on Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. before battling on Senior Day with Abilene Christian at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12.