First Serve
• NM State picked up a much-needed win to stay alive in the WAC Tournament hunt, defeating Seattle U in five sets on the road this past Saturday.
• As of Wednesday night, the Aggies are tied for seventh in the league standings with California Baptist – firmly in the hunt with three games to go.
• NM State is in a position in which it controls its own destiny as its final two final home matches come against teams currently below them in the WAC standings in Tarleton and Abilene Christian.
Last Time Out | NM State 3, NM State 2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 27-29, 15-13)
• NM State (13-11, 5-7 WAC) fell on Thursday night to the first-place Utah Valley Wolverines (16-7, 10-1 WAC) inside Lockhart Arena.
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Molly Johnson turned in a career performance for the ages – finishing with 37 kills, 21 digs, four blocks and one ace while hitting a .420 clip. The 37-kill outing marked the most kills for an Aggie in a single set in program history.
• Johnson was named WAC Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts – turning in a 37 kill performance against Seattle and an 18 kill match against Utah Valley on Thursday.
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Jayde Shelton also turned in a career-best total as she finished with 11 kills on just 27 swings.
•The Aggies also posted season highs in kills (70) and attempts (193) while equaling their season-best in digs (86).
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 (0.51) while ranking ninth in assists per set (6.39).
• Meanwhile, Mosher ranks second in the conference in hitting percentage (.356).
• The attack of
Katie Birtcil has also been one of the most effective in the league this season as she ranks fifth in kills per set at 3.24 across 85 sets on the season. The do-it-all outside hitter also ranks seventh in points per set (3.57).
• Leading the Aggies' defense,
Darian Markham tallies the fourth-most digs among league Liberos at 4.30 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 (12.02) and kills (12.97) 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 (456) and fourth in block assists (379) while she ranks ninth in solo blocks (77). She also ranks second all-time in career hitting percentage at .348.
Johnson Breaks 30-Year-Old Record
In Saturday's contest against Seattle U,
Molly Johnson posted 37 total kills to surpass a single-match program record for kill in a match. Previously, Vanessa White held the record with 35 kills in five sets against UTEP on August 31, 1991.
Markham Better Than Most
Now in her third season with the Crimson & White,
Darian Markham has tallied 1020 digs across 248 sets to average 4.11 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 45 of the Aggies' 129 aces on the season - a mark that is just one 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 wacinternational.tv.
Live stats will also be available to fans this weekend via StatBroadcast at this link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=418504
Up Next
Following Thursday's match against Tarleton, the Aggies will host Abilene Christian for Senior Day to close out the 2022 regular season. First serve is expected at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12.
