First Serve
• The Aggies hit the road once more as they travel to Los Angeles for a trio of matches ahead of entering conference play.
 
• NM State enters the weekend with a 6-2 record after splitting a two-match series with UC Santa Barbara at home last weekend.
 
• At the Trojan Challenge, NM State will face off with host Southern California on Thursday before matching up against San Jose State and UW-Milwaukee on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
 
Weekend Notes
• In a pair of matches against a highly talented UC Santa Barbara team last weekend, the Aggies fell 3-1 (23-25, 23-25, 25-16, 21-25) on Friday, but righted the ship on Saturday to return the favor in the form of a 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 16-25, 25-23) victory.
 
• Last weekend, the Aggies were led on the offensive side by Preseason WAC Player of the Year Katie Birtcil who notched her first 20-kill outing of the season in Saturday's contest. In total, Birtcil finished with 34 kills to average 4.25 kills per set while maintaining a steady .238 hitting percentage.
 
• Defensively, senior middle blocker Lia Mosher led the way against the Gauchos - tallying 11 total blocks, including tying her season-high with seven in the win on Saturday.
 
• Currently, four different Aggies rank among the top five in the WAC across four major statistical categories. Lia Mosher paces the WAC in blocks per set at 1.25 while Rylee Fay ranks second in the league in service aces per set at 0.57, Darian Markham's average of 4.29 digs per set is good for fourth-best and Birtcil's mark of 3.46 kills per set also ranks fourth in the WAC.
 
• Additionally, Fay ranks 31st among all Division I servers with her aces per set average.
 
• As a team, the Aggies are currently holding opponents to the lowest hitting percentage among their WAC counterparts as attackers are combining to hit a percentage of just .154 across eight matches. This mark is also good for 35th in the country.
• Fay's seven-ace outing against North Carolina A&T on Sept. 2 ties her for third-most aces in a four-set match this season among all D-I programs and is also tied for most in a four-set match in program history.

Keep Up with the Aggies
Fans looking to tune in to this weekend's matches will be able to do so for free via USC's school-produced platform at this link: https://pac-12.com/live/usc. Carlo Jimenez (play-by-play) and Eli Kleinmann (color analyst) will be on the call during the weekend.
 
Live stats will also be available to fans this weekend via SIDEARM at this link: https://usctrojans.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary.
 
Scouting Southern California
• The Trojans enter the weekend boasting an overall record of 5-3 and are coming off a pair of weekend matches at Hawaii in which they split the series.
 
• Offensively, USC is led by Texas transfer Skylar Fields who leads the way with 4.10 kills per set while setter Mia Tuaniga averages 10.90 assists per set to rank first among all Pac-12 setters and seventh nationally.
 
• The Aggies have collided with the Trojans three times in program history, however, the Aggies have yet to claim a victory over Southern California. This will mark the first time since 1982 that the two meet.
 
Scouting San Jose State
• The Spartans head to Los Angeles with a 4-3 overall record and are riding a two-match losing streak after falling to UCLA and Loyola Marymount on back-to-back evenings last weekend.
 
• Statistically speaking, San Jose State's offense is led by the trio of Amethyst Harper, Haylee Nelson and Blaire Fleming who each average better than three kills per set.
 
• NM State will see a familiar face on Friday when they take on the Spartans as former Aggie Carly Aigner-Swesey now dons blue and gold and will serve as one of two talented Spartan setters. Aigner-Swesey was the Aggies' primary setter last season and posted a team-best 8.62 assists per set to help lead the Aggies to a WAC West Division Regular Season title. At 5.21 assists per set this season, she ranks second in on the San Jose State roster.
 
• The Aggies and Spartans also have an extensive history as the two programs spent time together in both the Big West Conference and Western Athletic Conference. NM State has squared off with San Jose State a total of 36 times and has dominated the series - earning 25 wins compared to just nine losses. The two sides last lined up across from one another in 2012.
 
Scouting UW-Milwaukee
• Despite recording 20-plus wins in both 2021 and 2019, the Panthers are off to a slow start in 2022 as they enter the weekend with a 1-7 record. However, they have played a stacked schedule which includes matches against Texas Tech, Notre Dame, Utah, Purdue, LSU and No. 23 Marquette.
 
• Outside hitter Madi Malone leads UW-Milwaukee in kills per set (2.97) while Ari Miller records 0.84 blocks per set to hold down the net on the defensive side.
 
• This will be the first meeting between the Aggies and Panthers in the two program's history.
 
Up Next
The Trojan Challenge will serve as a temporary conclusion of non-conference matches as the Aggies enter WAC play next week when they host UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday, Sept. 22. The tilt against the Vaqueros will also kick off a four-match home stand for the Aggies as they welcome California Baptist, Southern Utah and Utah Tech following their meeting with UTRGV.