LOS ANGELES – After being on the brink of opening the match with a first-set win, the Aggies (6-3, 0-0 WAC) fell to Southern California (6-3, 0-0 Pac-12) in straight sets (26-24, 25-17, 25-16).

"We looked really good for a while and unfortunately we got tentative late in the first set and blew a lead," said Head Coach Mike Jordan following the contest. "If we're more aggressive situationally, we can play with quality programs like USC. If not, we'll struggle. We need a large group of people to step up and battle and hopefully, the moment won't be too big for them."
 
Outside hitter Katie Birtcil led the Aggies' offense with 12 kills while Lia Mosher also turned in a solid performance – finishing with six kills on just nine swings.
 
Both Rylee Fay and Bianca Perez finished the night with 12 assists apiece while Darian Markham and Mari Sharp each finished with double-digit dig totals in the Trojan Challenge opener.
 
SET ONE
Both teams were taking advantage of opportunities early on as the match began with a bit of back-and-forth scoring action until NM State scored five-straight points to claim a 12-9 lead and force a Trojan timeout.
 
With USC battling back to even the score at 17, Katie Birtcil tallied a kill that was followed by consecutive combo blocks from the tandem of Molly Johnson and Taylor Snow. Johnson then capitalized the run with an emphatic kill to give the Aggies a 21-17 advantage.
 
Eventually, a Mari Sharp kill would put Mike Jordan's squad ahead 24-21, however, this would be the final point the Aggies would score in the set as USC notched the next five points to take a 26-24 set win.
 
SET TWO
The Aggies showed some fight to open the second set as a kill from Lia Mosher followed by a Rylee Fay ace developed into an 8-7 NM State lead.
 
NM State would maintain the lead briefly until the Trojans tallied a point to go out front 11-10. This would be the start of an 8-1 run for USC that put the Aggies in need of a comeback.
 
Unfortunately, the Trojans would ultimately find themselves with set point at 24-14. Sharp was able to help the Aggies fend off USC for three points as she recorded a kill and an ace before NM State fell 25-17 in the second set.
 
SET THREE
Despite the Aggies taking an early 3-2 lead, USC responded with a 3-0 run to take over the third set.

NM State would stay within three points until the Trojans took a 13-9 lead after a self-inflicted wound in the form of an Aggie service error.
 
USC would cap off the match with a 25-16 set win.
 
MATCH NOTABLES

• Katie Birtcil recorded her fourth-straight match with double-digit kills as she posted 12 against the Trojans on Thursday evening.
• With her block assist in the third set, Lia Mosher has now tallied at least one block in all nine of the Aggies' matches this season after recording one or more blocks in 26 out of 29 matches last season.
• Darian Markham has now recorded 10-plus digs in 23-straight matches after finishing with 12 tonight.
• Mari Sharp notched 10-plus digs for the third time this season as she finished with exactly 10 against Southern California.

 
UP NEXT
The Aggies will return to the court inside the Galen Center on Friday evening when they face off with San Jose State at 5:30 p.m. MT. This will mark the Aggies' second of three matches during the Trojan Challenge this weekend.
 
 The match will be aired on the Pac-12 network at this link.