LYNCHBURG, Va. - NM State is hitting the road once again to take on Liberty in a matchup between two new members to Conference USA. The Aggies are coming off a split in their midweek series versus I-10 rivals UTEP. The Miners took the match in four sets on Tuesday, but NM State bounced back in a five-set win on Wednesday. NM State moved to 5-1 in the Conference USA standings and currently sit at 12-5 on the season. Liberty has won seven of 16 matches in 2023, and are winless in four CUSA matches.
Match 1 - Saturday, Oct. 7 at 4:00 PM MT
Match 2 - Sunday, Oct. 8 at 10:00 AM MT
The Lady Flames had a blazing start to the season, winning their first seven. The 7-0 start was capped off with an impressive win over No. 23 Hawai'i in Honolulu on Sept. 8. Since then, Liberty has dropped nine consecutive matches. The team has won just six of their last 33 sets across the nearly month-long span. Notably, six of the nine losses have come against opponents that were either ranked or are in the top-40 in RPI. The other three losses came against Old Dominion in five sets, and a pair to Middle Tennessee, where the Lady Flames won just one of seven total sets.
Scouting the Lady Flames
Liberty is under the direction of Trevor Johnson, who has a career record of 81-70 in his six seasons in Lynchburg. 2022 was one of the best years in program history, finishing 23-9 and advancing to the ASUN Championship Game before falling to FGCU. The Lady Flames earned the regular-season championship with a record of 14-2 in ASUN action, earning a trip to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
One of the most integral members of last season's squad is back. Delaney Dilfer was named ASUN Setter of the Year for her efforts, averaging 11.15 assists per set. Dilfer has already been named CUSA Setter of the Week once so far in 2023, and will look to build on her 55-assist performance in her last outing against Western Kentucky.
Kamryn Bacus will get a decent chunk of the workload offensively, most recently dialing up 17 kills on 62 against the Hilltoppers. Bacus has been named CUSA Offensive Player of the Week once already this season and leads the team with 3.17 kills per set.
That same week (Sept. 4), middle blocker Madison Blane earned CUSA Defensive Player of the Weeek honors. The junior is averaging 1.17 blocks per set this season, leading the Lady Flames.
How to Follow
Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+ and available to follow on StatBroadcast. The links for both services can be found at nmstatesports.com.
For complete coverage of NM State Volleyball, follow us on Twitter (@NMStateVBall), Instagram (@NMStateVBall) and like us on Facebook (NM State Volleyball). You can also follow along with Aggie Volleyball via NMStateSports.com.
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