SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - NM State opened the Sacramento State Invitational with a five-set loss on Thursday to San Francisco. The Dons (2-2) came back from a 2-1 set deficit, taking the fifth set in convincing fashion. Yasso Amin and Starr Williams led the way for the Crimson & White, posting 17 and 16 kills, respectively. NM State (1-2) failed to overcome a season-high 30 attack errors, including five in the final frame.

Set-by-set: NM State loses 2-3 (19-25, 25-19, 26-24, 22-25, 4-15)

FIRST SET

The Dons got out to a hot start at the Sacramento State Invitational thanks to solid defense on both the front and back row. San Francisco tallied 22 digs and five blocks in the opening frame, holding NM State to a .116 hitting percentage. The Dons took the first set comfortably, winning 25-19.

SECOND SET

Back-to-back Aggie errors put them behind 10-8 early in the second set, which is where the margin stayed at the media timeout (15-13). Mari Sharp recorded kills on two consecutive points to later tie up the set at 17-17, before the two sides traded service errors to be knotted up at 18 apiece. Starr Williams, who entered the weekend with the nation's fifth-highest hitting percentage, returned to her ways of a week prior, with two kills down the stretch of the second set. Nicole Briggs joined in on the action with a kill, a block solo, and a set-clinching block assist. Briggs teamed up Yasso Amin to cap off a 7-1 run, closing out the set by a score of 25-19 in favor of the Aggies.

THIRD SET

NM State pulled ahead 5-1 early, off of a pair of blocks and Yasso Amin kills. The teams traded service errors, before Williams and Amin sparked the Aggie offense to the tune of a match-best .289 hitting percentage in the frame. Darian Markham led the way from the back row, propelling her side to 20 digs in the set. Back-to-back Williams kills forced a timeout from the Dons as they trailed 21-16 with a Mari Sharp ace subsequently followed. After the score settled at 23-17, USF responded with five straight points and forced an Aggie timeout. After being knotted at 24-24, an Amin kill and Kacia Brown solo block closed out the set. 

FOURTH SET

The two sides traded blows before a 4-0 San Francisco run put them ahead 9-5, forcing a timeout from Mike Jordan. While NM State stayed within striking distance, San Francisco later poured on a 6-1 run that put the Aggies down 23-16. Four service errors and six attack errors were too much to overcome as NM State fell by a score of 25-22.

FIFTH SET

The final frame belonged to USF. In a blur, the two squads were switching sides while NM State was staring down a deficit of 8-2. The Dons continued to pour it on, taking a convincing 15-4 win and avenging their five-set defeat in the Pan American Center from 370 days prior.

NUMBERS OF NOTE

• For the second straight season, USF and NM State went the distance. The Dons fell in five sets to the Aggies on Sept. 1, 2023. 

• Nicole Briggs set a career high with eight kills in the loss. The senior middle blocker had previously recorded seven kills on two occasions with Arizona.

• Yasso Amin posted a double-double, tallying a two season highs with 17 kills and 12 digs.

• Claudia Rossi finished just shy of her own double-double, notching 23 assists and nine digs.

• Starr Williams entered the match with the nation's fifth-best hitting percentage in the nation (.560). She posted 16 kills on 42 attempts in the loss. 

• Darian Markham led the team in digs for the third time this season, posting a season-high 17 in the loss

• Nellie Reese set a season high by posting 29 assists. The junior setter also recorded eight digs. 

• Makayla Martinez recorded the first service aces of her young career. The true freshman posted two aces in the loss.

• Mia Fox made her collegiate debut in the loss. The true freshman entered in the fifth set and played the final two points. 

• Maggie Lightheart recorded her first kill of the season, tooling the USF block in the fifth set.

UP NEXT

The Aggies will play again tomorrow, with a Friday matchup against the hosting Hornets scheduled for 8:00 PM MT. NM State will look to pull their 2024 record back to .500 in what will be their first match against Sacramento State since 2019. NM State's battle with this weekend's host will be streamed live on ESPN+ and available to follow via StatBroadcast.

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