SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – On Friday, NM State Volleyball opened up its two-match road series with Missouri State. The hosts made quick work of the Aggies as the visitors suffered their third consecutive sweep. The victory was the Bears' second in a row, vaulting them to 7-11 with a 2-5 CUSA record. Tess Fuqua's 19-kill, 13-dig double-double was not enough for NM State, dropping to 11-9 overall and 4-3 in CUSA.
 
Set-by-set: NM State loses 0-3 (18-25, 20-25, 24-26) 
 
FIRST SET
Missouri State came out swinging early, taking a commanding 5-0 lead. NM State knotted it back up at 7-7 shortly after, courtesy of two Tess Fuqua kills and a Mia Fox ace. The sides exchanged 3-0 runs again before Fuqua's fifth kill of the night produced the match's sixth tie at 16 points apiece. From that point, the Bears took six of the following seven rallies, doing so with four kills and an ace to pull ahead 22-17 and force Mike Jordan's final stoppage. Two MSU kills ended the frame with the home team prevailing 25-18. 
 
SECOND SET
Four different Aggies notched a kill early on as the contest reached a 5-5 tie. The hosts orchestrated a 6-1 burst that gave them the lead for good at 11-6, forcing another timeout. Three Fuqua kills in short order helped her side draw closer before Mia Fox joined in to lead a 23-rally stretch in which the Bear lead alternated between one and three points. Two Fuqua smashes preceded Zoe Ziegler's set-tying kill at 20-20, forcing a Steven McRoberts huddle. Out of the timeout, MSU utilized two kills and three Aggie errors to quickly end the frame at 25-20. 
 
THIRD SET
Mia Fox and Tess Fuqua combined for four kills and a block during a dominant opening of the final stanza that had their squad up 7-2. Makayla Martinez put up her best set with four digs, three assists and an ace that was immediately followed up by a 4-0 MSU run to knot things up at 12 all. The two teams shared ties until the hosts broke the streak to pull ahead 19-17. NM State pulled back ahead with a three-kill run from Fuqua and setter Nellie Reese, but MSU answered with its own 3-0 burst to take the lead. Jaelynn Kohli and Kate Sinclair capped off their days with kills amid a late 4-0 run that ended at set point (24-22). From there, back-to-back Bear kills were followed up by two final visiting errors to end the night with a 26-24 score. 
 
NUMBERS OF NOTE

• The Aggies dropped to 3-9 all-time against the Bears with the loss, including a mark of 0-2 in Springfield after playing their first road match in the series since 1983.
• Tess Fuqua led the way with an efficient 19 kills and 13 digs, with both numbers holding as the highest by either side in the match. 
• The redshirt sophomore's .444 hitting percentage was her highest in a CUSA match, falling just short of a .480 mark set in the season opener.
• Zoe Ziegler's eight kills ranked second among all Aggies on the night, coming alongside two blocks.
• Mia Fox notched six efficient kills (.312) in addition to a team-high three blocks in the loss.
• Claudia Rossi and Nellie Reese split the setting load in the 6-2 rotation, with both tallying 17 assists. For Rossi, it was her fourth time atop the team leaderboard, while Reese did so for the 13^th match this season. 
• The sweep was the fifth suffered by NM State this season and its third in CUSA play.

• After leading CUSA in service aces just eight days ago and averaging 7.4 per contest, the Aggies have posted just five total aces in their past three outings.

 
UP NEXT
Both sides will return on Saturday from Hammons Student Center for another bout. Missouri State looks to build a three-match winning streak while NM State hopes to end the weekend above .500 in CUSA play. The series finale will be streamed live on ESPN+ and available to follow via nmstatesports.com/stats.
 
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