LAS CRUCES, N.M. – For the first and only series in November, NM State returned to the friendly confines of the Pan American Center on Thursday night, playing host to a 10-4 Kennesaw State club. The Aggies came out hot with a convincing opening frame win, but the Owls answered with three straight to take the series opener. With the loss, the Crimson & White dropped to 14-14 overall, now holding a 7-8 mark in league play. 
 
Set-by-set: NM State loses 1-3 (25-15, 19-25, 17-25, 26-28)
 
FIRST SET
After collecting the opening point of the match on a Kate Sinclair kill, the Aggies entered battle with the Owls, holding an early tie at 4-4. Capitalizing on a scoring surge, NM State raced out to an 8-4 edge that they would never relinquish. A 5-2 run that contained the media timeout swelled the lead to 17-9, proving to be too much to overcome for Keith Schunzel's group. Led by four kills on as many swings from Zoe Ziegler, the Crimson & White used a .423 hitting percentage and 11 total Kennesaw State errors as they cruised to a 25-15 opening set victory. 
 
SECOND SET
A Kate Sinclair rejection pushed the hosts in front 5-1 early in frame two, but a trio of errors allowed KSU right back in the fight at six all. The Owls then ripped off an extended 10-4 run with six kills, taking control of the game at the media stoppage. A solo stuff from Zoe Ziegler helped keep her side alive at 16-13, but Mike Jordan shortly called for time once again down 20-15. Tess Fuqua landed two kills down the stretch before eventually falling 25-19 to tie the match at one set apiece.
 
THIRD SET
Neither team gained much separation in the early going of the go-ahead set, though a KSU ace punctuated a three-point scoring streak to give them a 7-5 lead. The Owls continued to find success at the service line, pushing through a trio of aces capped off by two in a row to put NM State in a 19-11 deficit. A late scoring burst kept the set alive, but ultimately the stanza went the way of the visitors at 25-17, largely due to four Owl scoring runs of three or more points. 
 
FOURTH SET
Playing for crucial seeding in next weekend's CUSA Championship, the Aggies and Owls fought hard in the fourth set. The first three frames of the match combined for 11 tied scores and just four lead changes. In the fourth, though, the teams traded the lead 11 times, with a staggering 20 ties. Zoe Ziegler accompanied Maggie Lightheart and Jaelynn Kohli with blocks on two straight points before Bianca Perez notched an ace to go up 12-10. Three different Aggies then smashed home a kill on consecutive rallies to take their largest lead of the set (15-12). After Kennesaw quickly whittled away at the deficit, NM State took charge on a Lightheart kill at 24-23. Tess Fuqua took the lead once more on a kill at 26-25 before the Owls ripped off three straight points to prevail 28-26. 
 
NUMBERS OF NOTE

• NM State now holds an all-time record of 1-2 against Kennesaw State, with all three meetings coming since KSU joined CUSA in 2024. 
• In the fourth set, Bianca Perez notched her second ace of the season, landing her first since the series opener at LA Tech (Oct. 31).
• The Aggies tallied just two aces during the match, falling to 1-12 in contests when finishing with five or less.
• Rilen Garcia earned her seventh start of the season, racking up 14 assists and four digs in the loss. 
• Fellow senior Nellie Reese led the way with 22 assists, pacing the squad for the 18^th time this year. 
• NM State was led by a trio of 12-kill performances from Magie Lightheart, Tess Fuqua and Jaelynn Kohli.

• The Aggies' .295 hitting percentage marked their third straight defeat with a clip of at least .272.

 
Head Coach Mike Jordan, on what to improve on for Friday: "Kennesaw's a good team. We've got a lot of seniors and hopefully they'll be really motivated to go. We had chances to extend it and just didn't capitalize, but it is what it is at this point. It's your last home game if you're a senior, so you've got to be on it."
 
UP NEXT
Tomorrow, the two sides will clash once more for their regular-season finale. NM State hopes to snap a four-match losing skid and send its seniors off to next week's CUSA Championship on a high note. Meanwhile, KSU looks to finish the year 12-4 and earn its fifth sweep of the conference season. The matchup will not be streamed, but statistics will be available at nmstatesports.com/stats. After the match, seven soon-to-be graduates will be recognized in the Aggies' Senior Day ceremony. 
 
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