Sharp and Amin pace Aggies as NM State tallies most kills in nearly two years.
Source: NMSU Athletics (Photo and Story By Matthew Knope: Courtesy)
The Aggies racked up their third straight win on Saturday; all of which have come in Conference USA play. NM State tallied 67 kills, reaching a mark that had not been set since a five-set match in November of 2022. Mari Sharp continued her excellent play, joining Yasso Amin with 18 kills apiece. The Crimson & White improved to 9-7, moving to two games above .500 for the first time this season.
Set-by-set: NM State wins 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-16)
FIRST SET
In a similar fashion to Friday’s affair, the opening set was tightly contested. The two sides exchanged 15 ties and were within two points of each other for 95.8% of the set. Ultimately, eight attack errors were too many to overcome, and the home side fell 25-23, ending a six-set winning streak.
SECOND SET
The Aggies cut their first-half error total in half, posting just four in the second frame. Subsuqently, their .343 team hitting percentage was more than .100 points higher than the opening set. Rilen Garcia poured in her fourth ace of the season to highlight a 5-0 run that put the Aggies in front 8-4. After the next rally, LA Tech never pulled within four points for the remainder of the set. The frame ended with the two sides exchanging each of the final 13 points, capped off by a Starr Williams kill.
THIRD SET
Kacia Brown dropped in an ace as part of a 6-1 Aggie run, pulling ahead 9-1 and forcing a Bulldog timeout. Brown picked up one of her career-high three solo blocks later in the frame, and was bookended by a pair of Yasso Amin kills to go up 14-6. Brown later recorded another solo block to bring up set point, which Starr Williams once again capitalized on two points later. The Aggies dominated set three by a score of 25-13.
FOURTH SET
Nellie Reese opened the final frame with her team-high 11th ace of the season, leading her side to a quick 7-2 lead. The Aggies never looked back, and the Bulldogs failed to pull within three points for the remainder of the match. Nicole Briggsand Mari Sharp recorded kills on the final two points of the match, giving the home team the win at 25-16.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
• As a team, NM State tallied 67 kills, passing its previous high of 64 at Kennesaw State on Sept. 27.
• The last time the Aggies produced at least 67 kills was on Nov. 5, 2022 at Seattle, when they amassed 70 in a five-set win.
• Yasso Amin’s 18 kills were a season high, passing her previous mark of 17, which she most recently set against UIW.
• Mari Sharp matched Amin with 18 kills, setting a season high of her own.
• Kacia Brown matched a career high with three solo blocks. The redshirt senior also posted a season best with five total blocks.
• Over her past five matches, Brown has 40 kills on a .546 hitting percentage to go with 11 digs, 15 blocks (five solo) and six service aces.
• In the first two matches of the Aggies’ winning streak, they totaled just 5.0 blocks. In Saturday’s win, they tallied 6.0.
• NM State is now 22-1 all-time against LA Tech, and has come out on top in the last 21 meetings.
FROM THE FLOOR
Head Coach Mike Jordan, on the win: “I think offensively we were pretty good. The serve and block game has to improve still. We’ll take two wins at home and hopefully build on it. We have a long, tough week ahead. We have to keep working at the fundamentals and commit some work to what we’re not very good at. We can’t just rest on what we do well.”
Graduate outside hitter Yasso Amin, on the win: “I feel like we are a scary team, especially when we’re in system. It’s easy to score when setters give you comfortable balls, and that happened today. Most of the time, we only had one block to get through, and that’s what we dream of.”
Graduate outside hitter Yasso Amin, on the upcoming series at UTEP: “So obviously I went to UTEP in 2021, and I was introduced to the rivalry between the two. Now the rivalry is doubled for me, and I really want to win. I have no intention of holding back. You have to respect them and their strengths, though, because they have a lot of them.”
UP NEXT
The second-ever Conference USA Battle of I-10 series will take place in El Paso this week. NM State will take the 52-mile trip south to Memorial Gym for a two-part rivalry matchup on Tuesday, Oct. 8 and Wednesday, Oct. 9. UTEP. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+ and available to follow via nmstatestats.com.
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