Home Dominance Continues as Aggies Hit .460

NM State re-enters win column with convincing sweep over Jax State.

Source: NMSU Athletics
Story and Photo by Matthew Knope for NMSU: Courtesy

The winning ways continued for NM State Volleyball on Friday with a sweep of Jax State. As a unit, the Aggies were dominant in nearly every category, crushing the Gamecocks with a .460 hitting percentage, nine aces and 10 blocks in just three sets. The visitors failed to reach 15 points in any frame, while the Crimson & White sailed to a comfortable win, improving to 11-2 in the friendly confines of the Pan American Center.

NM State (15-12, 9-6) now holds sole possession of fourth place in the Conference USA standings, breaking a tie with Sam Houston (8-7) as the Bearkats fell in straight sets to Western Kentucky. Both squads have clinched a spot in the eight-team CUSA Championship with just three matches left in the regular season. Kennesaw State remained in third place with a four-set win over Middle Tennessee, improving to 10-5.

Set-by-set: NM State wins 3-0 (25-11, 25-11, 25-14)

FIRST SET
Yasso Amin came ready to play, crushing three kills in the first 10 rallies. Kacia Brown also made an impact early, dropping in a pair of aces to begin her Senior Weekend as the home side rapidly pulled ahead 13-3. Shortly after, the home side pulled off a 5-0 run that included three attack errors and a missed serve from the Gamecocks. In the frame, NM State hit a whopping .556 as a unit, while the visitors posted as many attack errors (nine) as it did kills. Amin wrapped up her perfect 4-for-4 frame with a set-clinching kill courtesy of Rilen Garcia’s sixth assist.

SECOND SET
Makayla Martinez’s team-best 22^nd ace of the season granted her squad another hot start, pulling ahead 4-0 in an instant. Mari Sharp followed up with three straight Aggie kills across five points as NM State expanded its margin to 14-4, forcing a Gamecock timeout. NM State took a small step back in hitting percentage in set two (.364), while only two Aggies recorded multiple kills. Martinez, a 5-foot-5 defensive specialist, ended up with a kill on a Jax State miscommunication, landing just the third of her career. In short order, Rilen Garcia poured in two aces of her own to cap off a 7-1 burst that brought about set point. Maggie Lightheart’s first kill of the day ended the frame by the same score as its predecessor; 25-11

THIRD SET
Mari Sharp added another pair of kills, while her teammates notched two blocks to amass an 8-2 lead in a blink. Darian Markham notched aces on back-to-back points in a 3-0 run, before Mari Sharp tallied an ace of her own as part of a separate 5-0 run. The duo dominated the final stanza, racking up three aces and six kills on just 10 swings, highlighted by Markham’s sneaky kill that came near the end of an extended 10-2 run. Jax State called for time, but the damage had been done. Aleka Darko and Nicole Briggs – two senior middle blockers – notched the final two kills of the night as the Aggie faithful were sent home with a 25-14 clinching win in a sweep.

NUMBERS OF NOTE
•    NM State is now 11-2 in the Pan American Center in 2024, with a 7-0 mark in CUSA play.
•    After four matches with two aces apiece in 2024, Kacia Brown broke through for her season high with three aces on Friday.
•    Jax State only posted 80 total attempts, tying a season-low for an Aggie opponent.
•    NM State tied its season high with nine aces in the match, doing so in two consecutive contests. Before Saturday, its season-best mark was seven.
•    Jax State’s hitting percentage of .013 ranks third-lowest by an Aggie opponent this season.
•    The Gamecocks did not record a single service ace, becoming the first NM State foe to fail to do so this season.
•    The last time NM State held an opponent to zero service aces was when Seattle came up empty twice in the 2021 season.
•    NM State hit .460 as a team in the match, easily surpassing its previous 2024-best mark of .396 versus Texas Southern.
•    The Aggies last hit at least .460 1,346 days prior against Seattle, when they posted a mark of .554.
•    NM State racked up just six service errors, ranking fourth-lowest in a match this campaign.
•    Jax State kept up just 25 digs, ranking last by a Crimson & White opponent in 2024.
•    Three separate Aggies (Sharp, Amin and Brown) all tallied hitting percentages of at least .476 in the match.
•    Over their last two outings, Mike Jordan‘s squad has a collective hitting percentage of .367.
•    The Aggies are now 11-1 when clinching the first two sets of a match this season, including nine sweeps.
•    Makayla Martinez still leads all Aggies with 22 aces this season, posting one in the second set.
•    The true freshman has 14 aces over NM State’s past seven matches (0.67 per set). Entering Friday, only three other Aggie had more than 14 aces all season (Reese, Brown, Markham).
•    Mari Sharp paced the Aggies with 11 kills, posting her 12^th double-digit total of the season.
•    Darian Markham recorded five digs in the win, placing the fifth-year Aggie just four digs away from 2,000 in her illustrious career.
•    NM State is now 7-1 when posting a team hitting percentage of .300 or higher.

FROM THE FLOOR
Head Coach Mike Jordan, on the win: “I think we played well. I liked our floor defense and we were decent at the service line. I’m sure it will be a tougher match tomorrow.”

Junior setter Rilen Garcia, on her team-high, 17-assist performance: “What I love about this team is that we really do play for each other. With this being Senior Weekend, we understand that it’s eight girls’ last weekend here, so we want to show out for them. I think I succeeded because I wanted to see them succeed.

Redshirt senior outside hitter Kacia Brown, on the improved serving of late: “Coach Jordan has been making it a big focus in practice. It’s something that we know has been a struggle, and we know it’s something that’s going to affect our overall play. Our offense and physicality is not really usually a struggle for us, so we’re focused on fine-tuning the details heading into the conference tournament. We’ve made more of a focus on those things that aren’t necessarily the coolest or the most fun, like covering and serving. I think the more that we work on those things regardless of the opponent, the better we’ll be. We know the work isn’t finished yet.”

UP NEXT
The series finale between the Aggies and Gamecocks will be played tomorrow from the Pan American Center. NM State will host its final match of the 2024 regular season on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Noon MT before holding its Senior Day Ceremony after the conclusion of the contest. The final affair of the Aggie home slate will be available to follow via nmstatestats.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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Levi Gwaltney

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