UTEP Claims Four-Set Battle of I-10 Finale

NM State to play two matches at Sam Houston this weekend.

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

For the second time in 24 hours, UTEP and NM State Volleyball squared off from Memorial Gym in a mid-week affair. The home team came away with a victory for the second straight evening, improving its winning streak to nine matches. With the loss, the Aggies fell back to .500 for the season and in league play (9-9, 3-3 CUSA).

Set-by-set: NM State loses 1-3 (11-25, 16-25, 25-21, 16-25)

FIRST SET
The home side roared out to a large lead early, pulling ahead by seven at the media timeout. For the set, NM State tallied only four kills, with Nicole Briggs and Starr Williams each notching two. Six errors on 18 attempts led to a -.111 team hitting percentage in the opening frame, while UTEP hit .368 on 19 attempts. Four blocks and as many aces gave the home side a 25-11 set one victory.

SECOND SET
While the kills and hitting percentage improved for the Aggies, the second stanza had largely the same outcome as its predecessor. Kacia Brown led the way with four kills in the frame, but her side only tallied 10. Once again, UTEP denied four Aggie attacks, while the visitors notched their first block of the evening from Ashley Herman and Nicole Briggs. The media timeout deficit was 15-8 for the second straight frame, but NM State failed to come within seven points down the stretch. UTEP took a 25-16 victory and a 2-0 lead into the third set.

THIRD SET
In similar fashion to Tuesday’s affair, NM State found its most promising start in set three. The Aggies utilized two aces from senior libero Darian Markham to pull ahead 11-6 and expend a Miner timeout. UTEP did respond with a 4-0 run, but failed to take the lead. A third ace for Markham highlighted a later Aggie burst of four straight points as they pulled ahead 20-15. With the exception of a Mari Sharp kill, UTEP errors accounted for the remainder of the Aggies’ final five points won, including the set-ending service error. NM State took its first set of the series by a score of 25-21.

FOURTH SET
Despite two ties in the first 10 points of the set, the match slipped away from NM State shortly after. Two Miner aces propelled a 10-3 run for the home side, before Kacia Brown stopped the bleeding with a kill. A quick 4-0 spurt put UTEP back ahead by nine, and the margin never dipped below seven points for the remainder of the night. UTEP took the set and the match by a score of 25-17.

NUMBERS OF NOTE
•    Darian Markham set a personal season best with three service aces.
•    Entering the day, NM State had not allowed more than 10 aces this season. UTEP finished the night with 14, led by Kalia Kohler with six.
•    The Crimson & White are now .500 overall for the sixth time this season.
•    The loss was NM State’s second-ever defeat in CUSA series finales, in addition to last season’s bout with Western Kentucky. The Aggies are now 9-2 in such matches.
•    The Aggies are now 0-4 when dropping the first two sets of a match this season.

UP NEXT
The Aggies will venture home after the match, before returning to the Lone Star State less than 48 hours later. NM State is set to visit Sam Houston for a pair of road matches on Friday and Saturday. Both matches will begin at 12:00 PM MT on ESPN+, while also available to follow live 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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