LAS CRUCES, N.M. – A two-set lead for the NM State volleyball team evaporated Saturday afternoon inside the Pan Am Center as California Baptist won the final three sets, shocking the Aggies who suffered a 3-2 WAC setback to the Lancers.
 
SET ONE | NM State 25, CBU 15
• If the first set was any indication, the Aggies were well on their way to a dominating victory.
• NM State never trailed in the frame, starting the set on an 8-2 run and hiking its edge to as much as 10 points.
• The Aggies' offense shredded the Lancers' defense as the hosts hit .438 in the set. NM State registered 16 kills – five of which came courtesy of Shaney Lipscomb. Katie Birtcil added four more terminations for NM State who limited California Baptist to a hitting percentage of .081 through the frame.
• CBU did generate 10 kills, but three NM State blocks added to seven attack errors by the visitors.
 
SET TWO | NM State 25, CBU 22
• A back-and-forth second frame ended with the Aggies doing what they needed to do down the stretch in order to go up two sets to none.
• In all, there were 13 ties in the frame. CBU took its largest lead of the set by receiving kills from four different players during a 4-1 surge which put the Aggies at a 19-17 disadvantage.
• Birtcil and Lipscomb, however, captained a set-clinching 8-3 scoring spree by the hosts. Lipscomb pounded down a trio of terminations while Birtcil hammered home two through that run.
• The Aggies' attack plan didn't take too much of a hit as they posted a hitting percentage of .422 in the frame. NM State racked up 22 kills out of a possible 25 points, but CBU's offense showed signs of coming to life as the Lancers amassed 15 kills and a .279 attack percentage.
 
SET THREE | CBU 25, NM State 22
• Hoping to finish off a second-straight WAC sweep, NM State leaped out to a 9-7 run before the Lancers began their comeback.
• California Baptist employed a 9-2 surge to take the lead for good. Paige Johnstone served up a pair of aces during the set-changing run while Tesa Oaks smashed in two terminations.
• Down 16-11, NM State's deficit grew to six points on two occasions. Attempting to fight back, NM State closed to within two, 23-21, after back-to-back unforced errors by the Lancers.
• Unfortunately, a service error and an attack error committed by the home team allowed the visitors to force a fourth set.
 
SET FOUR | CBU 25, NM State 21
• The Aggies never led in the fourth set, falling behind by an 8-4 margin early on. Three unforced NM State attack errors aided the Lancers' early run.
• On multiple occasions throughout the set NM State cut the Lancers' lead to two points. The last of those times came when Birtcil started a 3-0 NM State run with a kill. The aforementioned run trimmed the Lancers' lead to 23-21.
• California Baptist answered, though, receiving consecutive kills from Christine Graf and Tesa Oaks to force a decisive fifth set.
 
SET FIVE | CBU 16, NM State 14
• It appeared as though the Aggies had all the momentum in the world after they opened the final frame with a 6-2 run. Two kills from Cat Kelly and one apiece by Lia Mosher and Lipscomb powered that run.
• Still ahead by three, 7-4, NM State fell victim to the Lancers' strong service game at the wrong time. Back-to-back kills from Anouk Noord were followed up with a service run by Jennifer Blessing in which the Lancer fired in a pair of aces and caused problems to the Aggies' offensive system.
• Blessing's service run helped the Lancers go on a 7-0 run to take an 11-7 lead.
• Despite that big-time scoring spree by the visitors, NM State fought back. Mosher powered a 7-3 Aggie run with a trio of kills. The last of those kills by the Ruidoso, N.M., product knotted things at 14-all.
• Just like they had been doing all afternoon, though, the Lancers came back. Oaks handed the visitors the lead with a kill which preceded a Mosher attack attempt going wide which concluded the match.
 
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• NM State saw its nine-match winning streak come to an end. The Aggies also suffered their first WAC setback of the year.
• NM State dropped its first WAC match inside the Pan American Center since Oct. 27, 2018. That day, UTRGV got the better of the Aggies in five sets.
• Birtcil's 19 kills led the way for NM State in the five-set showdown. She completed a double-double effort with 14 digs. Kelly (11 kills, 14 digs) and Carly Aigner-Swesey (career-high 58 assists and 12 digs) also finished with double-doubles for NM State.
• Lipscomb added 17 terminations for the Aggies while Mosher chipped in 15 on an impressive .571 attack percentage.
• Oaks put up a team-high 17 kills for California Baptist who boasted four players in double-digit kill territory.
• The league's best serving squad, California Baptist totaled eight aces on the afternoon. Nine more NM State service errors added up to 17 Lancer points. 
 
COMING UP NEXT
• The Aggies' next opportunity to return to the win column comes Thursday evening in the Windy City when NM State takes on Chicago State. The WAC showdown in Chicago is set to start at 5:00 p.m. MT.
 
++NM State++