ST. GEORGE, Utah - It's not how you start, it's how you finish.

The NM State volleyball team proved that axiom to be true as the Aggies shook off a slow start to claim a 3-1 WAC victory at Dixie State Saturday afternoon inside Burns Arena.

NM State extended its WAC-best winning streak to eight matches with Saturday afternoon's triumph and hiked its league-leading win total to 11 matches.

SET ONE | Dixie State 25, NM State 23
• Neither squad was able to establish any kind of substantial lead in a nip-and-tuck opening frame.
• With NM State on top 20-19, a lengthy review process ensued after the Trailblazers' Hannah Howard attempted to strike for a match-tying kill. Following the review, that call was upheld and things were knotted at 20 each.
• Howard hammered home another termination for the hosts, forcing an NM State timeout. Out of that stoppage, Shaney Lipscomb and Katie Birtcil provided back-to-back kills to put the Aggies on top 22-21.
• Unfortunately, Dixie State answered NM State's well-timed offensive burst with one of its own. The Trailblazers received a pair of kills from Whittnee Nihipali to fuel a set-clinching 4-1 surge.
• The serve/receive game played a big part in the first frame of the afternoon. NM State totaled seven points off of four aces and a trio of Dixie State service errors to keep things close. That service pressure helped the Aggies offset a .098 hitting percentage in
the frame.
• Dixie State's offense operated at a .222 clip while the Aggies were limited to an efficiency rate of .098 over the course of the opening frame. 

SET TWO | NM State 25, Dixie State 17
• After seeing its offense sputter in the opening frame, NM State ratcheted up the intensity a notch or two to even the match at one set apiece.
• Two of the frame's first three points went to the Trailblazers, but NM State used the service game of Cat Kelly to take control of the set. Kelly started a 7-0 Aggie scoring spree with a kill and followed up with consecutive service aces to put Dixie State on its heels.
• NM State's lead stood at 8-2 following that run and the Aggies rarely relinquished control through the rest of the set. Another surge, this one of the 6-0 variety, featured a Lauryn Taylor service ace as well as kills by Lipscomb and Sharp to put NM State up 14-5.
• Another termination by Sharp gave the Aggies their largest lead of the set at 24-13.
• The Aggies' defense showed up in a big way during the frame, limiting Dixie State to a paltry .024 hitting percentage. NM State, meanwhile, hit .275 to even things up.

SET THREE | NM State 25, Dixie State 18
• The first substantial run any squad went on came in the early stages of the frame. Mari Sharp started a streak of three unanswered points by the visitors with her fifth kill of the afternoon. A Dixie State attack error followed up with a rare Alana Embry termination hiked the Aggies' early lead to 6-3.
• Though the Trailblazers never managed to take that lead following NM State's early surge, that didn't prevent the hosts from making things interesting.
• Shortly after the midpoint of the set, Dixie State used a service ace as well as kills from two players as part of a 4-1 run which knotted things at 18-all and forced NM State to call time.
• Out of the Aggies' timeout, NM State made all the right moves. Birtcil and Sharp pounded down kills and Kelly followed those terminations with her third service ace of the match to start a set-clinching 7-1 run.
• Birtcil, Mosher and Sharp added one more kill each through the closing points of the set, finishing off a sparkling offensive performance by the Aggies.
• NM State amassed 18 terminations in the frame and posted a splendid hitting percentage of .469 throughout the set. Dixie State, meanwhile, hit .194 and was limited to just eight kills.

SET FOUR | NM State 25, Dixie State 18
• Hoping to force a fifth set on its home court, Dixie State took an early lead on a combination of a Megan Treanor kill and a Nihipali service ace. That two-point run put the Aggies at a 6-4 disadvantage.
• It wasn't until the late stages of the frame that NM State finally secured a lead. Trailing 16-15, NM State turned to its middle blockers in order to embark on a 3-0 run. Mosher mashed home a kill before Lindsay Blakey finished off the surge with consecutive terminations which handed the visitors an 18-16 lead.
• Keeping their foot on he gas pedal, the Aggies didn't let up from there. Mari Sharp posted three kills through her team's 7-2 run to close out the match.

KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• The all-around prowess of Aigner-Swesey was on full display in St. George as the Aggies' primary setter finished with a fine line of 37 assists, a career-high 20 digs and three of her team's nine service aces.
• NM State's multi-pronged offensive attack was headlined once again by Birtcil who finished with a match-best 14 kills on a .333 hitting percentage. For the week, Birtcil pounded down 38 terminations - good for an average of 4.75 per set.
• Mosher (10), Lipscomb (11) and Sharp (12) all finished with double-digit terminations totals as well. Sharp also added 13 digs for her third double-double of the season.
• Kelly finished four kills shy of a double-double as she submitted a final line of six kills, a career-best 19 digs and season-high three services aces.
• At the front of the net, Blakey led the charge on defense by registering four rejections to go along with five kills and a dig.
• For Dixie State, Treanor turned in 11 terminations in her team's first WAC setback of the season.

QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH MIKE JORDAN
"We won ugly, but on the road is a good place to win period. We have some people stepping up and playing out of position at times. We have been growing, too, and that's good to see."

COMING UP NEXT
• For their first WAC match of the season inside the Pan American Center, NM State will battle Pacific Northwest adversary Seattle U Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. ESPN+ and the ESPN app will stream the clash between the Aggies and Redhawks around the globe.

++NM State++