First Serve
• Coming off a three-set dismantling of former WAC member Chicago State, the Aggies will look to maintain momentum as they travel to Riverside, Calif., to take on California Baptist on Thursday night.
• This will mark the second of two meetings with the Lancers this season. CBU stepped foot in the Pan American Center earlier this season on Saturday, Sept. 24, when it fell to the Aggies in three sets (25-22, 25-17, 25-18).
Last Time Out | NM State 3, Chicago State 0 (25-22, 25-9, 25-10)
• NM State put forth arguably its best performance of the season as they swept the Cougars in a mid-week non-conference matchup.
• As a team, the Aggies finished with their third-highest hitting percentage of the season - hitting .326 while posting 37 kills on just 92 attacks.
• Meanwhile, the NM State defense limited Chicago State to a hitting percentage of .018 - the lowest by any Aggie opponent this season.
• The dominant defensive performance saw the Aggies limit the Cougars to fewer points in a single set than any other opponent in a set this season - winning the second set 25-9 and the third set 25-10.
•
Molly Johnson continued her streak of solid play as she recorded her third-consecutive double-double - finishing the night with 11 kills and 10 digs.
• On a night in which the Aggies were missing star outside hitter
Katie Birtcil, fellow Aggie veteran
Lia Mosher expanded her role as she tallied a career-best seven digs while also stepping up to serve a career-high three times.
Cream of the Conference Crop
• Currently,
Rylee Fay is among the best in the WAC in a pair of categories as she paces the league in service aces per set (0.62) while ranking ninth in assists per set (6.11).
• Meanwhile, Mosher ranks second in the conference in hitting percentage (.370) and seventh in blocks per set (1.02).
Cream of the Conference Crop (cont.)
• The attack of
Katie Birtcil has also been one of the most effective in the league this season as she ranks third in kills per set at 3.42 across 62 sets on the season. The do-it-all outside hitter also ranks sixth in points per set (3.75).
• Leading the Aggies defense,
Darian Markham tallies the fourth-most digs among league Liberos at 4.48 per set.
• As a team, the Aggies are currently holding opponents to a .176 combined hitting percentage - a mark that is good for second in the conference.
• The Aggies also rank fourth in the league in assists (11.86) and kills (12.80) as a team.
Leaderboard Lia
• In addition to her dominance this season,
Lia Mosher continues to move up the all-time ranks in program history. The sixth-year senior currently sits in fifth all-time in Aggie history in both total blocks (437) and fourth in block assists (365) while she ranks 10th in solo blocks (72). She also ranks second all-time in career hitting percentage at .349.
The 'A' in Fay Stands for Ace
• The sophomore setter from Iowa City, Iowa is quickly putting together one of the best seasons in program history from the service line. She is currently responsible for 40 of the Aggies' 98 aces on the season - a mark that is just six away from cracking the top-10 in program history in single-season ace totals.
• From an individual match perspective, Fay put together two of the best performances by anyone to wear the Crimson & White. On Sept. 2, Fay recorded seven aces in a four-set win over North Carolina A&T to put herself in a tie for the most by any Aggie in a four-set match.
• Later in the season, Fay would equal that feat by notching seven aces in a four-set win over Southern Utah. With that seven-ace outing against the Trailblazers, Fay is the only server in the country to achieve seven or more aces in multiple four-set contests.
• Fay also ranks among the best servers in the country as she ranks eighth among all Division I servers in aces per set at 0.62.
Keep Up with the Aggies
Fans looking to tune in to this weekend's matches will be able to do so via ESPN+.
Live stats will also be available to fans this weekend via StatBroadcast at this link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=416808.
Up Next
Following Thursday's match against California Baptist, the Aggies will continue along their road stretch as they visit Phoenix for a meeting with Grand Canyon on Saturday, Oct. 22. NM State will then return home to play host to UT Arlington on Thursday, Oct. 27.
