DAVIDSON, N.C. – Several Aggies turned in career nights as NM State (4-1, 0-0 WAC) was able to conquer the Aggies of North Carolina A&T (3-3, 0-0 CAA) in four sets.
 
Friday evening's match turned out to be the NM State's first four-set match of the season, however, the Aggies dominated all aspects of the match outside of an extended second set.

"We had a few people attack the ball fairly well but missed too many defensive assignments," said Head Coach Mike Jordan. "Obviously, we had a couple of players serve it really well. We're a hot mess way too often and not near where we need to be. We play together though and it's a team with a lot of good people who are talented and consistently try hard.  I'm excited about how good we can be, but it's going to take a lot of work."
 
All-in-all the Aggies finished with nearly 20 more kills than North Carolina A&T (52-35), while also besting their opponent in aces (14-9), blocks (11-5), assists (45-33) and digs (46-38).
 
NM State was led by sophomore setter Rylee Fay who finished with an astounding seven service aces while also totaling 25 assists. Ryleigh Whitekettle and Mia Peterson, who were on the receiving end of many of Fay's sets, each finished with double-digit kill totals as Whitekettle tallied 12 and Peterson with 10.
 
Defensively, Taylor Snow led the way with five blocks while Lia Mosher chipped in four blocks of her own. Darian Markham served as the catalyst on the back row as she finished with a match-high 11 digs.
 
SET ONE
In what was one of the most dominant displays of volleyball by the Aggies in recent memory, NM State jumped out to a 10-0 lead thanks to strong starts from Lia Mosher, Mia Peterson and Rylee Fay. Mosher and Peterson each notched a pair of kills while Fay pitched in four aces and a pair of assists during the stretch.
 
Continuing the one-sided first set, the Aggies eventually pulled away to a 20-6 lead after Fay found Ryleigh Whitekettle on the outside for her third kill of the set.
 
North Carolina A&T was able to put a run of six-straight points together to draw within nine points for a brief moment until an A&T service error was followed by a Molly Johnson service ace to put NM State back up 11 points.
 
A Taylor Snow kill would be the final blow in the set as the Aggies pulled out a 25-14 set victory – marking already their third set win of 11 or more points this season.
 
SET TWO
Similar to the opening set, NM State leaped out to an early lead as a combo block involving Taylor Snow and Jayde Shelton preceded an N.C. A&T error to give the friendly Aggies a 6-2 lead.
 
The Aggie block would again come into play to give NM State a 12-7 lead as Mosher and Whitekettle combined their outstretched arms to reject an attack from Hannah Howell.
 
However, unlike the first set, the momentum began to swing in favor of A&T as it went on a 7-1 run to take a 17-15 advantage.
 
A solo block from Katie Birtcil stopped the bleeding momentarily, but the opposition was able to put together a four-point run with no response to take a 21-16 lead.
 
Down five, the Aggies were able to score 11 of the next 16 points to ultimately take a 27-26 lead and regain control of the driver seat.
 
Although, this would be the final push from the Aggies in the second set as North Carolina A&T scored the next three points to grasp a 29-27 set win.
 
SET THREE
Using the momentum they were able to obtain in the second set, the Aggies wearing gold uniforms opened the third set on a 3-0 run.
 
NM State then used a balanced attack which included kills from Mosher, Bircil, Snow and Whitekettle to take hold of a 7-6 lead.
 
The middle of the set also featured a string of positive plays from Mia Peterson who recorded back-to-back kills before earning the first solo block of her young career to put the Aggies ahead 11-7.
 
With a 12-9 score appearing on the scoreboard, NM State extended its lead by seven of the next 10 points. This stretch was led by three kills from Birtcil and gave the Aggies a 19-12 lead.
 
The Aggies would only extend their lead as Ryleigh Whitekettle tabbed three kills within the final five NM State points to give Mike Jordan's unit a 25-15 set win.
 
SET FOUR
With NM State looking to prove the second set was an anomaly, the Aggies jetted out to a 7-0 lead as kills from Johnson, Mosher and Birtcil were joined by an ace from Peterson.
 
Later, NM State would distance themselves even further – commanding a 16-4 lead thanks to consecutive kills from Whitekettle.
 
At a moment when North Carolina A&T could see the match slipping away, they committed three-straight errors to give NM State a comfortable 23-10 lead.
 
This would ultimately lead to the collapse of the enemy Aggies as an error on match point following an Ashley Herman kill gave NM State a 25-13 set win.
 
MATCH NOTABLES

• Rylee Fay's seven service aces marked the most of any Division I player this season during a four-set match. She also became one of just five Aggies in program history to achieve this feat in a match of any length.
• Fay also notched a career-high 25 assists while committing zero ball handling errors in her fifth match as an Aggie.
• Darian Markham moved her double-digit dig streak to 19 matches as she finished the contest with 11 digs.
• Taylor Snow wreaked havoc at the net as she turned in career-bests in both kills (6) and block assists (5).
• Morgan Stewart recorded the first service ace of her debut season at the collegiate level.
• Redshirt freshman outside hitter Mia Peterson had a career night as she tallied career-highs in kills (10), digs (8), aces (2) and blocks (1) after entering the night with season totals of four kills, two digs, zero aces and zero blocks.
• Lia Mosher finished the evening with a season-high seven kills while posting an impressive .636 hitting percentage.
• Like Peterson, Ryleigh Whitekettle also put forth a double-digit kill effort for the first time in her career as she finished with a team-high 12 kills.

 
UP NEXT
The Aggies will now turn their attention to their final match of the Wildcat Classic and a meeting with host Davidson tomorrow. Saturday's match is set to begin at Noon MT and will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans can also follow along via this live stats link.
 
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