EL PASO, TEXAS – NM State opened up the 2024 CUSA Championship with a bang on Friday, toppling Sam Houston in four sets. The Bearkats earned the league's sixth seed, while the Aggies entered as the third-highest ranked contender. Mari Sharp was exceptional with 23 kills and nine digs, while Yasso Amin stood out with 16 kills on a .500 clip. For the second straight season, NM State advanced to the CUSA Semifinals, where UTEP awaits. The Miners are the league's No. 2 seed, setting up a mammoth Battle of I-10 for the right to play in the CUSA Championship match. 
 
Set-by-set: NM State wins 3-1 (21-25, 25-8, 25-16, 25-20)
 
FIRST SET 
The Aggies started the weekend off slowly, quickly falling behind 4-1 after two attack errors to start the match. Three Mari Sharp kills in the next four points would spark a 6-2 Aggie run that provided them their first lead of the night. The following 15 rallies were bookended by two separate 4-0 Bearkat runs that put them ahead by four points. Despite four more Sharp kills in a five-point span, her side would fail to take an advantage for the remainder of the frame. Sam Houston pulled ahead one set to none by a score of 25-21. 
 
SECOND SET
Two more quick kills from Sharp flipped the script and put her squad in front 5-2 to start the second stanza. Shortly after, Sam Houston would trail by two (8-6) after a kill. The next 19 points were the most dominant of the entire season for the Crimson & White. Starr Williams racked up five kills while Makayla Martinez posted another ace to add to her team-high mark. Over the span, Brenda Gray wasted both her timeouts to no avail. The Aggies finished the set on a 17-2 run and held a whopping .652 hitting percentage in the frame. NM State took set two by a 17-point margin; their second-largest against any CUSA opponent this season (FIU: 20).
 
THIRD SET
After Sam Houston captured the first two points, a 7-0 Aggie run forced the Bearkat bench into another stoppage early in the frame. Kacia Brown got most involved during the stretch, tallying two kills and a block. After 2-2, Sam Houston failed to take the lead or even tie until the final set. After yet another 4-0 run, a Maggie Lightheart kill and Aggie block would send the higher seed into a fourth set with a 2-1 advantage by a score of 25-16.
 
FOURTH SET
While the final game did hold four ties and a pair of lead changes, all of them came in a back-and-forth opening eight points. Breaking the tie, Yasso Amin had a kill and a block as part of a 5-0 run that would give NM State the lead once and for all. In the frame, Amin would finish with seven kills to lead both sides. The FIU transfer would record the final four points for her side, wrapping up the action with three kills and a stifling block to end Sam Houston's season at 25-20.
 
NUMBERS OF NOTE
•    Mari Sharp set her career high with 23 kills on Friday, surpassing her previous high of 19 versus UTEP last season. The fifth year Aggie's previous best this season was 18, which she matched just four points into the fourth set. 
•    The Aggies' .326 team hitting percentage was their seventh-highest this season.
•    Yasso Amin posted 16 kills in the win; reaching a mark she has only passed three times this season.
•    The Cairo, Egypt native also tallied four blocks to lead the team, marking the fifth time Amin reached at least four in a match this year.
•    64 NM State kills were the third most by the program this season, and the second most in a four-set match.
•    Darian Markham tallied 25 digs for her second-best mark this season (most against CUSA opponent)
•    The fifth-year Aggie also matched an individual season best with seven assists in the win.
•    Makayla Martinez recorded another ace, improving her team-high mark to 29 this season. 
•    The true freshman now has an ace in 10 of her last 11 matches, tallying 21 over that span (0.57 per set)
•    Additionally, Martinez racked up 12 digs, tying a career high that she has now reached three times in her young collegiate tenure.
•    61 assists were the second most by the entire Crimson & White unit in 2024.
•    NM State recorded seven service aces; tied for its fifth-best mark all season. 
•    Each of the team's five best showings from the service line have come in the month of November.
•    With 72 digs, the Aggies posted their fifth-best mark of the campaign, falling just one dig shy of their four-set record this season (Arizona on Sept. 14)
•    NM State improved to 6-11 away from the Pan American Center in 2024, winning its second in a row.
•    Mike Jordan's squad is now 9-1 when posting a team hitting percentage of .300 or higher.
 
FROM THE FLOOR
Head Coach Mike Jordan, on bouncing back after the first set: "It certainly wasn't the start we wanted. We made a lot of errors, but the positive was our kills. I think you see this in championships sometimes where the first match makes teams a little tight. That seemed to be the issue with us, but once we settled down and got in a rhythm, we were good from there."
 
Head Coach Mike Jordan, on the matchup with UTEP: "We're going to have to block it better than we did tonight. I think we left a lot of blocks on the floor, but I love the way we defended. If we can keep the floor defense going that way and put up a better serve-and-block game, it'll be a good match."
 
Fifth year outside hitter Mari Sharp, on the win: "It's all about playing for each other. Knowing that there are so many seniors playing right now, I think we're all thinking about how much we want to win. We don't want to stop playing together, so we're willing to do whatever it takes to do that. This tournament is a huge deal for me. I get to play in front of my grandparents and my family. Of course, playing with the team I love is an opportunity a lot of people don't get. Playing with a team that is as close as we are is something I will do whatever I can to avoid it ending."
 
UP NEXT
NM State will take on (2) UTEP tomorrow at 2:30 PM in Memorial Gym. The Miners cruised by seventh-seeded Liberty in their Quarterfinal matchup immediately before the Aggies' match. NM State will look to advance to its second straight CUSA Championship match, where the Crimson & White would meet either (1) Western Kentucky or (4) Kennesaw State. Saturday's clash will be streamed live on ESPN+ and available to follow via nmstatestats.com.
 
SCOUTING THE MINERS
Ben Wallis is in his sixth year at the helm, holding a 116-57 record in his time at UTEP. While Wallis has only ever been a head coach in El Paso, he spent two stints and more than a decade coaching alongside Mike Jordan as an assistant at NM State, concluding in 2018. This season, the Miners have won 27 of 31 matches, boasting a 15-2 mark at home. With a record of 16-2, UTEP finished with the second-best record in the league. WKU was the only team to take down Wallis' squad in regular-season league action, granting the Hilltoppers another top seed in this year's tournament. On Friday, UTEP swept seventh-seeded Liberty in convincing fashion, allowing just one set to finish within a seven-point margin. 
 
Earlier this week, UTEP earned eight All-CUSA awards, led by Defensive Player of the Year Kaya Weaver. The middle blocker ranks eighth in the nation and paces CUSA with a .431 hitting percentage, ranking second in the league with 1.35 blocks per set. On Friday, Weaver tallied nine kills to match Ema Uskokovic for the team lead. Uskokovic also found her way atop the Miner leaderboard with eight blocks in the win.
 
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