SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - NM State Volleyball fell to Sacramento State in five sets on Friday, suffering a reverse sweep. The Aggies (1-3) took the first two frames, but the hosting Hornets (2-2) swarmed back with three straight set victories. For the second time in 28 hours, the Aggies held a late lead, but were defeated in five sets. NM State fell to two matches below .500 on the young season, with its weekend finale slated for just over 12 hours later.
Set-by-set: NM State loses 2-3 (25-23, 27-25, 18-25, 21-25, 10-15)
FIRST SET
Nicole Briggs opened the match with a kill, quickly following up on Thursday's career-high, eight-kill performance. A Hornet kill put the home side ahead 15-11 at the first media timeout, but the Aggies responded with a 7-3 run, including three straight Sacramento State errors, to tie it at 18-18. Head Coach Mike Jordan called for a timeout down 22-20 before Mari Sharp logged kills on back-to-back points to knot the opening frame at 23 apiece. Following a Hornet attack error, Bella Castro entered the match and delivered an ace to pull ahead one set to none.
SECOND SET
A back-and-forth second frame ultimately went the Aggies' way, but not without a fight. A 3-0 lead early proved to be the largest advantage for either side in the set. Sacramento State turned in a 5-0 run to pull ahead 12-10, but the slide stopped there for the visitors. Staring down a 21-18 deficit, NM State responded with four straight points, including an Ashley Herman kill. There were 14 ties and eight lead changes in the second game, but NM State prevailed 27-25 on a block from Starr Williams and Nicole Briggs.
THIRD SET
The home team utilized the match break well, as NM State found itself down one timeout and by a score of 12-6 early in the third stanza. Four attack errors and three missed serves did not help the Aggies' cause, growing the deficit to 20-12. NM State fell by a score of 25-18, while hitting just .158 in the set.
FOURTH SET
Sacramento State put together several runs in set four that proved to be too much to handle. The Hornets amassed streaks of 4-1, 3-0, 4-0 and 3-0 in the frame. While NM State mustered its own 4-0 run, the home side led the whole way, clinching a 25-22 set win and forcing a winner-take-all fifth set.
FIFTH SET
For the second straight match, the Aggies found themselves taking a fourth set loss into a decisive fifth set. Friday night was a similar story to Thursday. NM State has now produced nine errors and a .054 hitting percentage in the two final sets of the weekend, falling in both. While the Crimson & White held an advantage of 8-7 at the turn, Sacramento State fought back with a 7-1 run that included five straight Hornet points to set up match point. NM State came up short by a score of 15-10, ending the match.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
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Darian Markham led the team in digs for the fourth consecutive match to start the season.
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The fifth-year senior recorded a season high with 31 digs, falling just short of her career-best mark of 32 (Oct. 7, 2021 at Chicago State).
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Mari Sharp recorded a double-double, posting 12 kills and 15 digs.
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For the third time in four matches this season, Sharp entered double-digit dig territory.
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Nicole Briggs tied yesterday's career high with eight kills in the loss. Briggs has now eclipsed six kills in three of four matches to start the season.
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Mia Fox made her first entry in the box score on Friday, recording two kills, two blocks and four digs in the match.
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The Aggies now have back-to-back losses in five-set matches. In 2023, they were 5-1 in such occasions.
FROM THE FLOOR
Head Coach Mike Jordan, on the loss: "When you play good, experienced teams, you can't make the mistakes we made. We've been out-served in every match this season. With [Ryleigh] Whitekettle out, the bad serving has affected our blocking and right now we're just bad at getting stops when we need them. Other than against Coastal Carolina, we haven't had a match where four of our attackers hit well."
UP NEXT
The Aggies will play again tomorrow, with a Saturday matchup against Cal State Northridge scheduled for 1:00 PM MT. NM State will look to end its three-match losing skid in what will be its first match against CSUN in 23 years to the day (Sept. 7, 2001). NM State's weekend finale with the Matadors will be streamed live on ESPN+ and available to follow via StatBroadcast.
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