New Mexico State Aggie volleyball took on the first game of the Battle of I-10 against the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) on Oct. 10 and were struck down in the first game of the two-day tournament.
SET 1
With the crowd and Aggie players alike decorated in a sea of pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a certain kind of buzz spread throughout the stadium as the UTEP Miners and NMSU Aggies lined up for their 97th matchup game in the series – and the pressure was on for NMSU as they tried to hold on to their unbroken Conference USA (CUSA) win streak.
With UTEP taking first serve, and consequentially the first few points, NMSU took a quick timeout to assess the game plan. The Aggies dominate the series 68-27-1, but UTEP taking a quick lead is not unusual.
“It’s [UTEP’s] best team ever,” New Mexico State’s Head Coach Mike Jordan said. “They’re loaded, and I knew this was going to be a tough task for us.”
NMSU’s attack game took a while to get into swing, with many hits to the other side resulting in attack errors and being clear outside of the line as UTEP sat firm in the lead the entire set, and took home the first match 11-25, 0-1.
SET 2
The Miners were once again first on the board, but NMSU fired up and quickly snuck ahead to lead. Maggie Lightheart’s kill streak from the last game held true, with 11 kills this game and 210 overall this season.
“Maggie had a better game offensively for the most part, UTEP’s got a great block, and we’ve been working on how she can work around that,” Assistant Coach Chelsea Rose said.
Even through the halfway mark of the second set, the score sat within one or two points, until the Miners pulled away after some quick straight-down spikes by UTEP senior starter Kaya Weaver, who led the team with 151 total blocks in the previous season. With only minutes to go after another Aggie timeout, the Miners took the game point at 20-25, 0-2.
SET 3
With Aggie’s untouched streak on the line, NMSU came into the third set with a fierceness not seen before and kept up within a few points of the Miners yet again. A challenged referee call by the Aggies on UTEP fired up the stadium, with cheers of protest and approval blending together in the crowd. The touch call was ultimately ruled as a point for the Aggies, boosting morale and allowing them another chance to catch up. With only one play of separation, NMSU challenged yet another referee’s call on the sideline, which was ruled again in the Aggies’ favor.
After a rough patch towards the end of the set decreasing the nearly tied score, UTEP challenged an NMSU touch on a block, and was awarded the point. After UTEP pulled away, scoring multiple points in a row, NMSU challenged one more final call, giving themselves an extra point, but the Aggies still couldn’t quite catch up – and ultimately victory fell to the Miners, with a final set score of 18-25, 0-3.
NMSU’s next matchup will be against Missouri State University on Oct. 17 at 5:00 p.m. and Oct. 18 at 12:00 p.m.
