LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Utah Valley University volleyball team gave the defending Western Athletic Conference champion New Mexico State Aggies all they could handle on Saturday afternoon at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, but in the end the Aggies ended up pulling out a five-set thriller by a score of 3-2 (18-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-15, 16-14).
 
Despite suffering the setback, UVU (4-11, 0-2 WAC) outblocked the first-place Aggies (11-4, 2-0 WAC) 17.0 to 6.0 on the afternoon and posted 11 fewer attack errors than NM State in the match.
 
"It was nice to see the girls come out and own that first set. But overall we felt like we could've been successful in this match, and in some areas we were. It's just unfortunate that it didn't go our way there at the end," head UVU coach Sam Atoa said.
 
The Wolverines won the first and third sets to put the pressure on New Mexico State, but the Aggies managed to respond by winning sets four and five to take the tightly contested WAC match.
 
UVU got off to a solid start in the opening set, as it jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead following a Madison Dennison kill. The preseason favorite NM State Aggies then countered right back with a 6-2 run to tie the score at 9-all. With the score later knotted up at 12-12, UVU managed to score eight of the next nine points to take a 20-13 advantage. Izzie Hinton and Brighton Taylor led the spurt with a pair of block assists. New Mexico State later pulled to within five, but UVU responded by scoring five of the final eight points to take the first game by a score of 25-18. The Wolverines posted 7.0 total team blocks in the set, as they outblocked the Aggies 7.0 to 0. Hinton and Taylor led the way with five block assists apiece in the opening game while Dennison and Lexi Thompson each added four kills.
 
The Aggies answered back in the second set by jumping out to a quick 5-1 lead. UVU later pulled to within two, at 6-4, following a kill from Sierra Starley, but back countered NM State with a 6-2 run to take a 12-6 advantage. With NMSU later holding to a 15-8 lead, the Wolverines responded with a 4-1 run to make it a 16-12 score. Trailing late in the game by five at 21-16, UVU again responded again with a 5-2 spurt to pull within two at 23-21. Lindsey Tagge capped the rally for the Wolverines with back-to-back service aces. Following an Aggie point, Utah Valley then managed to drive home a pair of clutch points to pull within one at 24-23. But in the end the Aggies managed to bounce back one more time to take the set, 25-23, and even the match at 1-1 thanks to a final kill from the WAC Preseason Player of the Year Sasha-Lee Thomas.
 
Following the intermission break, UVU responded by taking a 12-8 third-set lead following a 3-0 spurt. Up 14-11, the Wolverines again reeled off three consecutive points -- thanks to a pair of Aggie errors -- to extend their lead to 17-11. NMSU then bounced back with a 5-1 run to pull within two at 18-16. The Aggies later tied things up at 21-21, but back answered UVU by scoring four of the final six points to take the third game by a score of 25-23. Thompson led the Wolverines with a trio of clutch kills down the stretch and five overall in the set.
 
In a must-win fourth game, New Mexico State jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead following a 7-0 spurt. UVU pulled to within five on a kill from Dennison, but NM State responded by stretching its lead to 10 at 19-9. The Aggies would go on to take the fourth set, 25-15, to force a decisive fifth game.
 
The Wolverines were the first to get things going in the fifth and final game, as they erupted out to a 7-3 lead following a 5-0 run. Dennison led the rally for UVU with a block and a kill. NM State answered back with three straight points of its own to pull within one at 7-6, but UVU struck right back with a 3-0 spurt of its own to take a 10-6 advantage. NMSU then cut the deficit to one once again at 10-9, but back answered UVU with back-to-back points to take a 12-9 lead. The Aggies later countered back to tie the score at 13-all following a 4-1 run. The teams then traded points from there until NM State managed to score a pair of consecutive clutch points to take the set, 16-14, and the tightly contested match.
 
"We just couldn't put a ball away when we needed to there at the end. We had our chances, but we just weren't the better team," Atoa added. "The girls played hard and did some really, really good things, so this is a heartbreaking loss for them."
 
The win marks NMSU's fifth straight and its 16 consecutive in WAC play, as it has not lost a conference match since Nov. 15, 2014 against UMKC.
 
Thompson paced the Wolverines offensively with 18 kills, eight digs and four blocks, while Kiahna Vernon added 12 kills of her own and five digs. Dennison led UVU at the net with a match-high nine blocks while Taylor put up seven and Hinton finished with five. Starley also notched her third double-double of the season for UVU with a match-high 42 assists and 16 digs and Nakisha Willden tied her career-high high in digs with 31.
 
The reigning WAC Player of the Week Jordan Abalos paced NM State with a match-high 22 kills and 12 digs.
 
The Wolverines will now return to Orem for their conference home opener on Thursday, Sept. 29 against Chicago State. Following Thursday's home opener against the Cougars, UVU will welcome UMKC to town on Saturday, Oct. 1. Both contests will be held in the UCCU Center due to ongoing renovations to UVU's PE Building.