Darian Markham Breaks Dig Record in Sweep Over FIU
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Saturday morning’s rain failed to wash away NM State’s success on the floor. The Aggies’ Friday performance was utterly dominant, outscoring the Panthers 75-33 across three sets. Saturday’s affair proved to be marginally more competitive, but the Crimson & White ultimately walked away with a second straight sweep, ending a perfect weekend in which they won all six sets. After the series, NM State now stands at 12-10 overall and its 6-4 Conference USA mark ranks fourth in the league.
Set-by-set: NM State wins 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-11)
FIRST SET
Saturday’s opening moments told much of the same story as Friday’s affair, with two quick Aggie aces throwing them in front 13-8. Shortly removed from a Panther timeout, Makayla Martinez recorded her first ace of the day to pull ahead 23-15. Back-to-back kills from Mari Sharp and Kacia Brown ended the opening frame by a score of 25-16.
Starr Williams, Ashley Herman and Mari Sharp all notched three kills in the first stanza, but Aleka Darko led the way on defense. The senior had a solo block and a pair of block assists as she was involved in three of the Aggies’ five first-set blocks.
SECOND SET
Saturday’s match featured 14 ties and six lead changes. All of those came in the second set. For the first 40 rallies of the game, neither team was able to build a lead larger than two points. Ashley Herman (five) and Mari Sharp (four) were the only Aggies to record multiple kills, accounting for nine of 13 home kills in the set.
Eventually, a Panther attack error sent Makayla Martinez back to the service line with the two sides tied at 19-19. The true freshman defensive specialist flexed an impressive service game, notching two more aces in the span of three points. Martinez led a 5-0 run to pull within set point, which was capitalized on with a point later with a Mari Sharp kill to win 25-20.
THIRD SET
FIU served to begin the third set, but Darian Markham’s initial reception turned into a kill as it trickled over the net and on to the teraflex sideline. From there, the star of the show took her turn at serving, leading a 5-0 run to open the frame. Along the way, Markham recorded her fifth dig of the day on a Cameryn Jones attack. With the dig, the star fifth-year libero tallied the 1,943rd dig of her career, passing Krystal Torres for the most by an Aggie in a career. Torres played four seasons for Head Coach Mike Jordan, and her program-best mark of 1,942 digs had stood since Nov. 2008.
Rilen Garcia buried the Panthers with two service aces as part of a 10-0 run in the third set of Friday’s affair. In similar fashion, the junior setter strung together another 7-0 run at the service line in Saturday’s contest, compiling her 10th ace of the season. The stretch of seven straight points propelled the Aggies to a 22-9 advantage, before they quickly capitalized on a service error from the visitors to convincingly win 25-11.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
• The Aggies now move to 14-1 all-time against the Panthers and have won five straight over FIU as Conference USA members. The Aggies’ five victories over the Panthers have also been five of their previous eight wins over all CUSA opponents and have come in their last 12 matches against CUSA foes.
• NM State tied its season-high mark with seven service aces, matching its total versus San Francisco on Sept. 5.
• With the win, the Aggies move to 8-2 inside the Pan American Center this season.
• NM State held FIU to a total of 39 kills in the series (23 on Saturday and16 on Friday). The Panthers posted two of the three fewest kill totals by any Aggie opponent this season.
• After holding FIU to a -.088 hitting percentage yesterday, NM State allowed just a .019 mark on Saturday. Those two marks rank among the three lowest among all Aggie opponents this season (Southern: -.069, Sept. 20)
• Mike Jordan’s squad is now 8-1 this season when taking each of the first two sets of a match.
• Makayla Martinez was exceptional in the win, racking up her first double-digit dig performance and leading the Aggies with 10.
• The Albuquerque, N.M. native earned her first two starts this weekend, notching a career-high three service aces on Saturday.
• Ashley Herman wrapped up her impressive weekend with another team-high kill total, posting 11 on just 21 attempts.
• For the weekend, the junior tallied 21 kills (3.50 per set) and just four errors on 38 attempts (.447 hitting percentage).
• Aleka Darko denied two FIU attacks by herself, notching her first two-solo block day as a member of the Crimson & White.
• The senior middle blocker finished with four total blocks on the day, tied with Kacia Brown for a team-best mark.
FROM THE FLOOR
Head Coach Mike Jordan, on Markham: “She’s a great athlete. She’s very good at what she does. I constantly have players telling me that they feel comfortable because she’s next to them. When you have that presence, it’s a big deal. Players like her don’t come around all that often. We’ve been fortunate to have a few, but she’s right up there with them. It’s been a heck of a career for her, and hopefully she finishes strong.”
Fifth-year libero Darian Markham, on the lasting memory from her milestone: “I’m going to remember my teammates. To me, the record isn’t really what I was going for. To know that I’ve been able to help the team so much to where I personally surpass this threshold is special. Everyone was cheering for me in that timeout [after breaking the record], and I didn’t necessarily want it, but it did make me feel excited. I’ll definitely remember that feeling.”
UP NEXT
NM State will stay home for its second of two straight CUSA series from the Pan American Center. Liberty (11-9, 5-3 CUSA) will travel west for a crucial two-match stint between two of the league’s top four teams. The Aggies’ penultimate home series of 2024 will begin on Friday, Oct. 25 at 6:00 PM, with the finale slated for Saturday, Oct. 26 at 1:00 PM. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+ and available to follow via nmstatestats.com.
