2024 Season Comes to a Close in CUSA Championship Match

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) --  NM State Volleyball’s 2024 campaign came to an end on Sunday in Memorial Gym. The Aggies squared off with top-seeded Western Kentucky, who entered with a 23-match winning streak. The Crimson & White took the opening frame of the match, but the defending champions reeled off three straight sets to repeat last year’s result in the same match. The 51^st season in program history concludes with a 19-14 mark, including 11 wins and seven losses in regular-season CUSA play.

Upperclassmen led the way for NM State in the loss. Mari Sharp paced the Aggies in kills (12), while Yasso Amin tallied nine of her own. Darian Markham had 12 digs and three assists, while Rilen Garcia and Nellie Reese each posted 20 assists of their own. 

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM SELECTIONS

Three Aggies were named to the 2024 CUSA Volleyball All-Tournament Team. Mari Sharp, Yasso Amin and Darian Markham all picked up hardware after each had exceptional individual showings across the weekend. WKU picked up four All-Tournament Team honors, including MVP Kaylee Cox. 

Set-by-set: NM State loses 1-3 (25-21, 18-25, 19-25, 25-21)

FIRST SET 

The Aggies roared out to an electric 8-0 start, thanks in part to three kills from Mari Sharp and a Darian Markham ace. The run immediately gave the Hilltoppers their largest deficit of the weekend, culminating in Sharp’s fourth kill before her opponent entered the scoreboard. WKU would respond thanks to two kills and as many blocks from CUSA Freshman of the Year Alivia Skidmore, cutting the deficit to three as Mike Jordan called for time with a 16-13 advantage. After the margin was dwindled to as little as one, Kacia Brown electrified the arena with a solo block down to the middle of the floor as she put her side ahead 23-20. In short order, Maggie Lightheart’s second kill of the match gave the Aggies a 25-21 set victory, capitalizing on the opening frame for the first time all tournament. 

SECOND SET

Mari Sharp punctuated a 4-1 start to the frame with a kill, but WKU responded convincingly. Kaylee Cox posted three kills in an 11-3 run that sent the top seed in front by five points. Three straight Aggie attack errors would follow as the Crimson & White burned a timeout down 16-10. Back-to-back Hilltopper errors would bring the Aggies back within four, but they would fail to get any closer as WKU ended the frame with a 25-18 win, knotting the match at one set apiece in similar fashion to each of the previous two rounds of the tournament. 

THIRD SET

A 4-0 spurt early on put the Hilltoppers in front for good, as they would hold the lead for the final 39 rallies of the frame. Four Aggies (Amin, Sharp, Lightheart, Briggs) recorded multiple kills, but none surpassed three in the frame. In addition to its hot start, WKU put together two separate 3-0 runs late that staved off any attempts of an Aggie comeback. In similar fashion to Saturday’s outing versus UTEP, NM State fell behind two games to one as WKU earned a 25-19 set win.

FOURTH SET

After the two sides traded the opening six rallies, the top seed rolled off a small burst to pull ahead 7-4. For the next 16 rallies, the margin hovered between one and three points, but NM State was never able to tie or pull ahead. Another 4-1 push forced Mike Jordan into a stoppage down 18-13, but two more Hilltopper kills in a three-point spurt pushed them ahead 22-15. Bella Castro entered the back row as Kacia Brown and Mari Sharp each helped their side to its own 3-1 run, before Brown took to the service line. Two kills from Amin and Williams were capped off with an ace from Brown as the redshirt senior drew her side to within three, while WKU had been sitting at match point. In a fitting end to the tournament, Kaylee Cox’s 23^rd kill sealed victory for WKU. The Hilltoppers clinched their ninth CUSA Championship trophy, and the second in a row over NM State.

NUMBERS OF NOTE

•    Mari Sharp led the team in kills for the third straight match, finishing with 12 to go with her seven digs. 

•    For the tournament, Sharp racked up 55 kills (4.23 per set), 26 digs (2.00 per set), two blocks and two aces. 

•    Yasso Amin tallied nine kills on a .182 hitting percentage, coming one kill shy of what would have been her fourth straight double-digit total.

•    The Cairo, Egypt native finished the weekend with 37 kills, a .351 hitting percentage, eight blocks and eight digs.

•    After two impressive performances to start the weekend, Darian Markham paced the Aggies once again with 12 digs (and an ace) in the loss.

•    Across the tournament, Markham tallied 56 digs (4.31 per set), 14 assists and three aces.

•    Maggie Lightheart nearly set a season high with seven kills on 18 swings to go with five digs.

•    NM State fell to 7-12 away from the Pan American Center in 2024, snapping a three-match winning streak.

•    Mike Jordan’s squad is now 0-13 this season when posting a lower team hitting percentage than its opponent.

•    Jordan fell one victory short of what would have been his 18^th 20-win season.

FROM THE FLOOR

Head Coach Mike Jordan, on the loss: “Congratulations to Western Kentucky. We battled hard, but they were very efficient and methodical. They passed the ball well and defended well. We held them (.292) under their conference hitting percentage (.342), but they held us well under ours. I think their defense is really underrated, and they did a very good job of holding us and winning long rallies. I’m proud of the effort we gave this week. That’s the kind of effort that you need all the time when you’re trying to win championships. Hopefully, next year’s team will do that.”

Junior setter Rilen Garcia, on representing the Borderlands: “It’s huge. It’s allowed me to play with heart. I want to be here and represent my community. The fact that my family and friends can be here means so much to me. To lose is really frustrating, but Mari [Sharp] is such a good leader, so now I know what to do next year. I know what to tell the team, and I’m going to carry that on.”

Fifth-year outside hitter Mari Sharp, on being a leader for the team: “That’s exactly what I wanted to leave this program with. I’m never going to remember the wins and losses, or how well I did, but I’m always going to remember the people that I played with and the effect I had on them. I know I can be tough, but at the end of the day, I want to win and I want what’s best for them. I want them to be their best, and I’m glad I was able to help have that effect.”