Aggies grab 3-1 win over Liberty

LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Aggies wrapped up the weekend in style, taking the finale from Liberty in four sets. Kacia Brown was one of several Aggies to set records on Sunday. She filled up the box score and recorded a whopping seven career-high marks. Brown helped her squad prevail in four sets in an important road match against Liberty. NM State improved to 13-6 and stand at 6-2 through the first half of the conference season. The Lady Flames are 8-10 overall and 1-5 in CUSA action. 

Set-by-set: NM State wins 3-1 (25-20, 24-26, 25-20, 25-23)

Sunday’s opening moments were much more productive than Saturday’s showing. The road team dropped five service aces on Liberty in the first set alone; three of them from Kacia Brown. Darian Markham added the other two, including one that gave the Aggies a 13-7 lead and forced a timeout from Trevor Johsnon. Liberty didn’t lead in the first, and the Aggies took a 1-0 set lead on a kill from Brown to make it 25-20. 

Liberty responded in the next frame, taking their only set of the day. Brown did have five kills and no errors on her eight attempts in the second, hitting .625. Markham added 10 of her 30 digs as well, and the Aggies took a commanding 16-10 lead. Despite their efforts, Liberty won eight of the next nine points. The set featured 12 ties and four lead changes, but Liberty took the final lead, winning 26-24.

Coming into the weekend, the Aggies had played 17 matches. The winner of the second set was 17-0 in 2023, with NM State having won the match all 12 times they won the set. This weekend, the streak ended. In fact, the loser of each match won just one set on both Saturday and Sunday. Both times, it was the second set. 

NM State got out to a hot start in the third, taking a 5-0 lead and forcing a Liberty timeout. Ryleigh Whitekettle added four of her eight kills in the set. Ashley Herman tacked on three of her own, as part of her own record-setting day. Herman finished the day with 11 kills, the most in her young career. Her seven total blocks and six block assists are also new bests, continuing a stretch of improved output from the sophomore outside hitter. The set was closed out with two consecutive kills, both assisted by Rilen Garcia. Garcia was one of several Aggies to set records on Sunday, finishing the match with a new personal-best 29 assists. 

Early on in the fourth set, the match appeared to be headed to a fifth set. Liberty pulled out to an 11-7 lead and forced a timeout from Mike Jordan. The adjustments worked well, and Kacia Brown entered her most dominant period of the day. On five consecutive points, Brown recorded a kill, block assist, kill, solo block and kill. The spark came at a crucial moment, putting NM State ahead 13-12. The Waterloo, Iowa native put up 10 attempts in the final frame, and collected seven kills with no errors. Once again, while Brown and company handled things at the net, Markham added another 10-dig set to her record. The senior libero notched a season high with 30 digs, just short of her personal best, which came when she had 32 against Chicago State in 2022. While Markham has crossed the 30-dig mark before, Liberty’s new arena had never seen anything like it. Her 30 digs are the most by any player in a single-match in the history of Liberty Arena. 

Brown and Markham led the Aggies to a 20-20 tie in the set. The Aggies would go on to win five of the next eight points, winning 25-23. Those five NM State points were as follows; a block assist (Brown/Herman), a Liberty attack error, Brown kill, Brown kill, Brown kill. 

From the Floor
Head Coach Mike Jordan, on the win: “That was a good bounce back today. Kacia (Brown) came up bigger and so did Maggie (Lightheart) in a small role.” 

Redshirt junior outside hitter Kacia Brown, on how the team performed better Sunday: “We went in knowing we had to change things, and I think we did a really good job doing that. Our energy was better. We came in knowing it was a new day and not to hang our heads from yesterday. We wanted to take advantage of the opportunity today.”

Kacia Brown, on where the Aggies stand halfway through the CUSA season: “Individually, I feel good with how I’m performing for the most part. There are obviously things I need to continue to work on and improve, and I’m excited to keep working on my game. I think that as a team we’re learning to bounce back after losses and that’s been super fun to be a part of. I feel great going into the second half of conference play knowing that our team is working hard and doing what we need to win.”

Senior libero Darian Markham, on the improvements from Saturday and her role in the defense: “I think we all played better today and more as a team than we did yesterday. The defense starts at the net, so it was easy to read around our block and put up digs. Liberty had some good hitters, but we were able to adjust today and get some good stops.”

Records Set on Sunday

• Kacia Brown’s new career highs:
  • 17 kills
  • 31 attempts
  • Five service aces
  • 27.5 points
  • Nine total blocks
  • Seven block assists
  • Two solo blocks (tied career high)
• Darian Markham recorded 30 digs. This is her most in the 2023 season, and the most in Liberty Arena history. Her 4 service aces tied the most in a match in her career.
• Rilen Garcia earned an assist 29 times on Sunday, breaking her previous personal record. 
• Ashley Herman recorded three new career highs: 11 kills, six block assists and seven total blocks
• Aleka Darko set her 2023 and Division I record by tallying five kills on only seven attempts (tied season high), and had a new career-best hitting percentage of .714
• The team recorded 62 kills, which is tied for the most in a match this season. 
• With 62 kills, 11 service aces and 11 total blocks, the Aggies had 84.0 points, their most in any match in 2023.

Up Next

NM State will head back home to take on Western Kentucky, who finished just outside the Top 25 in last week’s ACVAPoll, earning 81 votes. WKU has won 64 consecutive regular-season CUSA matches since 2018. The Aggies will host the Hilltoppers for a pair of matches on Friday, Oct. 13 and Saturday, Oct. 14. Friday’s match is at 6:00 PM MT, and Saturday’s action will start at 12:00 PM MT. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+, and available to follow via Stat Broadcast. Those links can be found at nmstatesports.com.