by KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In the second semifinal match, top-seeded NM State swept No. 5-seed Missouri Kansas City (25-18, 25-19, 25-19) for its 17th-straight victory to advance to the championship match where it will face No. 2-seed CSU Bakersfield.
NM State hit a blazing .368 on the match, led by Gwen Murphy, who had 13 kills on .462 hitting. Bradley Nash (Navajo Nation) added 10 kills on .368 hitting, while Andrea Tauai and Jordan Abalos added eight kills each and Nathalie Castellanos finished with seven. Abalos also had a match-high 15 digs.
Jessica Hendin led UMKC with eight kills, while Skyler Muff added seven. Taryn Miller and Kaylyn Brandt had nine digs each for the ‘Roos.
The first set started out close, but after a tie at nine, NM State went on a 10-4 run to go up 19-13 and went on to win 25-18. Murphy had five kills on .571 hitting as the Aggies hit .344 on the set.
After a tie at five in the second set, the Aggies went on a 5-0 run and later led by as many as seven points before winning 25-19. NM State hit .359 on the set with 18 kills.
The Aggies used a 5-0 run to take a 13-8 lead in set three, forcing a UMKC timeout. The ‘Roos were able to cut it to three, but that was as close as they would get, as NM State won 25-19. The Aggies hit .400 on the set.
