NM State Falls in Five at Grand Canyon

PHOENIX - Katie Birtcil powered NM State's offense by matching her career high with 24 terminations, but GCU used a 3-0 run in the fifth and final set to earn a 3-2 victory over the Aggies Saturday night at GCU Arena.

SET ONE | NM State 25, Grand Canyon 20

• A 6-0 run to start things off by the visitors gave NM State all the cushion it needed to gain an early upper hand. Two solo blocks by Lindsay Blakey began the match and Birtcil wrapped up the 6-0 scoring spurt with her first kill of the night.

• Though the Lopes managed to tie things up twice, they never grabbed the lead. After a Grand Canyon kill knotted matters at 8-8, NM State used two more Birtcil kills and a solo stuff by the same…