LAS CRUCES, N.M. - It took five sets and 213 total points, but the University of Idaho volleyball team's Western Athletic Conference winning streak was stopped by New Mexico State Saturday in five sets.

Idaho's (13-13, 9-4) six-match WAC win streak ended by set scores of 26-24, 19-25, 18-25, 25-23, and 15-13. New Mexico State improved to 16-8 overall and 11-3 in the WAC.

"This was a great match and a tough loss but the one thing I can say about our team is they really fought and stayed in there," Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said. "It's always tough to play on (New Mexico State's) court but even when we got down our players never hung their heads. (New Mexico State) played great offensively, but the difference in the match tonight was they passed better than we did."

Sarah Conwell extended her streak of consecutive double-doubles to seven as she registered 17 kills and 11 digs while adding five blocks and two service aces. Cassie Hamilton had her second-consecutive match with double-digit kills as she tallied 10 to go along with eight digs. Meredith Rice tallied 18 digs, Debbie Pederson finished with nine blocks and Anna McKinney totaled eight blocks.

New Mexico State finished with 77 kills to Idaho's 47 and held an 83-51 advantage in digs. The Vandals held a 17-11 margin in blocks and improved their nation-leading blocks per set average to 3.15.

Idaho trailed 5-0 to begin set one and later found themselves down 9-3. The Vandals pulled within 10-7 and then 12-10, but the Aggies pushed ahead by five on four occasions, which included 21-16. Three Aggie errors, a Kelsey Taylor kill and another error from NMSU tied the score at 21-21 and Idaho took the lead with a block on the next rally. The Aggies earned set point at 24-22, but the Vandals rallied with three-straight kills and took the match 26-24 on another Aggie hitting error.

Set two saw eight ties and four lead changes as the teams battled to a 9-9 score. An Idaho service error gave New Mexico State the lead and the Aggies ran with it and grabbed their largest lead at 20-14. Idaho got as close as 20-16, but New Mexico State held on for the 25-19 victory.

Set three produced nine ties and five lead changes and Idaho fought back from a 13-9 deficit to grab a 17-16 lead. The Aggies would then go on an 8-0 run to move ahead 24-17 before taking set three 25-18.

New Mexico State jumped to a 12-7 lead in set four and held the advantage until Idaho tied the score at 16-16. The Vandals took their first lead at 19-18 and the teams traded points until back-to-back Aggie hitting errors gave Idaho set point at 24-22. New Mexico State pulled within one with a kill, but Idaho took the 25-23 victory on another Aggie error.

Idaho began the final set in a 9-3 hole but battled back to tie the score at 12-12 and then took a 13-12 lead. The Aggie offense produced three-consecutive kills and New Mexico State took set five 15-13.

The Vandals return home for their final three games of the regular season and take on San Jose State Thursday (Nov. 12) at Memorial Gym at 7 p.m.