First, this scrimmage was false advertising. Everyone was wearing the same uniform for the match. I could not be more upset. Thankfully, it was a free event, so I didn’t have demand my money back. Also, I picked up a couple of good-looking posters, a football one with Larry Rose III and a volleyball one with Ariadnne Sierra, which is pictured above. Doesn’t Ari look pretty there? I got it up on my fridge now.
Ron was supposed to go with me, but he canceled. My dad told me he wanted to go afterward, but didn’t say anything to me beforehand, I guess to see if I could read his mind. I couldn’t and went by myself. After I’d picked up the posters up front, I couldn’t find the rubber band I’d put in my pocket for just such a contingency. I had to walk the posters back to my truck. By the time I got back (since the parking next to the arena was closed), I was thirsty. I was slightly surprised that the concessions were open for this free event. I wanted to give them a little business since admission was free. Somehow I accidentally ended up with a tub of popcorn and a large drink, about 50% more than what I wanted. At least the drink was needed and the popcorn was good. I did get salt all over everything.
There was a whole cast of new freshmen on the team, eight out of 20 players. Megan McGuire, who missed last season, was out of her leg cast and able to play. She’s almost like having another new player. The team now has just two Megan’s, but increased the number of Jordan’s to three (four, if you count Coach Mike Jordan).
Unfortunately, there were some notable subtractions. Alexsa “Crash” Parker wasn’t there. She was almost the team’s unofficial serving specialist. Her delivery didn’t look like anything special, but when the ball went over the net, it turned into a 12-to-6 curveball and was very hard to dig. When Crash was on, she gave the other team fits. Briana Bustillos has moved on. I’m not sure I saw her play, but she was very nice at the autograph signing I went to. I also saw her at the ballpark in civilian clothes once; she looked gorgeous there. Lexi May was also missed. She wasn’t used much, but 6’ 5” female players aren’t something you want to toss lightly. I was looking forward to seeing her and similarly sized Megan Hart standing side-by-side at the net, intimidating the other team.
On that note, Megan Hart was still in a knee-brace, but a lighter-looking one. As tall as she is and as good-looking as she is, Megan should be doing runway fashion modeling in the offseason. (Probably an NCAA violation, never mind.) Team captain Jordan Abalos was also still in a knee-brace, but again a lighter one, not that huge mechanical one, so we think she’s better too. The team Tweeted out a picture of her right after her surgery. Not many women can still look beautiful in a hospital bed and a gown with tubes coming out of them. Unfortunately, Sasha-Lee Thomas was now wearing a knee-brace. Her injuries must have been worse than they seemed. (I thought it was her ankle that was messed up.) The roster sheet still has her listed being in the middle, but I think I’d heard Coach Jordan saying he was moving her to the outside to take some pressure off her. (Sasha is also lovely and very approachable.)
For a non-contact sport, these volleyball girls really take a beating. Recently departed Women’s Basketball coach, Mark Trahk, when asked about their WAC championship run, credited the girls’ health to their success. And that, he credited to making sure that the girls did NOT hurt themselves in practice. They weren’t allowed to get physical with each other or dive for balls; they just ran through set plays and situations. Basketball and volleyball aren’t the same, of course, but I seem to recall that most of the volleyball team’s injuries last year occurred in practice. I could be wrong, but I think I’m right there. Anyway, make of this suggestion what you will.
A pair of Aggie volleyball alumni joined the team for this game, Desiree Scott and Nathalie Castellanos. They must have been recent players as they were in very good shape and fit into their old uniforms well. I noticed both of them, kind of kept a bit of distance between themselves and the current team. Desiree walked down the stairs right past me after coming back from the bathroom. Up close, she was an extremely majestic specimen. Out on court, everyone seems a bit smaller. Natalie was the only girl out on court with short hair, and indeed partially shaved on one side and hanging over her eyes on the other. She was very eye-catching with a killer smile. Once between sets, unselfconsciously, Natalie bent over, shook out her hair, then threw it back. If I’d paid to get in, I would have gotten my money’s worth right there from that dead sexy display.
It wasn’t a game-level crowd in attendance, but the people there were happy to be there to see the girls. Adam Young was doing the PA duties at this exhibition. They’ve got him doing everything. Unsurprisingly, he did a good job. This was probably a lot easier than calling a volleyball match over the radio and having to mention everyone who touches the ball in play. The cheerleaders were there and would likely be working the exhibition football game later. They were wearing some cool crimson t-shirts with shiny silver lettering. There were a few shaky moments during their routines, including a fall. They’re still in training. They did toss some t-shirts and little footballs in to the crowd, which was nice for free game. A new Pistol Pete was with them. He needs to work on his mustache.
The girls were selling out hitting and diving during the warm-ups before the match. That was a good sign for the upcoming scrimmage, though maybe not for their health. Team introductions were interesting. The two alumni were presented first. Coach Jordan bowed down in a “we’re not worthy” pose for Desiree. Then the team was introduced. Freshman Julianna Salanoa was announced and displayed on the video board. I suspect my reaction was the same as the coach when he recruited her, “Yikes, this girl looks a volleyball player!” I mean really, she exudes power and athleticism in a tall, toned, flexible frame. (Not to mention, good looks, which seems like an unofficial requirement.) Megan McGuire had the best smile when introduced. Freshman Jordan George got teased by the coach during her intro.
Set One seemed like the reserves and the alum versus the regular starters, though Briana Anisworth (and her ever-present pleasant smile) was with the reserves and freshman Brielle Sterns was with the starters. That said, the players did switch around during the set. Megan Hart looked good with a powerful kill and was jumping well. Kassandra “KC” Tohm took a large share of attacks and hit well. Julianna also had an impressive kill. I noticed a couple of the new girls used the beach volleyball style serve. It’s flashy, but I’m not convinced it’s worthwhile, at least indoors. The 19-16 point was the most epic of the match. I may have to start counting overs on the net during the season to quantify what I mean by “epic.” The crowd starts going “Oooh” and “Ahh” while watching these kind of points. Ari and Jordan made some great digs on hard Megan Hart kills to keep the exchange going. The set went to the starters (?) 25-22.
During the match, Adam told the crowd about the Aggie Soccer girls beating UTEP on Friday. I wasn’t able to go because of work. I’d gotten an update on the game on the local El Paso sports talk show in the evening. The Aggies were behind late in second half, 1-0. I checked the team Twitter feed later and found out they’d tied it and then won 2-1 in overtime. This was the Aggie soccer team’s first win against UTEP in seven meetings. There was a great crowd for the game. I felt bad about not being able to go. I felt even worse that I hadn’t gone to the soccer team’s scrimmage last Saturday. I’d missed it because I was unsure about the weather and was in a bad mood in general.
For Set Two, the girls switched sides and also switched around some players. I guess this is why they weren’t wearing different uniforms. Jordan and Sasha were on different teams. Actually, I’d sort of imagined this event with these two being team captains and picking their own teams. More practically, I think Coach Jordan was trying out different combinations of players as units. Freshman Savannah Davison shined in this set on the attack. Sasha looked good, but hung back a bit and seemed tentative. 25-16 to Team Sasha, though she didn’t actually play that much.
There was a quick halftime. Coach Jordan diagrammed something in front of the team on a board. I could see what he was drawing, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what he was showing them. The entertainment for the break was a couple of pairs of guys doing a serving challenge. Lecture over, the girls turned around and watched and got a good laugh out of it.
Set Three had Jordan, Sasha, Megan Hart, and the Alum versus KC, Ari, and Julianna. Savannah cycled in on one of the teams. (Forgive me for not being able to keep track.) I noticed her making a couple of really smart plays in her shift. That’s great to see in a freshman. I do worry that she’s already starting off playing in a knee-brace. Freshman Lia Mosher came in and got a couple of strong kills. Something I hadn’t noticed before, Jordan pumps her fists even after a miss on a kill shot. Maybe she’s practicing celebrating for the season. 27-25 for KC and the Reserves, I think. It was too confusing.
The crowd stirred at the end of the set. Adam came on and announced that there would be a fourth and final set upcoming. Maybe they decided on how many sets to play based on the time. I’m sure they didn’t want to run over the football exhibition at 7:00. Set Four had Sasha, KC, Megan Hart, and Jordan versus Briana and the Alums. In this set definitively, alum Nathalie took over with several kills. Pity she won’t be playing for the team for the rest of the season. I was very pleased to see reserve Analyssa Acosta get in some really good digs as a defensive specialist. I hope we’ll see more of her on court during the season. Briana and the Alums won this one 25-18. (The "Crimson" Team was reported later to have won the the match overall.)
Adam ran up the stairs by me right after the game. He stopped to shake hands and say “Hi.” I told him he was a busy man, doing this and all those player interviews for University’s Youtube channel. Adam needed to get to the bathroom and then immediately out to the football field to call the charity game there (a really busy man). However, he just couldn’t resist chatting with a fan for a minute to compare impressions of the volleyball team, especially with a guy who had been taking notes during the scrimmage. These are my expanded (and completely uneducated) thoughts about the team. The actual conversation was very quick and just touched on a few of the girls.
New freshman girls Lia Mosher, Savannah Davison, Brielle Sterns, and Julianna Salanoa looked really good. Adam thought one of them would end up being a starter. The coach had singled out a couple of them as well in an interview. They all needed a bit of work, especially Savannah and Julianna on their serving, but the raw ability was there. I mentioned I’ve been reading “Moneyball,” elsewhere and I may be committing the fallacy of thinking that just because a person has the physical looks of a good player, that means that they’ll be a good player, but Julianna felt like a future star of the team. Savannah also seemed like a really “heady” player who can play smart.
I was really encouraged to see KC Tohm making a lot of attacks during the scrimmage. About the only bright spot in last year’s tournament game loss, was seeing more of KC and her distinctive attack style. I could see her really stepping up and finishing the year as the team’s top scorer. Megan Hart is wearing a lighter knee-brace and can finally jump. She should be awesome in the middle and on the attack. Jordan, now healthier, should be great on offense and defense as usual. Ari will be an anchor on defense and may have some good help backing her up.
My two concerns are Sasha-Lee Thomas and Tatyana Battle. Sasha looked good when she was playing this afternoon, but she just barely played. Adam thought they were being careful with her for a practice game. Looking at her heavy knee-brace, I’m worried she’s still not right. Boy, is Sasha good when she’s healthy. With her full time, the team should roll over the conference. Without her or just some fraction of her, it’s going to be a struggle.
With Sasha and Jordan hurt last year, Tatyana carried the team in several games. With so much talent on this team and only one ball to hit, I could see her time and swings reduced. She’d gotten some criticism last year about her defense. If she’s not in playing enough, I could see her regressing. That would be a needless shame. If Sasha isn’t able to play most of a game, Tatyana’s gotta be slotted in as the starter instead.
Finally, I had to ask Adam about his interview with Ariadnne Sierra. “She looked like a hostage in a kidnapping video. What were you doing to her?” She’d had another interview right before that and had gotten emotional talking about getting a scholarship. She hadn’t composed herself before talking to Adam. Alright, but don’t make her cry again. We need a happy Ari out on court.
If I’d had Ron with me, I would have suggested going to the exhibition football game. Going by myself didn’t interest me (nowhere near as much sex appeal as the volleyball and too big a crowd to be alone in). I picked up a great meal at Schlotzsky’s for dinner on the way home. This was a great start to another semester of Aggie sports.
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