I’d been worried about quarter end processing at work, but
everything turned out fine Friday night.
I switched my worry over to the girls on the Aggie volleyball team for Saturday’s game. Before Thursday night’s game against Chicago State, it was announced that
captain, Jordan Abalos, was injured in
practice and wouldn’t be playing this week.
In addition to being first or second in any given game in kills and
digs, the coach mention she was their best passer and returned 50% of the other
team’s serves. She’s a big part of the
team. Jordan was seeking a second
opinion on what seems like a season-ending injury. I doubt there’s any good outcome from this
development coming. Even Jordan being
cleared to play may not be good for her personally. As much as I want to see her play, I don’t
want her getting more physically hurt than she probably already is.
Though Chicago State had a better record and was actually
built up in the pre-game, the Aggies walked over them in straight sets, even
without Jordan. Tatyana Battle really stepped up with 13 kills. KC
Tohm was next with 8. Lia Mosher was in on 8 blocks. Ari
Sierra had 13 digs. So far, so good,
but I was still concerned about the Saturday game, especially since it was an
Autograph Day for the fans. (Sidebar: Coach Mike Jordan mentioned chatting
with new Women’s Basketball Coach Brooke
Atkinson in an interview. Its good
see some collegiality between the Aggie coaches. They were probably discussing voice-care
techniques after a long day of yelling at the players.)
After waking up late after a long night at work, I ate
breakfast right before going, so I avoided the concessions, which were busy
anyway. There weren’t any programs up
front, but I found one at a side entrance. The seats behind the bench were filled with a middle
school girls’ volleyball team that had participated in an Aggie training
session that day. I said “Hi,” to a
co-worker, whose daughter was at the camp.
Adam Young, broadcasting the
volleyball today (thank goodness, it’s nice to have a friendly voice in your
ear), called it a “light” crowd today.
The old man wasn’t even there.
I’d say attendance under 1,000.
(They’re not putting any stats on the programs anymore.) Adam thought it was because of the Aggie
football game this morning. I frankly
doubt the fans were in Fayetteville, so I don’t know where they were.
I’d been listening that Aggie
football game against Arkansas
on the radio before going and during the pre-game. That game finished just before this one
started, and ended with a 42-24 loss. No
announcement was made about the score at the volleyball game, unlike the Lobo game, where the Aggies were
winning earlier this month. (Adam gave a
late update, without giving a final score.)
I admit I was okay with the outcome.
I’d thought to myself beforehand that if the Aggies could keep the
Razorbacks under 50 and score over 20 themselves, it would be a somewhat
encouraging result. As per the
newspaper, the big winner was the Aggie Athletics department with a $1.35 M
payout for playing the game.
The girls were out on court warming up. (Yikes!
I saw Julianna Salanoa pick
up a volleyball with one hand, palming it.
I haven’t seen that before.) Jordan
Abalos, not suited up, sat on the bench, watching. Her desire to be out there playing was almost
palatable. A couple of little girls,
maybe coaches’ daughters, were sitting next to her, keeping her company. She didn’t go with the team to change for the
game. I didn’t realize until later that
she was actually only able to walk on crutches.
Jordan would, very gingerly, hobble to join the girls in a circle during
the match. It was just heart-breaking to
see her like this.
During the Anthem, I swear I was hearing a choir. Maybe it the middle school girls singing
behind me. For player introductions, the
UMKC girls seemed very friendly, as they waved to the crowd. The lights dropped and the Aggie promo video
came on. Most of the highlights featured
Jordan, which depressed me and must have made her miserable. Seniors KC Tohm and Sasha-Lee Thomas did not start.
Redshirt Sophomore and 6’5” tower Megan
Hart and standout freshmen Lia Mosher and Brielle Sterns were in.
We’re going young today.
Set 1
Tatyana Battle got the match started with a kill. She was already taking charge from the first
point on. 3-1 was a Roo point, but Megan
Hart showed some unexpected skill in digging a shot off the floor. KC and Brielle combined on a block at 5-1,
and Brielle got a great kill at 5-3. The
Aggies dominated this set, but the Roos got a great dig on an Aggie point at
10-4. 10-5 KC missed on her third attack
error. 11-5 Sasha came in and
immediately got a kill. KC came out and
the coach talked to her.
12-5 Kaylee Neal
came in to serve and floated the ball just over the net for an ace. The crowd roared in approval. (I had my head down over my notes at the time. I’ve got to stop doing that.) 13-5 Lia got in on the action with a
kill. 20-8 the Roos won the point, but
it was kept alive by three Aggie girls diving for the ball. The crowd loved the effort. 22-8 Taty served an ace. She was doing it everywhere on the
floor. She had 7 kills for the set. Natalie
Mikels served an ace to end the set 25-10 Aggies.
Set 2-Aggies 1 Roos 0
I don’t know how with all the noise, but there was a little
boy sleeping in his mom’s lap in front of me.
Brielle started off the set with a kill and served an ace a few points
later, 3-1. (The Roos need to work on
their return of service.) KC made a
couple more attack errors to tie it at 5.
KC came out, and Sasha got a kill to retake the lead at 6-5. Sasha is the stopper when it comes to
opponent runs. 12-6 the Aggies went on a
7 point run that only ended on a service error.
The down official (the one on the floor, as opposed to the
one on top of the net) started getting a steady stream of abuse from the Roos’
coach. There had been a missed call
earlier and now every close play was being argued. 17-12 Roo point, KC was looking in the wrong
direction and missed a pass (grimace).
18-12 KC’s swing is blocked out for an Aggie point. She was still taking her shots without
hesitation. 19-13 Sasha got a massive
kill that rebounded into the seats.
20-13 Taty got her tenth kill.
22-13 Lia got an overpass kill (a pass that gets too close to the other
side of the net that the other team can hit, they’re cool). 23-14 Sasha put another kill into the
seats. 25-14 Aggies was the Set 2 final.
Halftime
The contest on the floor involved some of the middle school
girls popping balloons with their backsides.
But most of the entertainment came when all the girls started dancing
for the camera back at their seats. The
staff came over and gave them all souvenirs from their effort.
Set 3-Aggies 2, Roos 0
The officials weren’t having a good afternoon. 4-1 Aggies, was a disputed point that was
overturned in conference. 7-2 KC showed
up with a great kill. Time out Roos. Dance Cam went into effect, Gangnam style! The middle school girls were up and all over
it. My co-worker’s little son was dancing
in the aisle with Pistol Pete. How cool!
Pete came by later and took care of him with a souvenir button. Ooops.
Too much fun. The Roo bench got
yellow carded for taking too much time to get back on the court. I didn’t realize they were dancing too.
7-4 Roo point, but KC took three good, hard swings during
it. 7-5 Roos got an overpass kill by #14
Alexia Morey. 11-5 during yet another break to mop up sweat
on the court, the Roos’ coach really got into it with the officials. I’m surprised she hadn’t been ejected by this
point. And was the temperature dialed up
in the building? There were about five
stoppages for cleaning the floor during the match. Normally, there aren’t any. And is it really necessary for the players to
be doing the housework? It looked
bad. Maybe the ballgirls or arena staff
could do it. (I’ll do it. I can see it now. “So as long as I’m here, what are you ladies
doing after the match?”
“Yellow card for bothering the players!”
“Can I at least keep the towel?”)
12-7 Lia was denied on the previous point, but got the kill
on this point. 15-7 a Roo dump shot sent
the Aggies scrambling with two emergency digs that eventually won them the
point. 16-8 Roo #14 Alexia Morey with a
great tip kill. Very tall and pretty
with long straight jet black hair, Alexia was hard to miss on court. With her dark eye shadow, if it’s possible
for a volleyball player to have a cute Goth look, she had it. Alexia may also be something of a team
leader, as I noticed her working up a lot of chatter with her teammates between
points.
16-9 Roo point, but the Aggies had four diving digs trying
to save it. The girls laughed
afterward. The coach yelled at them on
court. 19-11 Sasha came up with another
great kill. Wincing afterward, she came
limping right off the court. That didn’t
look good. I don’t think she came back
in. 23-12 KC got a kill and another at
22-13. Bridgette Lowe came in. Her
right (hitting) hand was still wrapped up.
She was able to hit effectively with it.
23-17 the Roos won the long point on a KC attack error, which Adam
identified as her sixth. 23-19 KC was
called for a net violation. Coach Jordan
called a timeout as the Roos had managed to claw their way back into the
set. He likely reminded them of their
two five-set losses this season, where they’d lead by two sets in both. That must have done it, as the girls finished
it off. 25-19 and 3-0 Aggies was the
final.
Tatyana Battle
stood tall today with 15 kills to lead the team. Adam mentioned at one point that she was hitting
.800 with only two attack errors. She’s
6’ but has such a lean build, you might underestimate how hard she hits. Taty really steps up when needed, and that
time is now. This’ll be her team next
year, if not now by process of attrition.
Brielle Sterns, built in a
similar fashion, came up with 8 kills.
The future is now with the freshman.
Sasha-Lee Thomas
gritted her way through the match with 8 kills.
Last match (9-19-17), I could see Jordan was nearly done. I’m worried I may be seeing Sasha in the same
straits, playing until she can’t. KC Tohm had 7 kills, but maybe the same
number of errors. Jordan would make
errors, but if you kept feeding her the ball, she’d double that in kills. KC looked physically okay, but I have to
think there is something wrong in her life, because she’s definitely a good
player. I don’t know what to say. The team has won two matches in what should
have been convincing fashion, but instead left me wondering what’s going to
happen when they face stiffer competition or have to play past three sets
again.
I’m having a terrible time writing this, because I’ve been
dreading having to bring this up again.
If the girls get injured during a match, that’s part of the sport. If they’re getting injured in practice,
that’s on the coach. Why do I keep
hearing about injuries sustained in practice?
Mike Jordan is our 20-year head volleyball coach, and I don’t even
understand the rules of the sport, and yet I can see this problem clearly. It’s too late for Jordan, probably for
Sasha. Hopefully, KC just had a bad day
or a minor injury. Take care of the rest
of the girls. Megan Hart was reported to
be in good shape and eager to play. Savannah Davison was cleared to play this week. Julianna
Salanoa is there. You may need the
firepower here shortly, so it might be a good idea to see if these girls can
play.
On to more pleasant things.
With the win, autograph time was all smiles. At the end of the match, the PA pointed out a
pretty staff attendant named Brooklyn (how cool) on court, and invited the fans
to go get the players’ autographs on a special poster, which Brooklyn would be
handing out. On the court, I waved to
Adam Young. He reached over and shook my
hand, which was nice since he was just in commercial break and not actually
done for the broadcast. I told him I’d
seen him on TV doing football and that he did a good job.
First up was my favorite herself, Jordan Abalos. I’m glad I
shaved today. The good news was that the
line moved quick, but the bad news was that that really limited the face time,
not that I had speeches worked out for Jordan and some of the other girls or
anything. She was all smiles and
pleasant, because she’s always so poised and gracious dealing with the fans and
the media. I only got to tell her good
luck, and she appreciated the support.
Let me say here at least, Jordan, you’re awesome. Being a great volleyball player is probably
the least of your good qualities. Things
will work out for you.
Sasha was right next to her.
Unfortunately, like I said, things were moving fast, and most of girls
had their heads down signing. I would
have liked to have asked Sasha how she was doing, but she was probably in pain
and miserable. I got a moment with Analyssa Acosta. She is so pretty and sweet, just like last
year. She talked to me and liked my
“Aggie Empire” shirt. As if I didn’t
think the shirt wasn’t awesome enough, it’s been enhanced. (There was some sort of contest or drawing
for tickets to The Last Jedi
announced during the match, but I didn’t care.)
Next year will hopefully be your year to start. I made an effort to call the other reserves
by name when I could, since they appreciate the recognition.
Lovely Kaylee Neal
I made sure to talk to, since I definitely wanted to ask her about her
internship with the women’s basketball team.
She lit up. She liked it and learned
a lot and said it was a totally different culture on that team than the
volleyball. Surprisingly, Kaylee said
she didn’t know anything about basketball (or not so surprisingly at 5’
tall). Quickly, I asked if she was going
to be a coach someday. She laughed and
denied it, saying she didn’t have the temperament. I know Coach Jordan has gone out of his way
to praise her work ethic, and she’s been called one of the team leaders. I think Kaylee will be coaching unless she’s
got another career set up. I really
wished I could have talked to her more.
It would have been interesting.
I got a good look at Bridgette
Lowe’s hand. Not only was it wrapped
up, her fingers were taped together. I
was a bit shocked she was playing like that and actually told her and said that
she was tough. She smiled and brushed it
off like it wasn’t that big a deal. (I’m
not sure how she signed.) Brielle Sterns was nice and I got to
praise her good game. I told KC Tohm that she had good bounce back
set in the third. She gave me that
killer smile. What I really wanted was
to ask how she was doing, but this probably wasn’t a good venue for that or an
honest answer. Lastly was our star
player today, Tatyana Battle. I got tell her she had a great game. I’m sure she knew that, but didn’t mind
hearing about it.
I guess if I want more conversation with the girls, I need to
join that Sideout Club and have
dinner with them. Sorry, not this
year. Work is too up in the air (and I’m
kind of shy). I’ll have to live with
regret and missed opportunities for now.
You guys are great. Even though
it was busy, if I wasn’t assertive enough to say something to everybody, know
that I meant to. I ran into my co-worker
again. She asked if this poster was
going up in my cubicle, like my other Aggie posters. No, this will go on the fridge at home.
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