Maybe it was some personal and work-related issues. Maybe it was the end of baseball season. Maybe it was the end of Aggie Soccer season. Maybe
it was because it was the last Aggie
Volleyball home game. I was
depressed heading off to the Pan-Am
Center for the volleyball girls’ last home game. Certainly not seeing the Aggie seniors
playing in-person after today was weighing on me. I didn’t actually think about any of this
until afterward, but I was in a malaise going to the game that I normally don’t
have.
There was plenty of activity in the Pan-Am parking lot. However, as I didn’t know at the time, there
was high school band competition at the football stadium going on at the same
time. After the match, a stream of
school buses drove past me as I was leaving.
Still, there was a good crowd for the volleyball. There was an unprecedented line in the ticket
office. I held the door open for a group
of Seattle U Redhawks family
members. I always try to be nice to
opposing fans, so they don’t think we’re a bunch of jerks in Las Cruces. There was a knot of Redhawk fans behind their
bench during the game. You wouldn’t pick
a Seattle team to travel well.
This was a TV game, so there wasn’t any radio. I thought about bringing my radio to listen
to Aggie Football, but that didn’t
start for an hour, and I didn’t want the distraction for the last home
volleyball game. I did pick up a Tyler Rogers poster at the courtesy
table. About time they poster-ized the
quarterback.
The Seattle girls looked pretty tall and well-built in
practice. The Aggies girls had four
girls laid up and injured on the bench.
I also noticed Savannah Davison
wasn’t with the team. No idea where she
went. Jordan Abalos was back on crutches with her left leg in a
cast. I guess she finally had the
surgery she needed. It just hurts me to
write that. Poor thing. At least she looked gorgeous today for Senior
Day. Fellow injured players, Brielle Sterns and Hannah Combs, also looked good.
I wonder if they all went to the salon together? Jordan and the other senior players were out
on court for the starters’ introductions.
(Now I’m getting choked up writing this.) I noticed during the team intro video
montage, the players on both teams were watching it.
Set 1
It was all about Tatyana
Battle to start the match. The first
point was a kill by her and her first two serves also scored, 3-0 Aggies. I’m still not what the technical definition
of an ace is. In any case, Taty’s serves
weren’t returned. She even got great
one-handed emergency dig, though the Aggies lost that point. Unfortunately, the rest of the team looked a
bit disorganized to start. Lia Mosher made an uncharacteristic
whiff on a swing. Bridgette Lowe, who started, came out and got a long talk from Coach Jordan.
The match was kept tight by the errors. 7-6 KC
Tohm buried her first kill. 7-7
there were two great Aggie saves on the point, but Sasha-Lee Thomas shockingly dropped the ball. 8-8 Ari
Sierra made an out-of-bounds save, which led to Megan Hart getting a kill.
9-9 Lia got a long kill, hitting the back line on the shot. 11-10 Lia was feeling it and pounded one
straight down into the court. 13-10
Tatyana took flight from the back row for a kill.
13-13 a little moment of comedy. The Redhawks’ serve went short and dropped on
the top edge of the net and fell over on the Aggie side. Briana
Ainsworth was right underneath it.
She ducked and put her hands over her head. 14-13 Lia broke up the Redhawks’ run with a
kill. 16-14 Bridgette was back in and
got a confident kill. 17-14 off an
extremely out-of-system set, Tatyana again went airborne for the kill. 18-16 Megan Hart used her height to jam one
right into the court.
18-18 still a tight set.
The coach exploded on this point on an out call. He sent Taty over to talk to the up
official. I’m embarrassed to admit that
it hadn’t entirely sunk in until that moment that Tatyana Battle has on been
out on the court for every point for several matches now and is the team
captain. She’s not a senior and not
built to the same heroic proportions as Jordan, KC, or Sasha. Her kills don’t have the same crowd-pleasing
heat on them that KC or Sasha’s has, but Tatyana still gets points in bunches
every match. Last year, her defense was
considered suspect and teams are still hitting at her on that assumption, but
she’s really improved. I said somewhere,
this would be her team next year.
Injuries just moved things up a bit.
It’s a bit belated, but congratulations.
19-19 the coach was still in a bad mood as Megan Hart came
over to the bench and got a lashing for serving a ball out. I have to mention Megan’s height again. Even with her simple standing serving motion,
she can get a lot of power and angle on her serves. She’s pretty good at it usually. 21-19 Tatyana and Lia teamed up on a block
and were fired up. 22-20 the Redhawks
whiffed on a swing at the net. I
wondered if the Aggies managed to intimidate them with their blocking. 23-20 Lia may have had the shot of the match
on an overpass which she tipped with a soft touch.
The Redhawks came out of a timeout chanting, though there
was another stoppage to mop up sweat on the court. They took the next couple of the points to
23-22. Timeout Aggies. The Aggies came back to take it to set
point. Julianna Salanoa on the sidelines was all smiles and high-fived the
reserves and the staff women who hand out the towels. 25-22
KC finished it with a kill.
Set 2: Aggies 1, Redhawks 0
The cheerleaders and Aggie Kids Club members tossed little
balls into the stands. A fan below me
intercepted one heading my way. I think
the group of Seattle fans got about three or four of them. The teams exchanged sides and I got a good
look at the Redhawks. They have a lovely
red-head on their staff with great hair.
Their libero, Tijana Milojevic,
is pretty cute. The PA was having
trouble with her name. These teams with
a bunch of Slavic players are killing the announcers.
This set started well for the Aggies as Briana dropped an
untouched ace right on to court, 1-0 Aggies.
4-4 this was sneaky. Megan jumped
up and reared back and then just tipped the ball for a point. 5-4 the treachery continued as Briana made a
great dump shot for the point. 9-7 Lia
crammed one on a short set. 12-8 KC and
Lia on a block. Timeout Seattle U. Pistol
Pete grooved on the sidelines to the music.
14-9 Bridgette got a solo block and rev’ed up the
crowd. 15-9 Bridgette got a kill that
painted the sideline. The Seattle coach
got good and angry with the officials after that. He’d been upset for much of the match. Honestly, he may have had a point here. It looked out. 19-12 there was more mopping on the court as
Ari and Kaylee Neal both went
sliding across the court for a dig.
20-12 a kill by Megan Hart, and then an ace at 21-12. Sweet Analyssa
Acosta came into to serve at 22-12 to a big round of applause. 23-12 Julianna came in, which paid off on the
next point with a big kill. 25-13 for the Aggies. Seattle was in complete disarray by the end
of the set.
Set 3: Aggies 2, Redhawks 0
Halftime was uneventful.
Jordan looked loose and happy on the sidelines. The first point of the set was absolutely
epic. It felt like it went on for 30
seconds. The Aggies took it for 1-0
start to the set. 3-1 Lia smashed a
kill. 5-2 KC muscled one in. 8-6 Tatyana put down a great kill on the back
line. Timeout Seattle after the Aggies
took the next point. Some middle school
girls were working it in unison to get on camera for Dance Cam. 11-7 Lia and Taty combined on a block.
12-8 this may have been the best play of the year. I think a bug somehow got on to the middle of
the court. Don’t ask me how. The girls on both teams recoiled from it and
backed away, stopping play before the next point. I’ve recounted how fearless I think these
girls are, but apparently they have their limits. The down official, a guy, walked over and
stepped on and picked it up with a Kleenex to a round of applause. This was baseball-level in-game weirdness.
12-9 the girls returned to play and had another epic point
with several great shots, including one that hit the tape on the net. Seattle would take the point. 13-9 Lia seemed to defy gravity for a moment
as she took flight for a kill. 14-9
Megan and Bridgette combined on a block.
The Aggies have been a wall today.
16-10 Bridgette got a hard kill.
18-12 there wasn’t a lot of disguise here as everyone could hear as
Seattle called out to serve it at Tatyana.
She braced herself for it, but muffed the return. Taty managed to get it high enough in the air
for Ari to save it. Tatyana would finish
the point for a kill. It was that kind
of day for the Aggies and for the Redhawks.
18-15 Sasha fired one into the net for the second time in
the set. She might not have been jumping
well today. Timeout Aggies. I worry about Associate Coach Ben Wallis.
While Coach Jordan feels that the team should win every match, Coach
Wallis was getting upset on every lost point.
Coach, pace yourself. Don’t burn
out. During the break, the cheerleaders
tossed hats into the crowd along with more little balls. Hey, I got one this time. Sweet.
23-18 KC smacked one. 24-19 KC
again. Megan Hart finished the match on
an overpass kill. Aggies win 25-19 and 3-0 in the match.
As I mentioned, there was no radio call for the match. Also, there weren’t any stats on the
scoreboard for this match, other than the score. Thus, I don’t have any final stats in my
notes. The paper had Tatyana Battle leading with 14 kills
and 10 digs. Briana Ainsworth also had a double-double in assists and digs. KC
Tohm and Lia Mosher had good
games, along with Megan Hart and Bridgette Lowe. I felt bad for Seattle U. They had their moments and had a good first
set, but this one never really felt in doubt.
They were just overpowered.
Senior Day Ceremony
Maybe it didn’t feel like a good victory, since I knew this
was going to be how it would end. I was
feeling genuinely sad as the Senior Day preparations were made. I was also confused by the music they were
playing, an instrumental version of Sympathy
for the Devil. The Seattle girls
hung out on the other side of the court, stretching. The Aggie team sat down in front of the
scorer’s table. Coach Jordan walked by
and fist bumped all of them.
Off to the side, the seniors and their families
assembled. Jordan Abalos was first up.
While she’d been in a good mood before, as the PA read off her mile-long
list of player accomplishments, she started wiping away tears. Darn it.
Now I’m getting choked up again.
It was just heartbreaking watching her go across the court on crutches
with her leg in a cast. She’d given
everything she’d had to the program.
Jordan had her final battle at the Pan-Am Center trying to get through
her speech while crying. Her disappointment
was so keen at not being able to play through her senior season, you could
tangibly feel it.
Ever emotional Ariadnne
Sierra came out with her family. She
had thanked her family in Spanish, since none of them spoke English. Ari thanked the Coach for his instruction,
“It only took me two years to listen to what you were saying.” The Coach gave her a hug and a big
smile. He must like her. He even liked her Halloween costume. There was a short video congratulations from
the libero from the US Men’s Volleyball team to her. Ari’s got connections.
Kassandra “KC” Tohm
may have gotten the biggest applause for her academic achievements (you could
see her playing ability for yourself during the match). She was beaming and all smiles in her speech
for a moment and then she lost it. She
thanked the fans for helping her not feel so homesick for her native Canada. Then she almost forgot to thank her parents,
who were standing right next to her. Sasha-Lee Thomas was a wreck before she
started talking. She had been living here
with a host family. “You made me feel
like I was your own daughter.” It was
the most beautiful moment in the ceremony.
Kaylee Neal came
up last. Kaylee was announced to have a
4.0 in Accounting and was working on a masters degree. She came out with her family and her
husband. For her speech, she was perky
and happy. It was a jarring contrast,
but that was fine. She thanked her
husband for his support, which was cool.
I’d wondered why she was the last one.
It was because Coach Jordan announced a new award, the Kaylee Neal Award. He wanted to start recognizing the player who
was the best teammate every year.
There’s an MVP award for good playing, but this was for good actions for
the team done between games. Kaylee was
first at practice, last to leave, and helped set up the court every time. Between a husband, studies, and playing, her
schedule must be a tight ship.
Coach Jordan
spoke last. He praised the players
individually. I wonder if this was the
first time he’d ever said something nice to them. Lastly, he told Jordan that this wasn’t the
“fairy tale” ending to her Aggie career that they’d hoped for, but they were
going to try to win a championship for her.
A large number of friends and family went on to the court
afterward. Analyssa Acosta came up into the stands to her family nearby
me. I smiled and waved at her and
congratulated her for getting into the game.
Part of me wanted to go down and congratulate the seniors, but I didn’t
want to intrude. Also, this was sad
enough without a more personal experience to go with it.
Outside,
it was cold and overcast, the first real fall day in Las Cruces this year. Even a good sandwich and ice cream at
Schlotzsky’s didn’t help my depression (but it also didn’t hurt). Last year, there wasn’t a Senior Day to get
depressed over. Now that I’ve been here
for one with the volleyball girls, I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to sit
through another without blubbering. This
was hard. The other Senior Days in
other sports I’ve been to were nowhere near this emotional. My only interaction with the team has just
watching from the stands for a couple of years and getting autographs. I can’t imagine what it’s like for people
more invested in the team. Of course the
players’ reaction was crying in front of a crowd. It’s a warning not to get too attached to
these girls. Good luck for the rest of
this season ladies. I’ll follow along as
best I can.
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