NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Volleyball 9-29-18

As you can see, I had a successful outing, but the day got even got better as it went along.  Still, I was missing my last shot at watching regular season baseball and it was a meaningful game.  I think it was going to be the Dodgers and Cardinals, thus I was skeptical about going out.  With my season pass, I’d already paid for the game, which more-or-less decided it.  Any opportunity to see the volleyball girls is also welcome. 

Ron wasn’t able to come today.  As I sat by myself for 20 minutes in the Pan-Am Center waiting for the match, I began to wonder if I should have stayed home and watched baseball.  A decent crowd came in, maybe a bit less than Thursday’s game.  A Russian-sounding fellow and his wife and daughter sat in front of me.  By Russian, I do mean speaking Russian.  His little girl was wearing a pair of good headphones and was reading the first Harry Potter book.  She’s got a ways to go in the series. 

Yeah, that’s it.  That’s my whole intro.  Usually I go on for a couple of pages.  I literally sat staring vacantly into space for 20 minutes today.  Maybe I should have brought a book.

Set 1

Bam!  Julianna Salanoa started off the match with a kill.  That was good to see.  Unfortunately, they’re still not tracking of player kills up on the scoreboard, so that’s about all of the definitive scoring I have: Aggie #9 1 kill.  The Aggies started off killing well and blocking very well.  I said before, the middle blocker position on the team is one that they’re deep at, even with Lia Mosher and Brielle Sterns out.  Tatyana Battle and Megan Hart combined on a block to make it 5-4 Aggies.  Megan and Brigette Lowe combined on a pair of back-to-back blocks to make it 8-4.  (Actually, I’m willing to bet you could combine me and Megan Hart on a block and still get the block.) 

Savannah Davison had a kill to bring it to 9-5 Aggies and a GCU timeout.  Sav had airmailed the first Aggie serve of the match.  For the rest of the match, she’d get cycled out after her first serve for a set for Halle Razo.  She didn’t seem happy about the subbing.  I don’t know if this happens every match, but I noticed it this time. 

Speaking of serves, two of the GCU girls had monster Brazilian beach volleyball-style jump serves.  KJ Adams served up an ace at 10-7.  Tegan Deflaco had an even harder serve.  You could tell just by hearing it in the stands.  I’m sure the Aggies were happy to side out those two out quickly. 

14-10 Meg got the kill, but GCU did make a couple of great saves on the play.  16-11 Taty got an overpass kill.  Everybody enjoys those.  Behind me, two guys were breaking down the match and the players.  I wonder if they were the same guys from the soccer match yesterday.  Maybe someday, I’ll be like those guys and actually understand the sport I’m watching in technical detail.  They even noticed that PA Ed takes a drink of water every time after he makes a booming announcement. 

19-13 Sav killed it on a long point.  Timeout GCU.  Down on the sidelines, Pistol Pete danced with some kids.  Various items were thrown into the crowd during the match.  The Russian fellow (he didn’t look stereotypically Russian, I might add) and his girl stood up and waved.  It was the only time she paid attention to the court.  I mentally decided that if I caught something, I’d give it to her on the condition she put her book down.  (No, I don’t care how hard it is to put down a Harry Potter book.) 

21-14 Briana Ainsworth with the dump shot.  Heh, heh, heh.  I love it.  22-15 libero Jordan Pleasants made two great saves, though GCU won the point.  The crowd still applauded the effort.  24-15 the Aggies got it to set point, but GCU got two great saves on the play.  Aggies took the first set 25-15.

Set 2: Aggies 1, Lopes 0

Savannah’s first serve of the set was a boomer that required a pancake dig to keep it from going directly into the center of the court.  She made sure to get that one in.  It got everyone’s attention.  I might not have noticed on her first set serve or this one, because she was on the other side of the court, but in the third set when she came back to my side, I saw that she was using a jump serve like the GCU girls.  Halle would still take all of her other serves for the match.  If Sav can consistently get her serve in like she did here in the second set, I say let her serve.  (Halle does have a good serve though.  Having too many good servers on a team really isn’t a problem.) 

The good blocking continued with Meg and Brigette, 5-3 Aggies.  GCU would come back and tie it at 9-9.  14-12 Aggies, Megan got the kill.  Two GCU players ran straight into each other, face first, on the point.  They were okay thankfully.  Their coach took a timeout.  18-14 Savannah with an overpass kill.  19-14 Meg with the ace.  She can just be just as deadly away from the net.  20-15 Brigette got a kill and GCU took their last timeout. 

I noticed AD Mario Moccia was again sitting at the scorer’s table.  I’m glad he’s here for the volleyball team, but he still seemed unhappy.  I didn’t see his little girls with him, maybe that’s why.  21-15 Taty made two diving saves and a dump shot won the point.  In the second set, the two big-serving GCU girls both airmailed their initial serves.  Probably after an admonishment by their coach, they started serving in a more conventional fashion.  KJ did much better and ran off two points on her serve, 21-18.  Timeout Aggies.  23-21 GCU got the point, but Jordan made an off-the-court save and Taty made a falling one-handed hit to get the ball back over the net.  GCU got it to 24-23 and Coach Jordan took another timeout.  Megan would finish it with a kill to take Set 2, 25-23.

Set 3: Aggies 2, Lopes 0

I’m missing the goofy halftime entertainment this season with the shortened break time.  The Aggies were looking good here and then got just what they didn’t want.  4-2 GCU, Ashley Anselmo ran into the sideline table and came up limping.  She motioned she was done immediately as the up official called for the trainer.  Ashley was able to walk gingerly with help over to the trainer’s table to get worked on.  For this match, I thought the Aggies were going to be fine, but they will really need her against the tougher teams in conference, as she’s a powerful outside hitter.  Cat Kelly came in to replace her.

4-4 not to be outdone, a Lopes player dove into Adam Young and Kelsi Meredith calling the game.  They don’t prepare broadcasters for that kind of stuff in school.  8-7 Aggies (I think), Coach Jordan argued the point by sending his captain, Tatyana, back-and-forth to the up official.  I think Taty was trying not to laugh as she participated in this strange ritual mandated by the rules. 

9-9 Tegan aced it using a conventional serve.  The showmanship of the jump serve is fun to watch, but really kind of unnecessary for a good serve.  12-10 Aggies, Cat got a kill and made it look easy.  13-11 Cat again with the kill.  14-11 Megan with an overpass kill.  She’s so good.  During a TV timeout, the video board showed Lia Mosher, on crutches with her foot in a boot, over at the trainer’s table talking to Ashley.  A piercing, blood curdling shriek split the silence.  Harry . . . Oops, sorry.  I was reading over the little girl’s shoulder along during the break.  I wonder what happens to Harry Potter next.

20-14 Megan with another kill.  I need more superlatives.  Then the play of the match, Julianna Salanoa leapt into the air to pound it with her right and then instead, tipped it with her left for an easy kill.  A couple of years ago, I had mentally theorized about that sort of attack, but this was the first time I’d ever seen anyone actually try it.  Bravo!  22-16 Cat was making the most of her sub and scored another strong kill. 

23-16 timeout GCU.  The PA tried to play Sweet Caroline during the break, but didn’t get to the chorus before play resumed.  No problem.  The crowd went “Bum, bum, bum,” even without the music.  (And you thought that only happened to Charlie Blackmon and his walkup music.)  Appropriately, the match ended on an Aggie block, 25-16 and 3-0 Aggies.  And, since the team won in straight sets, the Raising Canes promotion paid off and I got a two-for-one coupon.  I’m set for lunch tomorrow.           

Not much to analyze here.  The Aggies are really good at home.  They weren’t even playing that sharp, but were able to dominate GCU.  On the press table, I saw some discarded stat sheets, but they were from after the Second Set.  As you’d expect, Tatyana Battle and Savannah Davison were leading in kills.  I’m pretty sure they led the rest of the way.  We really hope Ashley Amselmo will be okay shortly, because her presence out on court makes the other team justifiably nervous about getting hammered from the right pin.  If not, next woman up.  Other teams will overlook Cat Kelly and she’ll make them pay.

Autographs

Yeah and here’s the real reason I skipped out on baseball to go to volleyball today.  I’d seen this was scheduled on their Twitter feed.  Once again, I was standing in line with a bunch of little 10-year old girls like at soccer a couple of weeks ago (9-9-18).  Apparently, I’m shameless.  (I almost feel like breaking into song.  Do I pick the Billy Joel version or the Garth Brooks version?)  As before, I was struck by how much the players love interacting with these little girls.  Putting the girls out in the community to work with kids or bringing kids to the university to work with them as much as possible could only benefit NM State sports.    

I didn’t get to talk to all the girls, which was too bad, because I actually know all of their names.  It’s likely a good thing that this all went quick because I didn’t want to turn into that Chris Farley character that spas-es out and tells people how cool they are.  (I pretty much did that anyway.)  Like dear Brandee Walton last year (1-7-17), several of the girls were thanking people for coming out to the game.

Analyssa Acosta was first up and she’s been the sweetest thing all three years I’ve been getting autographs.  As much as I’d like to see all the girls play and do well, I’d like to see her out on court the most.  The rest here aren’t in order.  I got to congratulate Brigette Lowe on her blocking.  I told Cat Kelly she was really good in relief.  I said, “Hi,” to Briana Ainsworth.  I don’t know if remembered me from the day before or not at the soccer match.  She’d acquired a little cut on her nose since yesterday that I didn’t ask about.  I made sure to call Zoe Abeyta by name.  Since she’s been sitting on the bench this year, I wanted to give her some recognition.

Ashley Anselmo was amazingly there signing and all smiles.  She’s a trooper.  She said she’d twisted her ankle, but didn’t think it was serious.  On that note, I asked Lia Mosher about her twisted ankle, since I’d seen her playing last week (9-20-18) and I thought she was over it.  She’d had a MRI after that game that said otherwise.  I asked Brielle Sterns if she missed her scooter from when she was injured.  She didn’t, but did kind of enjoy using it at first.  I hate talking about these good players being injured.  

I couldn’t remember that it was the Arizona game (9-8-18) at the time, but I made a point to tell Jordan George that I thought she did a good job in the set where she was the libero.  I knew she’d sat out all last year; I was glad that she got to play finally.  I didn’t get to talk to Jordan Pleasants, but I did see that she has really blue eyes.  “Captain, leave your hair down.  It looks good,” I told Tatyana Battle.  She said the braids weigh too much, but I think she appreciated the compliment.

Julianna Salanoa has a stud in her tongue.  I wanted to turn into her dad for a moment and ask her why on earth she did that.  In any case, she’s warm and bubbly.  I called her, “sneaky,” for that lefty tip.  Yeah, she was still grinning about getting away with that one.  I didn’t talk to Halle Razo, so I couldn’t clarify the pronunciation of her name, but getting a looking a look at her close up, she’s a real cutie.  Speaking of good looks, all I could blurt out to Megan Hart was, “You’re awesome.”  I’m sure I had big anime eyes when I said it with little valentine hearts popping up around me. 

Then there’s that little blank space under one of the girls’ pictures, Brittany Welch.  I haven’t seen her with the team for several games.  I don’t know what happened to her.  I’d really wanted to tell Brittany that she looked good in the Scrimmage (8-18-18).  There’s a bunch of players in front of her for an outside hitter position, but I wanted to encourage her to listen to the coaches and stay ready.  Her time would come at some point, some day.  Brittany’s still listed on the roster, so hopefully she’s still on the team.

Adam Young and his broadcast partner, the lovely Kelsi Meredith, were at the end of the line, packing up.  And at this point, I blanked.  I shook Adam’s hand and waved hello to Kelsi, when I should have been asking them about the game.  What can I say?  Too many pretty girls all at once.  Walking out, I ran into Rito on the production crew.  I held up my autograph card, “Darn it!  No phone numbers!”  He said he was going to be there for another two hours taking down the production.  Not a glamorous life.

Lastly, I walked over to Schlotzsky’s for lunch where I was NOT eating ice cream.  (We’ve covered this issue in detail many times over.)  Associate Coach Keith Rubio pulled in a little while later.  I immediately accosted him and congratulated him on the win.  I asked if him and his brother, the Arizona coach, were still speaking.  He said they were, but perhaps only because he’d beaten them in the rematch.  Another fan also talked to him.  I’m just an assistant coach.  I’m not famous!  I’m just here for lunch.  The fan asked about Ashley, and the coach didn’t seem as optimistic as she did earlier. 

That’s discouraging, but not as discouraging as having to go over to McDonalds to get inferior ice cream for dessert.  (Because “Ice cream is for winners!”)  I did ask the assistant manager at Schlotzsky’s about the ice cream.  She said the company was looking at other options and there were going to be big changes early next year.  We’ll hope for the best.  The team performed well today.  I performed poorly getting autographs, but wasn’t banned for life from the Pan-Am Center in the process, so that’s a victory too.  And, I’m fueled up with a good meal and ready for some Aggie Softball next.