NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Volleyball 10-12-19

I woke up an hour late and had an accident in the kitchen with a large cup of spilled water this morning.  I did get to watch the start of the Petit Le Mans sportscar race while exercising.  Very cool.  When Ron called to pick me up, I wasn’t ready and had to rush out the door.  I should have set an alarm.  This was a big game after all.  I was wearing my crowd-pleasing “Aggie Empire” shirt for the autograph session afterward.  I tried to look my best.

Out front of the Pan-Am Center, the Lady Aggies Tailgaters club was having a get-together.  Inside, AD Mario Moccia’s wife and daughters were manning a stand for the wife’s insurance business.  The older daughter had obviously just come in from a softball game.  This reminded me to tell Ron about a story from the Aggie Coaches Show.  Mario had faced a current Aggie pitcher at the alumni game recently.  After striking out, he’d demanded the kid see him later in his office about his scholarship.  Of course, Mario was joking, but the pitcher was terrified.  (Less amusingly, I also found out that all of departed Coach Green’s committed recruits had left with him.)  

Out on court, the two teams were warming up.  This match up was between the number one and number two in the conference, the Aggies and the GCU Lopes.  Both teams came in with the same 14-3 record.  The Aggies were undefeated in conference, while the Lopes had one loss.  I’d been worried about this game, because the Aggies had already played two games this week.  They’d shown some exhaustion in the last match.  Here was the toughest challenge at the end.

I have to admit.  The Lopes are a pretty good-looking team.  I’ll refrain from naming names this time, but probably only because I didn’t note the player numbers during practice.  Once again, this team had some very attractive assistants.  A lot of these visiting teams have those.  I’m starting to feel a bit cheated with my team. 

GCU also had some impressive team dancing drills.  They got going to a Billie Eilish song and were impressively synchronized.  Surprisingly given the relatively short distance between the schools, there were only a couple of GCU fans with them.  An attractive Lope player mom danced in the stands.  Later, her husband joined in the dancing.  One of the players immediately turned around and hid her face in her hands saying, “OMG!  You guys are like so embarrassing me!”  (Just kidding.)  

With that song, PA Ed was back in the house announcing.  He brings a good playlist.  Actually, I’m sure he doesn’t have anything to do with it, but the music was different than with the Softball PA guy.  Speaking of family, a fellow with tattoos and the word, “Salanoa” across the back of his shirt was taking video of the Aggies warming up.  I’ll take a stab that was Julianna Salanoa’s dad.

Yikes, Kelsi Meredith was looking good today.  I’m sorry we weren’t getting a radio call today, but these TV games with her as the color commentator more than make up for it.  Down in front of us, that guy with the hamburger last time was back.  This time he had a concession hot dog.  The crowd in general was pretty good, maybe a tick less than on Thursday.  Annoyingly, the stats from Thursday were still up on the scoreboard and would remain unchanged for this game.  Somebody needs to take over the scoreboard this season.  While the You Don’t Own Me team video played up on videoboard, Kassi Stolz danced on the sidelines.  She’s hard to miss.  The coach is wasting her energy by not putting her in the game. 

The best thing that happened for the match was actually the player introductions.     Some members of the Aggie Kids Club, including Mario’s daughters again, stood out with the girls.  All of the players’ interactions with the little boys and girls was precious beyond words.  It’s great to know that Megan Hart isn’t just beautiful; she’ll be great with our children too (hopefully making up for my bad parenting).  Some of the girls gave their souvenir balls to the kids to toss into the stands.  A couple of them with little bitty kids, just gave them the balls to keep.  They even took the kids with them to the net to greet the opponents.          

Set 1

The match started with a bang for the Aggies.  Julianna got the first point with a kill down the middle.  She then pointed into the stands and shouted, “That one’s for you, Dad!”  No, but she may as well have, because her name’s going to be coming up a lot here in this recap.  2-0 Aggies, Ashley Anselmo went crosscourt for a kill.  The GCU reserves began the match making a lot of noise.  They were very spirited as the Lopes scored a couple of points.  4-2, Megan and Savannah Davison combined on a block.  Breaking up the potential run though, Krysten Garrison served long at 4-3.  7-3, Megan and Lia Mosher combined on a block.  Then, Sav served long on the next point.

Undaunted, Meg came back with a crushing kill at 8-4 Aggies.  The Lopes started a comeback and got it to 8-7.  Sav and Lia each made a great save on the point.  10-7, Kaboom!  Jules put down a thunderous overpass kill.  10-8, Natalie Mikels served long.  This was getting uncomfortable, or perhaps too familiar with some previous games.  11-8, no problem, Jules crushed another one.  She then combined with Sav for a block.  And then, Cat Kelly served long.  They weren’t going into the net at least.  (Trying to look on the bright side.)

13-10 Aggies, Julianna could do it smart too, as she put in a tip here.  15-10, at last, a good serve.  Jules hit the corner with an ace and hit the line judge on the bounce to boot.  She was doing it all.  That took us to the media timeout.  I’d brought my radio to listen to Aggie Football during the match, but this was too interesting.  I ended up turning it off to concentrate. 

16-10 Aggies, PA Ed called it, “Booyah!  Megan Hart with a kill!”  I think that interjection slipped out.  He’s a fan of hers too.  17-12, Ash had hit one out on her last swing, but came back here with a kill.  Brigette Lowe came in.  She’d be getting some quality time in this match.  17-13, GCU setter Klaire Mitchell put in a good dump shot here.  She could do it with some heat on it.  18-13, Sav had been frustrated on a couple of swings.  She took it out here on a hard kill that deflected high into the stands.            

20-14 Aggies, Megan made one of her “Ole” kills.  I’m sure there’s a technical name for that kind of shot.  That’s just what I call it.  It’s the kind of kill you can make with a wrist snap when you’re 6’5”.  21-14, Jules won a joust at the net for a kill.  Timeout GCU.  22-16, Jules with another tip.  The GCU reserves had gone quiet as the Aggie crowd noise had picked up.  GCU took their other timeout a few points later.  23-17, Analyssa Acosta missed a dig on a dive.  She pounded the floor afterward.  24-17, Julianna boom kill.  Jordan George came in to serve, but the Aggies took Set 1, 25-18, on a GCU net serve. 

Set 2: Aggies 1, Lopes 0

Savannah was smiling as the teams exchanged ends.  It was almost a guilty grin.  I felt about the same.  The Cheerleaders took the Kids Club out to toss out some stress balls to the crowd.  Pistol Pete then danced with the kids to the PA music.

1-0 Aggies, Cat started the set off with a kill.  A GCU player nearly ran into a line judge trying to get it.  He laughed at the contact.  2-1, GCU wanted a net violation.  Their coach sent their captain over to talk to the up official.  “Ball don’t lie,” though.  The Lopes went into the lead, 3-2, as Nat ran into photographer, Gary Mook, on the sidelines trying to recover a bad dig. 

4-3, the Aggies went back into the lead.  Jules had a near out-serve, but Ashley buried a kill for the point.  6-3, Meg slapped one down.  8-3, Meg and Ash made a wall for a block kill.  Timeout GCU.  10-4, Jules served long.  She’d gotten too amped up and was flirting too much with the backline.  11-4, no problem, here was Megan again with a kill.  Brigette again cycled in.  12-4, there was a long rally on this point.  Mitchell made another great dump attempt that was saved.  After another Aggie save, Megan ended the point on a tip.  

13-5 Aggies, Megan with another kill.  She was making this look too easy.  14-5, a lift was called on the Lopes.  15-7, GCU took the point, but Sav and Annie both put in the effort into trying to save the point.  16-7, Brigette killed one down the line.  Alright!  16-8, GCU took this point on a long rally.  There were two out-shots that were brought back in accidentally.  Cat went for a dig at the broadcaster’s table between Adam Young and Kelsi which ended it.

17-8 Aggies, Jordan G was back in to serve.  20-9, Sav made a crosscourt kill at an impossible angle.  I had to see it on replay to believe it.  20-10, Jules was still too juiced with another long serve.  21-10, Meg again.  GCU wasn’t even trying to stop her.  23-10, Krysten put in an ace.  Katie Birtcil came in with Autumn Gentry serving.  Autumn is Ron’s favorite, so he was thrilled.  24-10, Brigette got a block kill.  Autumn then had an out-serve as GCU fought off three set points.  Finally, Megan ended it with another kill, 25-13.

Set 3: Aggies 2, Lopes 0

I don’t think there was any halftime entertainment while I was in the bathroom.  That’s what happens when there’s only a five-minute break.  I just got back before the first serve.  1-1, Jules got the first Aggie net serve.  Still too much energy.  2-1 GCU, they finally blocked Megan at the net.  Their reserves let out a yell.  The Lopes followed that up with an ace.  On the next point, they were called for being in the net.  Brigette came in early.  Her and Meg combined for a block to tie it at 3.

4-3, the Aggies took the lead on an ace by Krysten.  5-3, Sav got a tip kill on a block.  6-3, Megan blocked a dump shot and got the kill.  7-3, Sav pounded one into the middle.  9-4, Megan pounded another nail herself.  Timeout GCU.  We still weren’t in the Raising Canes coupon giveaway section.  So much for a cheap lunch. 

9-5 Aggies, Sav went long on another serve.  10-5, Meg tip kill.  11-6, Cat fastball kill.  11-7, Nat with a long serve.  It’s a good thing the Aggies didn’t need clutch serving this afternoon.  12-8, Jules was unblocked with a kill into the middle.  13-9, Sav same thing.  14-9, Megan same thing.  Coach Jordan was yelling for some reason.  14-10, Jules touched a GCU out-swing and they took the point.  The coach had his head in his hands. 

15-10 Aggies, the Lopes took this strange point, as both teams traded overpasses.  15-13, the Aggies took their first timeout of the match as GCU went on a run.  Coach Jordan had a short, animated talk with the team.  Let’s see if we can discern his strategy from the next few points.  16-13, Megan kill.  Halle Razo came in to serve.  17-13, Megan kill.  18-13, Megan kill.  19-13, timeout GCU.  Let’s guess what their coach was telling his team, “I think they’re passing it to the tall girl a lot.” 

20-13 Aggies, Halle was still on serve and aced out of the timeout.  21-13, Brigette with a big block.  Sav was on the bench.  She was shouting out encouragement to the team.  22-15, GCU out-served.  23-15, Sav was back in with a kill.  Krysten and Brigette took each other out on a set and both went to the floor.  24-16, they were okay, as Brigette buried one at a defender’s ankles.  25-16, Nat finished off the 3-0 match with an ace!  Exclamation point!     

50 kills in 3 sets.  That’s about all you need to know to analyze this one.  (The stat line was 50-18.)  Megan Hart had 19 kills (more than GCU total) with 6 blocks.  So beautiful.  More than I’ve seen before, the team really leaned on her and she responded.  Savannah Davison had 11.  Julianna Salanoa had 8.  I feel like the coach took my advice (11-29-18) about having her family here for games.  However, she might have gotten a bit too excited and disappeared later.  Jules needs to regulate that energy.  I’m not sure if putting Brigette Lowe in more was a strategy move to keep the blocking players fresh, or if Lia Mosher was hurt in Set 1 diving for a ball.  She was in a jacket late in the match.  Brig stepped up well.    

Wow, the Aggies demolished the number two team in the conference.  I don’t even have any outstanding Lopes players to mention here.  Reality check.  The Aggies weren’t that sharp today.  Blocks were a surprising 9-8 to the Aggies.  It felt like they had more.  The Aggies had 10 service errors, but also had 5 aces.  I’m not sure if the coach can live with that.  This match looked a whole lot like that 9-13-19, 3-0 loss, versus Portland.  I attributed that to team illness.  I wouldn’t be surprised if GCU hadn’t had the flu run through them this week.  In any case, they played like a deer caught in headlights.  I don’t think the Aggies embarrassed them more than they did it to themselves.    

Autographs

There weren’t any.  That was disappointing.  I’m sure they mentioned them last week for today, but they didn’t on Thursday or during the match.  I wanted to congratulate them after this great win.  I think Ron might have wanted to meet Autumn. 

Brigette ran up the stands on our side to see her parents.  Coach Jordan gave her a low-five when she went by as he was getting ready to be interviewed.  She was all smiles and excited.  Ah, that was good to see.  A senior lady tapped me and asked if I was working for the team.  Someday, somebody is going to show me what I look like while I’m taking notes during these games.  At that point, I’ll probably stop writing about them. 

Outside, I looked at the time.  This deconstruction match had taken less than an hour and a half.  That was efficient.  Getting a pizza for lunch ended up being more work than we thought it’d be.  I had a coupon for Papa John’s, but they wouldn’t take it because it was online only (which it didn’t say on the coupon).  Ron spent ten fruitless minutes trying to login to their website from his phone, before he gave up. 

Fortunately, Roadrunner Pizza was next door.  I go there on occasion, but Ron had never been.  One of the guys there asked me where I got my cool shirt.  I get that question a lot too.  At least someone noticed.  We took the pizza and breadsticks back to my apartment.  Ron was impressed with the food.  He also got filled up after just a couple pieces, so I was impressed with its density.  I like their pizza, but it always changes from visit-to-visit.  I’m afraid to really recommend it.        

There were a couple of disappointments after the meal.  We checked in on Aggie Football.  They lost 42-28 to Central Michigan.  I was encouraged that they put up 28 points.  AD Mario, who was there with the team, had some serious envy for their facilities during the pregame show.  I feel bad for him.  Everywhere he goes, the opposition has better stadiums and more money. 

The worse disappointment was when I went for froyo at Orange Leaf next door.  After a trip to the mall, where I picked up some more shirts at Sears’ closing sale, I came back and found out that Orange Leaf had suddenly beat them in going out-of-business.  There was a sign saying they’d try to find another location, which will likely not be within walking distance of my apartment.  I wish I hadn’t had my gotten my heart set on ice cream.  I could have walked back to the ice cream place in the mall, but the baseball playoffs were about to come on, so I got a milkshake at 5 Guys next door.  It was good, but my heart still hurt.  There is a new place opening soon next door with Mexican fruit bars, so we’ll see how that goes over. 

Never mind.  The important thing isn’t the ice cream or the autographs.  It’s the win.  (And the pizza.)