NM State Aggies vs CBU Lancers Volleyball 10-2-21

It’s a bad sign when I’m telling you up front that there aren’t any gameballs to hand out at the end of this one.  There’s not even a goat.  This loss for the Aggies was a group effort.  I’m spoiling this one because I probably don’t have the heart to even do my usual overly detailed (while still being uninformative) recap. 

 

The big news for this week was that Coach Jordan tested positive for AIDS and is currently on his deathbed.  Wait, I’m sorry.  I’m not a mainstream reporter; I don’t need to promulgate fake news propaganda.  I blame this lapse on having accidently watched the local midday news this week.  (But you have to admit that was quite a way to start a paragraph.)  He tested positive for a cold.  His cold shot was unlikely to have done d*ck for him.  It’s more likely that it was a false positive, since he’s fine and his shot wore off months ago.  Anyway, he was out for the two games this week.

 

Assistant Coach Greg Whitis filled in for him on the Aggie Coaches Show.  The reason for Coach Jordan’s absence was not discussed for some reason.  Coach Whitis is the new guy on staff.  He was quiet and soft-spoken, but super intense.  He’d get your attention.  Another thing I learned, and from Coach Jordan last week, is that we’ve been pronouncing “libero” wrong this whole time.  I think.  I’m still not convinced. 

 

It wasn’t until the game versus Seattle U the next day (9-30-21) that Coach Jordan made his dramatic AIDS announcement at a press conference sending Aggie Nation into shock and disbelief . . . took to Twitter to make his cold test announcement.  The Aggies took the match in straight sets for their fallen leader.  The scores were close, but not really.  Shaney Lipscomb led with 11 kills and Katie Birtcil followed with 10.  Lindsay Blakey had 3 blocks.  Libero Darian Markham was still out from being injured on the team’s lengthy road trip.  Lauryn Taylor filled in well for her.  Carly Aigner-Swesey and Alana Embry split the assists at setter.  This was the Aggies’ ninth win in a row.  That includes eight on the road, including beating Utah Valley, the preseason conference favorite.  That loss to UTEP (9-5-21) really lit a fire under them.  

  

(Actually, a more dramatic announcement for Aggie Nation happened at the football game against Hawaii on 9-25-21.  Striking the Wonder Dog retired.  He retrieved his last tee to the cheers of the crowd and then turned the duty over to his younger brother, Wave.)

I invited dad again to this game.  He surprisingly accepted, but then remembered he’d have to wear a mask and backed out.  That was a good call.  He would have been wearing it for over three hours and been disappointed in the end.  (And wearing that mask the in that cold building kept fogging my glasses.)  Ron was still game, so off we went Saturday morning.  One good thing happened immediately at the ticket office; the ticket prices were back to $5.  I guess they’re charging extra when the Aggies are playing a non-conference foe.  I was wearing the hat I got from super fan Tom for the first time.  I had the flat-brimmed hat pushed back on my head, and I looked vaguely like an aged skateboard punk.  Pistol Pete decals were available on the courtesy table.  I just need to figure out where to put mine.

 

The Cheerleaders were here today . . . in masks.  My admiration for the group only grows, especially when they are forced to perform under such ridiculous conditions.  A new Pistol Pete was with them.  At least he wasn’t forced to mask.  (Was it because he was wearing six-guns?  Could that really be it?)  More distracting on court was the platinum blonde presence of Director of Player Development, Chelsea Rose, working out the players.  I’ll shut up about her . . . after mentioning that she’s committing the terrible offense of totally upstaging the players in terms of looks.  Unforgiveable.  (Assistant Coach Michelle Wright on California Baptist is doing the same.  I’ve mentioned her before too, when she’s been here.)

 

Additionally on the Assistant Coach front, Chris Hertel took over the head coaching role.  Retired Assistant Coach, Keith Rubio, was also out on the floor.  That was nice of him to come back and help.  He worked out the setters separately after the other players had warmed up.  He left before the end of the match, though.  (That wasn’t a good sign.)

 

Shaney looked really intense in practice.  That’s not surprising.  Darian was back in to play.  Her and Cat Kelly were both wearing extensive bandages on their hips and thighs.  They looked like they’d been duct taped together in order to play.  Coach Whitis had extensively praised Cat for her willingness to do anything for the team.  She bleeds Aggie Crimson, perhaps literally.  Ahh, even more reasons to like her. 

The girls had a new intro video.  Thankfully, there was some game footage to mix in now.  The music for it really thumped the bass.  It was vaguely like Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy.  Not a bad choice.  There was a good crowd.  The Women’s Basketball team came in to watch.  More about them later.  Some members of the Soccer team were present in another section.  PA Ed Carnathan would point all these girls out to the crowd during the match. 

 

Set 1

Okay, here’s where I start condensing several pages of notes.  I sort of wish I hadn’t bothered taking so many if I wasn’t going to use them, but I didn’t know the outcome before I started.  The Aggies came out sharp, or should I say Shaney.  She got some early kills and an ace.  Cat, Mari Sharp, and Lia Mosher also got in on it, forcing a CBU timeout at 7-2 Aggies.  The new scoreboard was now displaying player kills, though that didn’t actually help me at the end.  I had to get the final stats from the website.

 

8-2 Aggies, Katie had a misfire on a swing.  Lia saved the point and the Aggies won it on a CBU error.  9-4 Katie nearly ran over Darian for a dig, but did get it.  11-5 Cat made an awesome dig on the point, which set up Katie for a thunderous kill.  Two points later was the unfortunate turning point in the match for fan enjoyment, though nobody realized it at the time.  CBU setter, Leah Pease, made a tremendous pancake dig on a Cat tip and they took the point after a long rally.  This dig was challenged and successfully overturned to give the Aggies the point.  Regrettably, the fans were going to get to see a whole lot more of the challenge system.     

 

13-6 Katie and Shaney came up big on a block.  15-8 before the Aggie serve, CBU was whistled for some sort of foul.  No explanation at the time.  16-8 after Shaney got a tip kill, CBU called a timeout.  The Cheerleaders came out for a t-shirt toss.  The basketball girls started calling for them, but were on the wrong end of the court to get any attention.  They were also heckling the CBU players.  Shaney came up with another tip kill and a fastball kill into the corner.  Lia came up with a block and her signature slap kill.  Katie nearly took out Mari in a collision, but got another kill.  23-15 the Aggies got called for a pre-serve foul.  Again, no explanation at the time.  25-15 a CBU swing hit a line judge for the final point to give the Aggies the set.

 

Set 2: Aggies 1, Lancers 0

Two little delivery robots had a “dance-off” on court during the break.  Unfortunately, this sounds a lot more interesting than it actually was.  They just sort of rolled around a little and showed different expressions on their video screen faces.

 

A couple of long rallies started the set.  3-3 Cat and Darian made great saves on this point, which got a reaction from the crowd, but CBU took the point as an Aggie swing went into the net.  Lauren Taylor came in early for Darian.  5-4 Katie flew in from the backcourt for a kill that got another rise out of the crowd.  The Aggies fell briefly behind, but Katie broke up their run with a kill. 

 

The Women Basketballers were now fake sneezing during CBU serves.  Cat got the Aggies back into the lead a couple of times.  Coach Hertel argued a point that evened the score.  Carly got in a dump shot to regain the lead.  15-13 a Katie kill brought us to the Media timeout.  A t-shirt Gatling cannon was rolled out and fired into the crowd.  It was kind of unimpressive.  Were you expecting mass casualties, J?  I don’t know.  Maybe a little mayhem with it.  It looked kind of dangerous.  The fans on the other side of the court got souvenir balls tossed to them by the Cheerleaders.  One of them tossed a ball to the Women Basketballers, which did cause the mayhem I was looking for as they scrambled and fought for it.

 

The Lancers kept getting ahead slightly, but the Aggies would stop their run and keep it close.  The Aggies took a 22-20 lead on a Shaney tip that provoked a CBU timeout.  To the tune Buttercup, which I can’t understand why it seems to be popular (being in a commercial should make it unpopular), Dance Cam focused on the Women Basketballers.  One of the girls had some serious moves and was kind of hot.  Maybe I’ve written off going to Women’s Basketball prematurely this season.  (I hope she can play as well as she can dance.)

 

Alana and Lindsay were put in late.  Alana got a dreaded double touch call.  Even though I’m not quite sure what a DT is, I saw that one from the stands.  She also tried a dump shot.  They came out, but both came back in a couple of points later.  I didn’t quite understand this subbing pattern.  It seemed like Coach Jordan was trying to get Alana and Carly to split time at setter.  He routinely uses up all of his allowed subs.  The Aggies took the set 25-22.  The end was unexpected as Mari made a bad tip shot on a busted play that somehow dropped in the middle of the Lancers.      

 

Set 3: Aggies 2, Lancers 0

Between sets, Coach Rubio worked out Alana individually on the sidelines.  The trainer was working with Darian.  Dance Cam was watching the Women Basketballers again.  This set started off tight again.  4-3 Mari fired a kill that bounded up in the stands near my section.  The Aggies went up 8-6 thanks to a couple of long serves by CBU. 

 

Here was where the problems with the officials started.  8-7 Katie directly argued with the up official after a call on a block.  That’s not recommended behavior in volleyball.  I was half expecting an ejection or a penalty point.  She came back with an angry kill on the next point, but then served out on the next point.  Katie doesn’t entirely play well angry. 

 

Next, 9-10 CBU, Hertel challenged an out call on a touch.  Carly, who seems to be the designated captain, talked to the up official for some reason, while the down official reviewed the play.  During the long break, they showed the standings on the new video board.  GCU is second in the division behind the Aggies.  These are the two best teams by record.  Chicago State was a surprising 9-6 overall.  Their new coach may be a miracle worker.  The up official called the captains over.  There was an announcement that I thought said the video review system wasn’t working.  I don’t think that was it, but, regardless, the call stood.

The Aggies fell behind further 9-12 after a long, intense rally.  Timeout Aggies.  For some reason, there was no music during most of the break as the Cheerleaders came out.  It was weird.  The Aggies kept falling further behind.  Keke Holloway, Lauryn, and McKenna Peters came in.  (I saw an interview with McKenna on the team Twitter.  She has really pretty eyes.)  I don’t know it these moves were throwing in the towel on the set or trying to inject some fresh legs. 

 

The Aggies kept trying to close the gap, but could only tread water.  14-20 after a long rally, Lia had an apparent kill, but it was waved off.  The crowd gave a loud “Boo.”  Cat played steady on offense and defense, which led to the Aggies closing the gap to 21-23 on a CBU net serve.  The Lancers took a timeout.  Out of that, Shaney netted her serve.  Katie fired out, which finished the set 22-25 CBU.

 

Set 4: Aggies 2: Lancers 1

It was once again freezing in the Pan-Am Center.  I made a dash for the bathroom for a long piss and got back just before play.  The Women’s Basketball team had left by this point.  Soccer stuck around.  I’m pretty sure I could have heard Coach Jordan screaming at the team while in the bathroom if he were here today.       

 

CBU fired a couple of swings out to keep the score close at the beginning, but quickly took and held the lead.  4-6 CBU Hana Okuhara got a setter dump in for the Lancers.  Katie got a kill on the next play, but it was overturned on review to make it 4-7.  Katie came back with an ace on the back line at 8-10.  She focused her anger well there.  Carly returned the dump to make it 9-10.  It was 12-12 after a Lancer out shot, but was 13-15 at the Media timeout.

 

Freshman Sidney McIntosh entered the game briefly at 13-16.  Hertel challenged a call at 15-18, but it stood.  I need to mention that these challenges were at least five-minute delays.  The Aggies kept it close, but started falling away.  They took a timeout at 18-22.  Shaney looked really intense in the huddle.  A couple of CBU out shots closed the score to 21-23.  Kelsi Meredith, Adam Young’s lovely color commentator on the video broadcast, was getting really animated.  They were below us on the sidelines.  I wish I could have heard their call for this match.  CBU closed it out 21-25.

 

Set 5: Aggies 2, Lancers 2

Fans were doing the Macarena around the arena.  Oh boy, did this set not go well.  The Aggies started off with a DT, but got a 3-1 lead off Cat burying one.  She had a big smile afterward.  And here’s how the Lancers won.  The Aggies went up 4-1.  CBU challenged and reversed the call to make it 3-2.  Cat got a kill down the net line, which was clearly miscalled, but Hertel had to challenge to reverse it.  This took ten minutes for those two points.

 

Even with the delays, the Aggies went up 6-2.  Timeout CBU.  During this break, one of the line officials argued with the up official.  Across the court, the down official was arguing with the video guy.  There was some anger displayed.  The next play didn’t help.  Cat appeared to fire long, but a touch was called.  Another challenge (and another five minutes) reversed the call, 6-3. 

 

From here, the Aggies could generate no more momentum.  7-6 the Aggies had a fire drill at the net with a couple of emergency saves, but CBU took the point.  Darian shanked a couple of serve receives to tie it at 7-7.  Timeout Aggies.  Another delay was no help.  Shaney fired out.  Mari shanked a receive.  Cat made a good play, but then served long.  10-12 the crowd was into it as CBU net served, but Shaney served it out.  Lia made couple of clutch plays to make it 12-13 and force a CBU timeout.  Mari had a kill to save a match point at 13-14.  Lia had a tip to tie it at 14-14, but the Lancers closed it out 14-16 and 2-3 to take the match.

 

The Lancers stormed the court like it was a championship game.  I guess that’s a good sign of how hard the Aggies are to beat at home in conference.  The Aggies were clearly dejected.  I saw the coaches huddle the team up twice before we left.  This is why I usually sit behind the bench when I’m here by myself, so I can get more insight on the coaching.  Since, I was with Ron though; we were on the other side of the court.

 

Ron was angry with the team and felt they had made too many errors.  He also said he knew they were going to lose, which is what he always says when the team he is rooting for loses.  (Yes, that’s irritating.)  I was in shock and couldn’t entirely process the loss.  These five-set losses when you’re up by two are devastating for the fans.  I’d already watched one to Utah Valley in the spring season.  Ron had seen them drop one to Arizona earlier in the season, and the team had dropped a five-set match to UTEP right after.               

 

Katie Birtcil led the Aggies with 19 kills.  Shaney Lipscomb had 17, Lia Mosher 15, and Cat Kelly 11.  Carly Aigner-Swesey had 58 assists.  I wonder if that’s a career high?  I thought it was a misprint on the stats, but Alana really wasn’t in this one much.  Team-wise, the Aggies were up 71-63 in kills, .285 to .222 in hitting, and 8-4 in blocks.  Like I said up front, I’m not going to single anybody out for praise here, because they all had a bunch of bad plays at the wrong time too.  Don’t worry.  I still love you girls.  It’s unconditional. 

 

Unlike the Northwestern match, I don’t have anything against CBU, it’s just that nobody really stood out for me.  The team effort also wasn’t that impressive.  They mostly sat back and watched the Aggies screw up (you can tell that by the kill totals).  I wouldn’t even call them steady or more passionate.  They just kept it close.  Their serving was really good.  They were 8-3 in aces.  Even more, many of their serves died at the defender’s feet and caused problems in setting up plays.      

     

When I got back home later, I reflected on a few other issues.  Coach Jordan not being there probably had an effect.  As a practical matter (more than just him yelling at the players), he usually subs players constantly.  I wonder if the main players got wore out later in the match (not just physically, but mentally).  Thinking about the roster, where was Victoria Barrett?  I don’t even think I saw her on the bench.  Certainly the team wasn’t lacking firepower, but another double-digit scorer couldn’t have hurt.  Using Lindsay Blakey more (she has a high hitting percentage in limited action) might be a good idea too.  Lastly, I feel like this is where the team is really missing an on-court leader like Savannah Davison.   

 

(I finally looked her up the other day.  Sav doesn’t appear to be a starter on Oklahoma, but she’s getting plenty of game time.  The team, however, seems pretty bad, at least to this point.)

 

One thing that has to go are these seemingly unlimited play challenges.  Even though not all of them went against the Aggies, it’s irrelevant.  It makes the game less enjoyable for the fans.  Much less.  I was enjoying challenge-less non-conference volleyball much more.  They’ve already had to get rid of halftime because of the challenges.  They may have scrap timeouts given the length of this match.  If officials are really unsure or divided on a call, replay it.  It’ll take less time.  These challenges are changing the outcomes of games, not for the calls, but for the delays.  I think the Aggies would have won this one otherwise, so I’m bitter.  (My hardline stance on this comes from watching MLB’s challenge nonsense.  Just give the umps on the field the ability to correct egregiously bad calls in conference with themselves.)

      

Ron and I went out for Chik-fil-a afterward.  A co-worker gave me a double meat What-a-burger last night, so I should have had a salad or just lemonade.  Afterward, we went to Caliches and made the mistake of going through the drive-thru, which took an f-ing straight-up hour.  We’re only using the counter from now on.  Lastly, and I have to mention this because it was so weird, on the way over, we stopped at an intersection and there was a tarantula crossing the road with a black bird looking on.  The bird may have wanted a meal, but thought the better of it.  We didn’t move the car until the spider had crossed.  It was like he was on his way somewhere.  It was just surreal.