NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Volleyball 10-14-21

Honestly, I’d been nervous about this match all week.  It was the raison d’etre of me taking this week off.  After the Aggies’ five-set loss to CBU and getting taken to five sets in a win over Chicago State, taking on the second-place GCU did not look like an easy win, even with a 14-game winning streak against them.  However, Coach Jordan was now back.  He promptly grabbed the clipboard from Assistant Coach Hertel and said, “Gimme that!  I’m never getting sick or testing positive again during a season!”  [Edit as per the Sun-News account: He hadn’t missed a match in 24 years.]

 

More seriously, I saw a prerecorded interview with the Coach and Adam Young last week.  Adam mentioned that the Volleyball team gets a lot of support from the fans.  Jordan got a little emotional talking about that.  He especially mentioned the boosters, mostly senior citizens, who take care of the girls.  Over the many years of his tenure, he’d seen these fans pass along, but new ones would take their place.          

 

This was the Pack the Pan-Am game.  AD Mario Moccia said on the Aggie Coach’s Show that they had sold nearly all of the ten thousand low-cost bulk tickets available to groups and organizations.  He also bragged that he sat with Cat Kelly and Shaney Lipscomb at the Men’s Basketball Scrimmage, the lucky bastard.  The girls were really excited for tonight’s game.

 

My boss’ boss at work had attempted to convince me to come in off vacation to go to an offsite dinner meeting with a speaker, instead of the game.  Sure, I’d love to hear a professional motivational speaker complain about his latest experience in an airport, while I’m eating the cooked dog food at the Convention Center.  Ron would be joining me for this game.  I told him about the meeting, just in case he’d rather go to that.  It never hurts to have options.

 

After a sharing a good laugh at the suggestion, we went for dinner at McAlisters, which was great.  I went too hungry into the meal and was still unfilled.  I again mentioned going to the Convention Center to maybe get a takeout doggie bag (or rather bowl).  Instead, we also stopped by PQ Treats for Frozen Tornados.  Okay, now I was full, but we arrived right into the large crowd outside the arena and too late to see the girls practice.  My ticket was $7.  It was $5 last time.  It was $7 before that.  I don’t understand the pricing.  (The bulk tickets were $2 each in batches of 20 or more or thereabouts.)

 

All of the Concessions areas were open inside.  There were also stands set up selling kettle corn, lemonade, and roasted nuts.  I just couldn’t resist.  I bought a small bag of cinnamon roasted almonds and ate some after I got home.  They were so buttery and sweet.  However, I all I could think of was, I wish I’d gotten some kettle corn, too.

 

As for the team, Cat and Darian Markham were both still heavily bandaged up.  I felt so bad for them.  Shaney was wearing long pants on court and during play.  It certainly didn’t hurt her performance, but I’ve never seen that before in a volleyball game.  I carefully looked over the team and Victoria Barrett wasn’t there.  I checked the program.  She’s not on the roster.  I checked the previous program and she was.  Sigh.  There goes the WAC Freshman of the Year from last season for unknown reasons.

 

[Newspaper edit: Victoria was dismissed for disciplinary reasons and the coach was pissed at her.  Actually putting something like this in a newspaper article is rather extraordinary, especially about a Women’s sport.  In any case, this is tragic.  Victoria certainly had talent.]   

 

A large crowd had filled in about three quarters of the lower bowl.  Aggravatingly, the student section was the empty quarter, though not completely, as we’ll discuss later.  When the two team face off again on Saturday in Phoenix (by a quirk of scheduling), GCU’s student section will likely be full.  The game was on the radio tonight with Adam.  Ron and I were both listening.  Tonight’s game was mostly straightforward, so we didn’t need too much extra explanation.  

 

Set 1

Lindsay Blakey was one of the starters, but cycled out quickly.  Play started with Shaney hitting the backline with a kill.  Cat painted the sideline to make 2-0.  3-1 Cat got another kill on a busted play.  3-2 GCU took the point.  Shaney had a diving dig on the play.  She was doing a great job on receiving in the backcourt.  Several Aggie swings went out and GCU took the lead, 4-6.  Klaire Mitchell on GCU floated an ace in to make it 4-8.  Adam had said they were the best serving team in the WAC.  4-9 GCU was also showing off on their digs.  Timeout Aggies.  The large crowd was a bit stunned. 

 

GCU didn’t seem especially big or tall.  The roster does actually show them being fairly tall.  They were blocking well.  I was a bit surprised that DS Lauryn Taylor came in on service receive for Shaney, given that she was doing pretty well.  5-10 GCU served out.  6-12 Shaney was back in and finally got another Aggie kill.  Keke Holloway came in to serve for her as usual for Coach Jordan.  8-13 Shaney with another kill.  9-13 the Aggies saved a GCU dump shot and Katie Birtcil got her first kill.  10-17 GCU put in another ace.  11-17 Katie got another kill, but unfortunately Darian served out right after. 

 

Cat had a kill at 12-18.  13-18 Katie served in an ace that the defender shanked.  That was a bit surprising.  Next, she served an ace into a GCU corner.  Then she put in another ace.  This was all really surprising.  You don’t really expect the large outside hitters to be great servers.  GCU finally sided out.  Lia Mosher was solo blocked on an overpass kill attempt, 15-20.  Timeout Aggies.  The Cheerleaders came out for a t-shirt toss.  The crowd totally got into that. 

 

15-23 a GCU swing hit the net and rolled over to the Aggie side for a kill.  Even luck was on the Lopes’ side to this point.  16-23 Mari Sharp came in and got her first kill going nearly parallel to the net on a busted play.  (I think the preferred term is “Out of system.”  I say “Busted play” when the team is completely scrambling to receive the ball and get it into any position to get it put back over the net.)  17-23 this was the best play of the match.  It was spectacular long rally.  Setter Carly Aigner-Swesey had a solo block during the exchange and finished it with a near accidental kill.  However, GCU took the set 18-25 on a kill.

 

Set 2: Lopes 1, Aggies 0

Ron was concerned, but not yet saying anything like, “We’re gonna lose this one.”  Frankly, the team looked pretty disorganized.  There was the little delivery robot dance off competition again.  It was still sort of lame, but they did deliver some souvenirs to the Cheerleaders, who threw them into the crowd.  Cat Kelly did not start this set.  She ended up being out for the rest of the match.  She was standing on the sidelines, so I don’t think it was for injury, at least not a bad one.  Cat seemed to be playing well.  I don’t know why she was left out.

 

GCU took a 0-2 lead off a block rejection.  They took an 0-3 lead on a point with two blocks and a great dig by their libero, Teagan DeFalco.  The Aggies came back.  2-3 Lindsay got her first kill with a big bearpaw-like slap kill.  3-4 Mari with a kill.  The shot went right at Teagan’s feet.  She’d already made great dig during the play.  I sort of question why the Aggies seemed to be aiming at her.  She was hardly a weak link in GCU’s defense. 

 

4-5 Katie buried a kill at the feet of the defender.  If you can believe it, people were still coming in.  5-6 Katie came flying in from the backcourt for a kill.  She doesn’t look like a big jumper like departed Savannah Davison, but she is.  6-7 Lia got her first kill on a touch.  7-8 Shaney pounded a kill at Teagan’s feet.  It seems like a definite strategy.

 

Pistol Pete walked by.  He said, “Hi,” to some of the kids.  (He didn’t say anything to me, but I’m not bitter or anything.)  7-11 the Aggies were getting their shots in, but were falling behind.  Timeout Aggies.  The T-shirt Gatling Cannon was rolled out on to court.  I’d warned Ron that they’d gotten the thing working at full blast and it did not disappoint.  They did not go to the full rapid fire mode, as they rotated it around in an effort to fire to both sides of the court and all around the stands.  Bravo!  Adam on the radio estimated the crowd between four and five thousand.  Double bravo!  [Newspaper edit: They said 1,400.  This is flat wrong, unless they didn’t count anyone coming in with a bulk ticket.  I’d otherwise say that they transposed the digits and meant 4,100.]

 

8-11 Shaney came back out of the break with a kill.  After a couple of GCU attack errors, Katie got a kill to tie it up at 11.  The Aggies finally took the lead on an ace by Shaney, 12-11.  Timeout GCU.  13-12 Lindsay and Mari on a block, the team’s first.  14-12 Lindsay with an ace.  16-13 Katie with her fourth ace.  I think the Coach had the girls practicing their serve when he got back.  However, GCU came back to tie it at 16.  18-18 Katie blasted a kill that bounced far out-of-bounds at the end of the court.  Mario nearly got hit by it, as he was trying to get around to the other side. 

 

19-19 GCU had a service error to retie the set.  21-19 Carly served up an ace.  22-20 Katie seemed to reach back in slow motion and brought the hammer down with a thunderous kill.  23-20 Timeout GCU.  23-21 GCU took the point, but the Aggies had two great saves on the point.  25-21 the Aggies took the set.  The crowd got up and got loud for set point.  Carly won it on a dump shot.

 

Set 3: Aggies 1, Lopes 1

The Cheerleaders made a conga line on the sidelines as the PA played Harry Belafonte’s Jump in the Line.  It’s a house favorite at the Pan-Am.  Lauryn with the Aggie reserves was working it.  She’s got moves.  Shaney got Set 3 going by pounding a nail.  2-1 Mari got a tip kill.  The GCU coach challenged the call as his player had attempted a pancake dig on it.  Ron and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes.  Here we go again.  The last match was ruined by constant challenges.  There wasn’t conclusive proof either way on the point so a replay was ordered.  At least, it was quick.  Mari got her kill anyway, she just hit it harder on the replay.

 

3-1 Mari got another kill after a long rally.  4-2 Lia and Katie combined on a block.  5-3 Katie took flight again on a backcourt kill.  GCU made a comeback.  5-6 the Aggies were called for four touches.  Shaney tied it at 6 on a touch on a swing down the line.  Keke came in and served an ace on the sideline.  It looked out and was reversed on a challenge. 

 

During the delay, I noticed a group of guys were in the nearly vacant student section sitting near the floor.  They looked pretty big and built.  I thought they might be on a team, but I decided they were probably frat boys.  They were near the GCU reserves and were heckling them constantly.  The girls were completely ignoring them while likely being very aware of them.  I give the guys credit; they were wearing the girls out for the whole match.

 

Shaney got a tip to tie the score at 7.  Katie tied it at 8 on a touched shot down the line.  The Aggies took the lead, 9-8, on a tip by Katie.  GCU did make some good saves on the point.  11-9 a double touch was called on GCU.  12-9 Katie and Lia combined on a block.  13-9 Lia slapped down an overpass for her second kill.  14-10 another Katie kill took a high bounce into the crowd. 

 

Katie came up to serve and there was sudden confusion by the refs.  There was a long delay as the video was checked.  Adam thought GCU had a rotation error.  Coach Jordan came over yelling at the ref and Adam immediately cut his own microphone to avoid broadcasting it.  The refs decided to replay the point.  No problem.  Katie served up her fifth ace.  15-10 media timeout.

 

Mari added to the lead with a kill, 16-12.  GCU had kept the point going with a save over the media row table.  17-11 Mari went crosscourt with a kill.  18-11 timeout GCU.  The frat guys took time out from heckling to dance for Flex Cam.  It was a good timeout for the Lopes, though.  18-14 the Aggies took a timeout as GCU reeled off three straight points.  18-16 GCU ace.  18-17 the Lopes had made up 6 of the Aggies’ 7-point lead.  Timeout.  The Cheerleaders looked a bit tired coming back out on to court so soon.

 

19-17 finally, GCU had an attack error.  19-18 Keke had a serve into the net.  20-18 Carly had a tip kill.  21-18 Katie with a kill on a touch.  Timeout GCU.  A group of middle school girls in purple team shirts near the sidelines started dancing.  Pistol Pete came by and signed a volleyball for them.  They must be a volleyball team.  22-18 Shaney and Lindsay combined on a block.  22-19 net serve by Carly.  Ron was getting frustrated with that.  23-19 Katie with her thirteenth kill.  24-20 another Katie kill deflected into the crowd.  On Set Point #2, Lia pounded one to close it out, 25-21.

 

Set 4: Aggies 2, Lopes 1

The Cheerleaders did a hat toss into the crowd.  They went nuts for them.  At the other end of the court, one of the frat boys seemed to flirting with a cute usher girl.  1-0 GCU shot one way out that went high into the crowd.  2-0 Mari made an amazing one-handed dig that led to a Shaney tip for the point.  3-0 Shaney with a kill.  4-1 a Katie kill off a touch.  5-1 Shaney served up an ace.  That was the eighth Aggie ace for the match.  It’s looking good here.

 

6-3 Mari got a crosscourt kill.  6-4 GCU was coming back.  Darian made a good save on the point when GCU went for an overpass kill.  7-4 Lia faked a swing, but got the kill on a tip.  8-5 Mari powered a kill past two defenders.  9-6 Lia took a full swing this time and pounded it.  10-6 Keke with an ace.  Timeout GCU.

 

11-6 Mari had another one-handed dig.  The Aggies took the point on a GCU out shot.  11-8 GCU got the point on an Aggie net violation.  Shaney and Katie collided on court during the play, but weren’t hurt.  12-8 Shaney put a tip on the line for a kill.  14-8 Katie with a kill on a touch.  She was up to 16 kills.  15-8 Katie and Lindsay with the “double stuff,” as Adam called the block.  15-11 the Aggies called a timeout after GCU started making a comeback.

 

16-11 Katie came back with another kill.  I feel like I should have made a macro to type that out for this post.  17-11 a Katie kill deflected into the frat boys.  17-12 Shaney put a serve out.  You could hear the Coach getting on to her over Adam’s mic as she came out, “You don’t have to hit it that hard.”  18-13 Lindsay with the big eraser right into the middle of the court.  She’s got skills.  I don’t know why Lindsay isn’t used more.  19-13 Katie got another kill.  Lia had a solo stuff on the point.  Timeout GCU.

 

20-14 GCU served out.  21-14 Katie put in another ace.  She smiled afterward.  I think she knew she was having a good night.  22-16 Lia put a kill into an empty spot on the floor.  23-18 after two Aggie saves that covered the whole area of their end of the court, Shaney finished it with a kill.  25-18 Shaney finished it on the first match point with a crosscourt kill and the big crowd standing and cheering the team on.  The Aggies take the match 3-1.  Everyone was happy, who wasn’t wearing a Lopes’ uniform.  Kaitlyn Espiritu on the reserves jumped into Lia’s arms and straddled her.  Kaitlyn is not a little libero.  That was quite a display of strength by Lia to hold her up.  

 

Our easy gameball award goes to Katie Birtcil.  She had 19 kills, 11 digs, and 6 aces.  Shaney Lipscomb had 13 kills, 11 blocks, and 2 aces.  Mari Sharp had 10 kills.  Annabelle Kubinski led the Lopes with 14 kills.  The Aggies were up 10 aces to 3 in serving against a team that is known for their serving. 

 

Is it terrible of me to say that I thought GCU played better in their loss to the Aggies, than CBU played in their win?  I’m sure the stats wouldn’t bear it out, but it didn’t feel like the Lancers played well as much as the Aggies didn’t play well.  GCU wasn’t a bad team, but just looked overpowered tonight.  Coach Jordan must have felt pretty confident going into this match.  In the postgame interview, Adam asked him about the first set.  Jordan said he didn’t want to take anything away from GCU’s play, but said he was experimenting with a different rotation in that set. 

                  

The Coach appreciated the fans support, though it’s obvious that that Pan-Am sell out for a Hawaii game several years ago completely spoiled him.  Any crowd since has just been a nice turnout by comparison.  He did say that he wished the crowd wouldn’t just cheer when the team is doing well, but would also pick up the team when they’re stumbling.  That’s fair.  However, the Cheerleaders are supposed to there to lead cheers.  I’ve seen Jordan on good terms with their coach.  Maybe he should be talking to her.        

 

Just to mention, Director of Player Development, Chelsea Rose, looked incredible tonight for the crowd.  Her platinum blonde hair was nicely curled at the bottom, and she was in shiny, tight, black leather pants.  After the match, while Ron and I were listening the postgame, she walked by in the aisle.  I was going to congratulate her on the win if I caught her eye, but there were strong antipathy vibes coming from her.  Oh, well.

 

Ron and I had a surprisingly easy exit though there was lots of traffic and we were parked in the main parking lot.  Ron still had some of his ice cream left, though in a liquid form now.  I got home in time to watch about half a show I was somewhat interested in.  I’m going to declare my vacation this week a success just based on this event.