Continued from Part 1
Set 3: Aggies 1, Lobos 1
Several students were in the crowd. There was a “Grand in the Stands” giveaway that they were eligible for. I took off for a bathroom. After yesterday’s match between these two teams, I figured this one might run long, so no point in holding it. I assume some student was happy.
Kate Sinclair scored the first two points from the middle. Lobo libero Camila Canedo did make an off-court save on one of them. The Lobos took the lead after that, 3-4. Mia Fox and Nellie Reese had a mix up on setting and Coach Jordan was rubbing his head. After a couple more mishits, it was 3-6 Lobos and the Aggies took an early timeout. The coveted Aggie cow bucket hat was being thrown to the crowd by the Cheerleaders. The little girls were shrieking. Nellie was getting some extra chatting from the Coach in the break.
Tess Fuqua had an overpass kill and a touch kill, but the Lobos started pulling away. Nellie’s mom, Robin, made the comment, “The wheels have come off.” 5-11 Lobos, after Maggie fired a shot out, the Coach put Rilen Garcia in for Claudia Rossi, apparently blaming the setter. (He probably wanted to get Rilen some work, too.) Unfortunately, Tess fired one out right after.
6-13 Lobos, Zoe had a kill. Maggie had a block on the next point and tooled a block on the one after. 9-15 the Lobos sided out and had an off-court save. The Coach put Bella Castro in for Tess, going small. (Probably trying to save a little wear and tear on Tess.) 11-17 Maggie made a dive dig on an overpass. The ball popped over the net for a surprising kill. Unfortunately, she missed a dig after and the Coach pulled her for Jacqueline Corcoran. The Coach chewed Maggie out for a minute. She went back to the Reserves and stood by herself, obviously unhappy. I wanted to give her a hug. (Again, the Coach probably thought she was getting tired and had written off the set, so he took her out to rest her.)
Tess did come back in and got a kill, 13-20 Lobos. Next, Mia pounded one hard enough to rebound the ball into the stands. 15-21 Tess aced. Jaelynn Kohli was blocked on the next point. She was still playing, but a bit quiet. Mia tooled a block and Nellie served another ace, but the Lobos took this one, 18-25, after a long rally.
Set 4: Lobos 2, Aggies 1
The crowd was again into the Whataburger food race on the video screen. I’m into going to Whataburger in the near future for a Honey Barbeque Chicken Strip Sandwich. I need to make this happen. The Lobos huddled up in the corner off the court, which was a little different. I offhandedly asked Trey what the ticket prices were for this game. Him and Robin said Nellie had forgotten to put them on the family list and it was $10 each. (Son Cooper apparently never remembers for Baseball.) The ticket I bought for dad on Saturday was $7, but they usually charge more for big games. Prices have gone up.
Nellie didn’t forget how to serve and put in another ace to begin Set 4. The Lobos tied it on the next point. Maggie Lightheart made a dive and a one-handed dig attempt on it. 2-1 Aggies, Tess had a touch kill. 3-2 Aggies, probably the longest point of the match. It was absolutely insane. Maggie may have had four or five swings on the point before Kate finished it with a kill. Maggie did tie it at 4 by finally getting a kill. She gave the Aggies a lead with a kill off the blockers.
The Lobos retook the lead, 5-6, by blocking Zoe Ziegler. Maggie tied it back up at 8 when she was left wide open for a kill. Kate tied it at 9 and then tied it at 10 with kills. Can you tell this was a tight set? The Aggies took the lead on an ace by Tess off a shanked return. Maggie added to it with a block. Makayla Martinez rotated in to serve and made an ace off the tape, 13-11 Aggies. 14-12 Mia and Maggie combined on a block. I noticed the Coach was standing and watching. I think he was into this as much as the fans. Maggie had a kill going into the Media break, 15-13.
Mia and Zoe combined on a block, 16-13 Aggies. 17-14 Mia smacked a ball hard enough to bounce into the stands nearby, near Wave the Wonder Dog! Protect the dog! The Lobos made a comeback. Tess was blocked to tie it at 17. Timeout Aggies. Maggie had a misfire out of the break and Bella came in for her. Zoe tied it back up at 18 with a swing through the blockers. The Lobos took a 19-20 lead off a touch call. The Coach challenged, but it was upheld.
Meanwhile during the delay, the Reserves with Maggie there on the other end of the court, were huddled up tightly together and doing something where one of them would step out and turn her head. They took turns doing this. The Coach called for their attention, but then they kept doing it. Trey had no idea what this was about. This was absolutely bizarre to watch, but it somehow helped.
Maggie came back in when the Aggies sided out. Kate tied it at 20 with an overpass smash. The Lobos took a timeout. Back to play, Mia made a block, but the ball was dug out and returned. Mia fired out and the Lobos tied it at 22. 23-22 Aggies, Jae tooled a block. We got to set point on a kill by Tess, as her teammates were colliding behind her. The crowd was up and shouting. Zoe got the kill to take the set, 25-25 Aggies. It was an insane long rally with the crowd going crazy. Makayla kept it going with a save on an overpass kill.
Set 5: Aggies 2, Lobos 2
I was shaking after that final point. It might have been excitement or the cold in the Pan-Am Center was finally getting to me. I should have dressed warmer. Dance Cam was on to the tune of ABBA’s Dancing Queen. The camera found a pudgy kid working it to the delight of the crowd.
Kate began the final set with a block. Jaelynn was blocked on the next point, but got a touch kill after. Tess scored the next two Aggie kills and made it, 4-2 Aggies, with a shot off a defender. The Lobos tied it at 4. Zoe made a tip that hung on the net for a moment that then fell on the Aggie side. The Coach challenged that the ball had hit the floor earlier, but the call was upheld. In the break, the camera found the fat kid again dancing to some cumbia music.
Mia had a tip kill at 5-4 Aggies, was blocked at 6-5, and tooled a block at 7-5. 8-5 Aggies, Zoe made a solo block. The teams switched ends. Wave was put on camera. He had these big, sorrowful eyes that said, Please win. Zoe tooled a block to make it, 9-6 Aggies. 10-6 Nellie aced. Timeout Lobos. (A startling stat from of the TV broadcast came up on the video screen, but I’ll save it for later.) The Lobos lost the next point. It might have been Four Touches.
12-7 Aggies, Jae with the kill. Timeout Lobos again. The fat kid was dancing to the Pedro the Dancing Baby Raccoon Dance. 17-7 Maggie aced. Match point, Maggie aced again and the girls rushed the court. Aggies win the set, 15-7, and the match, 3-2. What a battle! As a freshman, the Coach had put Maggie in these serving situations, so that paid off.
Jack Nixon came out of the crowd to congratulate Coach Jordan. The team huddled up on court and the Coach spoke to them. He looked angry, but Trey said he saw him say, “Good job.” Nellie came over to her parents. Her fingers were sore from the match. She was eager to talk about play, but her brother Cooper came by with his teammate Cade, and I decided I’d best leave.
This was a mirror of the Tuesday match, but with a flipped result. It was nearly three hours. The Lobos out-hit the Aggies .206 to .169, but pretty much everything else went the Aggies’ way. I usually highlight one stat for the victory, but this one is embarrassing. The Aggies were up 13 to 1 in aces. They had 7 errors, which are free points, but aces are the next best thing. The Aggies were up in kills, 64-53, and blocks, 12-7.
Giola Riccato of Italy paced the Lobos with 13 kills. Seenane Brewer had 11, Reagan Miller and Addison France each had 10 kills. Definite Gameball for Maggie Lightheart. She had 9 kills, 4 aces, 5 blocks, and 10 digs. Numbers tend to be gaudy for five-setters, but that was a great all-around effort. I don’t know, but the Coach yelling at her appeared to work. (But I hated seeing her sad.) Tess Fuqua led all scorers with 17 kills. She wanted this one for her hometown.
They had plenty of support. Jaelynn Kohli had 11 kills and 5 blocks and apparently has rubber ankles. Our towers were awesome: Mia Fox 10 kills, Zoe Ziegler 8, and Kate Sinclair 8. I think this team has 6 players capable of scoring in double digits in any match, so pass that ball around. Nellie Reese, in addition to leading in assists, had 4 aces and 12 digs. Makayla Martinez led in digs with 13. I think I’ll give an assist to the crowd for this one, too. They sort of willed that Set 4 win.
This was as good a lineup the Aggies can put out this season. They looked good against a good team. With the crowd behind them, I like their chances at home at least. Even with a few embarrassing collisions, they really seemed to work as a team. I think they’ll be competitive in conference, but we’ll have to see if they can compete with UTEP and WKU. The girls have a busy week with three more matches on schedule before starting conference play.
I came back to work the next day. One of my coworkers was so happy to talk to me. I’d been trying to get her to go to a volleyball game, since she was a player in high school. She had watched this match on TV from the fourth set on. She was all smiles and so excited. She was super impressed with Zoe and Nellie. (I made sure to tell Trey.) I think she’ll finally be going to a game in the future.
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