I mentioned previously in a Soccer post (9-20-25) that Aggie Volleyball had lost all three matches at the Tulsa Invitational. More disturbingly, Tess Fuqua hadn’t played in the final match. For their first conference series, they travelled to Delaware to face the Blue Hens. The Friday match was a bruising five-setter, but an Aggie victory.
Tess had played in the first set, but came out for an injury. She wouldn’t come back for the Saturday match. Katie Funk subbed for her and did well, according to Coach Jordan on the Aggie Coach’s Show. Setter Claudia Rossi only had very limited play, which suggests she might have been injured, as well. Rilen Garcia played instead and led the team in assists for the weekend. She also rallied the team and told them to “Play for Tess,” which doesn’t sound like a good prognosis for her return.
The Aggies won in three on Saturday, though two of the sets did go to extra points. Standouts included Maggie Lightheart, Jaelynn Kohli, and Mia Fox for kills and blocking. Aggie serving has been an asset this season. Nellie Reese was singled out for hitting pivotal aces in these matches. Still, when I said after the UNM match, that that was the best that the Aggies would be able to field this season, I didn’t know how right I was.
This match against the Sam Houston State Bearkats started off on an exhausting note for me. I called ahead about 45-minutes and Dad and Lamae were going to come. I walked down to dad’s apartment, since he was going to drive. Before I got there, dad canceled, so I had to walk back home to drive myself. That was an unnecessary ten-minute walk in the heat.
I forgot they were giving away the elusive Aggie cow bucket hat tonight and I didn’t even get close to getting one. This is in spite of the relatively low crowd of 453. The classic 80’s song, Sledgehammer, was playing when I came in. That was a welcome relief from the rap stuff they play at Soccer.
I again sat with the Reese family. I asked Robin about Tess. Her injury was an ankle sprain. She thought Tess would be back for next week’s match against UTEP. As for Claudia, she’s not hurt; she’s in Coach Jordan’s doghouse. Hopefully, she gets some playing time to get back in sync, because the way this team loses setters, they need all they can get. Rilen started at setter with Nellie as the second setter. Robin said the Coach wanted Rilen’s senior leadership in play.
Talking to Trey, I found out his daughter’s Halloween costume is going to be Wonder Woman. (I was petitioning for Mia to dress up as 70’s Wonder Woman.) Tess was going as Batwoman. I don’t know who everyone else is dressing up as. Being a comic book geek, I immediately began making outfit suggestions based on deep cut Wonder Woman lore. Trey politely put up with it.
During the match, they announced a time change for next week’s game against UTEP. Now the Saturday game will be at 4:00. Great. This will conflict with the Baseball fundraiser and the last home Soccer game. I should write the new AD about this. I did find out Trey is afraid of UTEP. They’re brought back the same team as last year with reinforcements. (If they crush the Aggies on Friday, this might make my choice simpler, as Baseball will have free food.)
Set 1
The match started well with Kate Sinclair getting a kill from the middle. I’ll be writing that a bunch for these two matches. Maggie then served up an ace with Zoe Ziegler following up with a kill. The SH Reserves might have managed to spook Maggie on serve with a sudden outburst and she served out. The key to doing this is surprising the opponent. Doing it on every point doesn’t work.
Kate increased the Aggie lead to 6-2 with another kill. 7-2 Jaelynn had the kill and Makayla Martinez had a great save at libero on the point. Nellie came in and served up a pair of aces to make it, 8-2. The Aggie Reserves chimed in with a “Boom!” for Mia dropping the hammer, 9-2. 10-3 Aggies, Jae added her next kill.
Nellie made an impressive tip set to Kate for a kill, but it was waved off on a foul. That was too bad. SH then served up another ace. Maggie came back with her first kill on a touch at 12-7 Aggies. Rilen made a great off-court save on the next point, but her teammates were admiring it too much to put the ball back over the net. No problem. Kate went “Ole” for a kill. Jae pounded two more kills to make it 15-10 Aggies.
Nellie made a crowd-pleasing set from her knees and SH fired out, 16-10 Aggies. Timeout Bearkats. (I must have missed noting an earlier timeout.) Back to play, Mia had another kill, 18-11. Kaboom! Maggie with monster kill to take us to the Turn at 20-11. The crowd loved it. Bella Castro came in and served up an ace, 21-11.
22-11 Aggies, Maggie smashed a hard shot. SH made a great off-court save to send it back over. Maggie obligingly sent it right back even harder for the kill. 23-11 Ouch, SH was called for being out-of-rotation. (It happens, even at this level.) 25-13 Aggies, Mia ended the set with a decisive slap kill.
Set 2: Aggies 1, Bearkats 0
A couple of Robin’s former teammates came in and sat behind us. They had a good time reminiscing and commenting on the current Aggies. Maggie was sent over to the talk to the up official by Assistant Coach Chelsea Rose (who was looking fabulously classy in a black ensemble and her hair up in a bun). I don’t know what that was about. I noticed Ron’s “niece,” Emma, was one of the ballgirls. The up official barked at her at one point over something. That would have upset Ron terribly.
The Bearkats took a 1-3 lead. Zoe got stuffed on a swing. The SH Reserves shouted, “She said, ‘No!’” Jae tooled a block, Zoe and Mia combined on a block, and Nellie dropped in a setter dump, but the Aggies were still behind, 4-5. At 4-8 SH, Coach Jordan called a timeout.
The Aggies stayed in it. Mia tooled a block, Maggie buried one into a defender, and Mia and Kate made a block to make it, 7-9 SH. 8-9 Bella made a massive off court save on a long rally. Kate finished it with a kill. However, the Bearkats pulled back ahead. 9-13, Maggie made a near brilliant return of an off-court free ball, but it fell short of the net.
The Aggies weren’t going away. Kate had another kill and Bearkats hit one out, 11-13 SH. Comin’ at ya! Maggie fired a kill down the middle right at us, 13-14. The Bearkats called a timeout. Wave the Wonder Dog came in. I restrained myself as he sat down nearby with his entourage.
15-16 SH, Mia fired a hard kill into the stands, again right in my direction. 16-17 Maggie fired another one in our direction. This is getting more dangerous than being spectator at Soccer, where I’ve actually taken a couple of hits. Still a point behind, Maggie got another kill. 18-19 SH saved a big swing by Kate and their Reserves almost charged the court in celebration. The ball came back over and, with a second chance, Kate no doubt buried it.
19-19 Maggie finally tied it with a tip kill. Zoe made a block for the lead. Jae put the Aggies up 21-19 on a kill and SH called a timeout. 22-20 Jae unloaded a fireball. 23-21 Mia went crosscourt for the kill. 24-22 Jae finished a long rally with a kill. Finally, Mia made a huge block. The crowd roared, as the Aggies took Set 2, 25-22.
Set 3: Aggies 2, Bearkats 0
Near mustache-less Pistol Pete was working the game. He was dancing a salsa to Jump in the Line, before coming over to say, “Hi,” to Wave during halftime. I finally couldn’t resist. I went over and complimented Wave on his performance yesterday at ***Football.*** I got licked in the face. This is one friendly dog.
The Bearkats began Set 3 with a couple of aces. A net serve sided out back to the Aggies. Kate tied it at 2 with another kill. The Aggies took the lead on an ace by Maggie, but SH got the lead back at 3-4 with a block on Zoe. By 3-7 SH, Coach Jordan called a timeout. He was furious after a couple of errors. Out of the break, Kate put a swing into a couple of net defenders. 5-8 SH, Maggie ducked under a long serve. Mia got the Aggies within a point on a kill that she made look too easy.
7-10 SH, the Bearkats went further up. Nellie made a crosscourt, one-handed save on the point, but Jae fired out. The Aggies kept hanging around. 9-11 Maggie had a tip kill. 10-11 Bella served up an ace and SH took a timeout. Back to play, Mia powered one through the blockers to tie it at 11. SH took the next couple of points. Maggie made a big kill with a big rebound to make it, 12-13. A couple of points later, Nellie made another great off-court save, but no one was there to send it back over after the dig.
13-14 SH, Maggie picked up another kill, but the Bearkats would keep adding to their lead. The Coach was going crazy on the bench. 13-16 SH, the refs had confusion on the play call and finally gave it to the Bearkats. This didn’t help the Coach’s attitude. He called a timeout at 13-17. Kate and Zoe came back with kills to make it to 15-17. SH took the next point, though Rilen made a huge dig on the point.
Maggie added two more kills. 19-21 SH, Nellie made an awesome sliding set from her knees. Katie and Mia finished the point with a block. 20-23 SH, Bella missed a serve receive and the Coach nearly stormed the court to yell at her. Kate and Maggie had kills to get it to 22-23. The Bearkats got to set point after a block went wide. On the next point, Rilen made a great save at the net and SH shot out. However, the Bearkats challenged and got a touch kill, which gave them the set, 23-25.
Set 4: Aggies 2, Bearkats 1
The first point of Set 4 was an insane rally. Kate finished it with a tip. Rilen made an incredible diving crosscourt save on the point. The Aggies ran up a 4-0 lead as Maggie aced. SH would come back with an ace at 4-2. They’d tie it up with a block. Bianca Perez was sent in.
After another long rally, Jae finished it with a kill. She added two more kills in a row right after. 8-5 Aggies, Mia, in anger, fired a facial for a kill. She had the next Aggie kill at 9-7. Jae finally rotated out. She must have been exhausted. 10-7 Aggies, SH challenged that there was a touch on an out swing. The call was upheld, though there was a comment that there was a malfunctioning camera.
Bella aced at 11-7 Aggies. Maggie tooled a block and SH took a timeout at 12-7. Katie tooled a block at 13-8 and her and Kate made a block two points later. Maggie made a solo block while moving laterally across the net at 17-8. SH took their last timeout, but there was no stopping Maggie, who added another kill at 18-8. Kaylee aced at 19-8 and Kate got the Aggies to the Turn with a crosscourt kill.
The Aggies went on a six-point run with Kaylee Peterson on serve before SH sided out. The Bearkats had an ace at 20-10. Kate made a slap kill on the next point. Maggie made a kill from an extreme angle and would make another kill from other side a couple of points later, 23-11. At 24-23 Aggies, Coach Jordan challenged a touch call for SH. After reviewing the video, the down official pointed at the SH side. Psych! He crossed himself and waved at the Aggies. Oops. The Aggies take the set, 23-13 and the match, 3-1.
The Aggies hit .293 to the Bearkats’ .127. The Aggies were up 58 to 36 in kills, 10 to 8 in aces, and 6 to 4 in blocks. This match felt a lot harder than it should have been. I say this mostly because Tess Fuqua wasn’t able to play. I’m sure the Coach would add several bullet points to explain what the team was doing wrong.
Lauren Malone led the Bearkats with 11 kill. Maggie Lightheart had 17 kills, 7 digs, 2 blocks, and 3 aces. She was selling out diving all over the court for digs. She has earned her leadership position. Jaelynn Kohli had 13 kills and Mia Fox had 11. Kate Sinclair seemed dominate whenever they got her the ball at the net with 11 kills. Katie Funk had 2 kills. She seemed to be getting it there in the fourth set. Bella Castro contributed 4 aces.
That’s plenty for tonight. We’ll be back tomorrow with another match against the Bearkats.
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