It’s been a long, frustrating, exhausting week. I’m still having issues with a program change work. At home, I spent two days cleaning my apartment (it still looks like crap) and I was running errands today. I did unexpectedly find a $9.99 digest version of All-Star Superman, which I’m looking forward to reading. Lunch was a plate and a half of Chicken Teriyaki from the Mall (and I still have leftovers).
I wasn’t entirely hopeful for tonight’s Aggie Volleyball game against a 14-2 UTEP Miner team, but any excuse to see the girls play. I couldn’t get ahold of dad to see if him and Lamae wanted to come. (That saved me $20.) There was a high school bus pulling into the Pan-Am Center parking lot ahead of me from T or C. At the front door, there was a large crowd of high school girls from various Las Cruces schools.
A blast of cold air greeted me when I entered, but wasn’t as cold inside as last time. It might have been the crowd that was listed at 2000 that warmed up the place. I’d brought a jacket this time, just in case. UTEP did bring a section of fans. I think some guys from their Football team were also there. I guess they wanted to see what a winning UTEP team looked like. (They had a rough week.)
I sat with the Reese family again. The first thing I found out from Trey was that tomorrow’s Aggie Baseball fundraiser game against a Mexican team was canceled. The Mexicans were having Visa issues coming across the border. [Deleting a half dozen jokes here.] The team would be having an inter-squad scrimmage instead. “But the free food will still be there?” I asked. That’s confirmed, so I’ll be there, weather permitting.
I was also told that Trey and Robin been featured on camera during the last game. They didn’t know about it until after the game. Broadcaster Adam Young talked about them having a son on the Baseball team and a daughter on the Volleyball team. Trey was also on camera during this game. Robin teased him that they’d caught him looking at his phone the whole time. “What do you expect? Should you be striking a heroic pose in that situation?” I said.
Former Aggie libero, Analyssa Acosta, was on the sidelines with Assistant Coach Chelsea, who was looking sophisticated and stunning. Annie was happy to be back. Also back was Tess Fuqua. She was warming up and able to play. She had her hair up, which showed more of her lovely, radiant face. The Reserves were loose and dancing to the music. The Aggie trainer was again making a fashion statement wearing big cowboy boots on court. On the other side of the net, UTEP looked tall and some of their players were big.
A different Pistol Pete was here. This one looked a bit more dignified than the other two, even while wearing a pink shirt for some cause that I’m supposed to be aware of. (Such much for that marketing.) A couple of the girls from the Aggie Soccer team were working as ballgirls tonight. Even at Volleyball, they still allowed an early goal and had to play from behind for the entire match hoping for a draw. (I’m just in a catty mood tonight.)
Coach Jordan and UTEP Coach Wallis embraced after player introductions. They are still good friends. Tess did not start. Jacqueline Corcoran was in for her. Nellie Reese was the starting setter over Rilen Garcia. This was surprising. Captain Maggie Lightheart gave the starters a long talk before play began.
Set 1
Tied 1-1, Kate Sinclair went crosscourt for a kill and that looked good. After a very uncharacteristic bad mis-set from Nellie it was 1-4 UTEP. The coach took an early timeout. He talked to the starters separately from the team before making a full huddle.
That didn’t help. Kaya Weaver dunked an overpass on Nellie at net to make it 1-5. Jaelynn Kohli had a kill at 2-5. (I’m sure Coach Wallis was watching and imagining what might have been if he’d been able to recruit the El Pasoan.) UTEP took the next point after a long rally. Rilen came in to set and Claudia Rossi rotated in right after. The Coach had Nellie sit next to him for a chat.
3-7 Miners, Jae had another kill. Jac followed that with a kill and a solo block. Mia Fox had to kill that closed the score to 6-8, but the Miners took the next point with a kill that nearly took out a Cheerleader behind the court. From there, the Miners continued building on their lead. 6-11 Miners, Maggie was blocked on a swing.
6-12 Miners, Mia took a block to the face. No! Not the face! Not that lovely face! Amazingly, even with that shot, the ball was still live and the point continued. After a long rally, Maggie hit the ball out. On the next point, Maggie let a close serve go and it fell in for an ace. Enough was enough. She got her first kills on the next two points.
9-15 Miners, Jae probably had the kill of the match. In mid-air, she went with her left to punch a ball in for a kill. That was her off-hand. Work on that shot some more. 9-17, it was another UTEP ace to same spot a few points ago. This time, Jac tried to dig it, but couldn’t come up with it. Jae added another kill at 10-17.
At the Turn, the Aggies wanted a touch on an out swing, but the play stood on review. The Reserves were dancing again in the break. At 10-22 Miners, the Coach pulled Maggie for Bella Castro, pretty much conceding the set. 11-24, the Miners got to set point rejecting Kate, which only an opposing team would ever do to our cute middle blocker. UTEP took it, 11-25.
Set 2: Miners 1, Aggies 0
Cooper Reese came in from his Baseball scrimmage. He was wearing a trucker hat that said, “Just here for the wieners.” It was from Wienerschnitzel. (Which reminded me that I really wanted a chili dog for lunch today.) I accused the team of calling INS on the Mexican team. He predictably denied it.
Tess started this set, along with Rilen. That was good to see. What was not good to see was Maggie completely missing out on a serve. That was uncharacteristic. 1-1 Kate and Jae teamed up for a block. “Ace serve from Mighty Mouse!” was the call from PA Ed, referring to an ace by Makayla Martinez. I wonder if she appreciates that nickname or not.
I noticed Miner libero, Fuka Sekita from Japan, would bow to the court before coming on. She had an unorthodox serve standing at the service line and running sideways to deliver the ball. 4-3 Aggies, Tess’ first swing produced a kill. Maggie tooled a block at 5-4 Aggies, crushed an overpass at 6 all, and made a block at 7-6. That’s our girl.
It was a tight set. Jae tooled a block at 8-8. Tess tooled a block at 9-9 and gave the Aggies a lead on a touch kill. 11-11 UTEP took the point after a long rally and some great saves. Wave the Wonder Dog came in with his entourage. He had to sit near the court with most of the other seats in the section taken. 12-11 the Aggies were back in the lead with a kill by Zoe Ziegler.
UTEP got in the lead with an ace off the tape and an ace that hit Bella. The next serve was out, but the Miners took the next point going into the Media timeout, 13-15. Fuka used her odd serve effectively out of the break with an ace off the tape. Maggie came back with a kill down the line and Jae was unblocked for a kill at 15-16 Miners. Jae was blocked at 15-18 and the Aggies called a timeout.
In the break, the Cheerleaders tossed a couple of souvenir footballs to the UTEP Football players. Hey, hey! Orange and blue are Miner colors, guys! 16-18 Miners, Bella made a dive save and Maggie finished the point with a kill. 17-19 Jae smashed a kill that rebounded near Wave. Protect the dog! He’s NMSU’s biggest NIL investment.
The Miners kept adding to their lead. 17-22 UTEP, the Aggies called a timeout. Kaya skipped back to the Miner huddle all smiles. Out of the break, it was suddenly The Tess Show. On three consecutive points, she had a sneaky kill, another kill, and then an ace that fluttered like a knuckleball. Unfortunately, that was it for the Aggies in Set 2, as the Miners took it, 20-25.
Set 3: Miners 2, Aggies 0
The pink shirts and pink hats were given away up front to the students at halftime. I don’t think it hurt the crowd after, nor do I think there were that many students there anyway. (This was nowhere near as cool as the Soccer jersey giveaway on **9-20-25.**)
Jae had an early block, but the Miners took off from there. 1-4 UTEP had an ace that Makayla and Maggie both let go. 2-5 the Miners took the point on a scary, hard kill. 3-7 Makayla missed a dig. I checked Coach Jordan. He was nonplussed with the team for pretty much of the entire match. I think he was seeing what he expected.
4-8 UTEP, Maggie had a tip on the point and was sure there was a touch on it. The Coach challenged it. On the sidelines, our Turkish import, Ezgi Duzgezen, was chatting with a Cheerleader. Earlier, she was talking to the team photographer. She’s a friendly girl, but when are we going to see her play? The call was reversed, 5-7. Right after, Tess and UTEP traded service errors. Every time.
Maggie’s next swing was called long. This was challenged. The camera found Wave in the crowd. The crowd literally went “Ahhh!” for the photogenic canine. Even the UTEP players were watching him. The call was again reversed, 7-8 UTEP. Mia completely misfired on her serve next. What was going on with Aggie serving?
Maggie came back with a couple of kills before firing out, 10-11 UTEP. The play of the match, middle blocker Kate got an assist to setter Nellie for a successful dump shot. Kate might want video of that for her highlight reel. I’m glad I enjoyed that, because UTEP pulled away after that. 11-14 Miners and timeout Aggies. The Cheerleaders threw out the pink bucket hats to the crowd. Ladies and gentlemen, the Beatles! I was suddenly deafened from the squealing girls around me.
Mia tooled a block, but this was challenged and was reversed, 12-19 UTEP. 12-22 an ace off Maggie. The Aggies got the next point, but Rilen missed a set and the Coach looked unhappy, but not angry. 16-24 Maggie’s swing was called out, but it was challenged and reversed. The ref’s weren’t having a great night either. It was a temporary reprieve. Kate got the final Aggie kill, before the Miners took the set, 18-25, and the match 0-3.
Your stat of the match is pretty stark. The Miners out-hit the Aggies .400 to .178. UTEP pretty much couldn’t miss. They were up 40 to 31 in kills. Depressingly, the biggest disparity was 10 to 2 in aces for the Miners. The Aggies’ serving is one of their best assets, but tonight they had 7 service errors with only the two aces. The Aggies were up 4 to 3 in blocks, but that’s scant consolation. Miner Torrance Lovesee led everyone in kills with 12 and had 4 aces. Maggie Lightheart was next with 11 kills. Even on an off night, she led the Aggies in kills.
Nobody seemed too upset about this loss. The Aggie crowd seemed in good spirits. The Aggie players went up into the crowd to see their folks and were smiling. I admit, the match wasn’t close enough to get emotionally attached to. The Aggies hurt themselves with some out-of-character tight play. Switching between three setters didn’t help and not starting Tess, also seemed like a mistake. Even if the Aggies had played better, I think the Miners weren’t even playing hard and could have turned it up if pressed.
I got outside and finally saw a clock. Even with all of the delays in the third set, the match was about an hour and a half. Should I have taken off from work, if I saw this coming? Sure. Anything for the Volleyball girls. We’ll be back tomorrow and also see what happens with the Baseball exhibition, now scrimmage, and the final home Aggie Soccer game.
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