And a little additional Aggie Sports coverage later. It was a potentially busy day for events, but also potentially not. It was going to rain in the evening; it was just question of when and how much. We’ll start with Aggie Volleyball’s rematch with UTEP.
In the afternoon, NBC showed a USC/UCLA volleyball match. Though USC is ranked and has a better record, UCLA took them in three sets. (UCLA is a volleyball school now, after their football team lost to the UNM Lobos last month.) I hoped this was a good sign for this afternoon’s match.
The Reese family was also keeping an eye on the weather. We could watch their daughter inside the Pan-Am Center, but their son would be outside this evening at Baseball. I asked Robin how the girls were doing after last night’s loss. She said that the older girls were okay, but the younger ones were taking it hard.
The girls were wearing pink uniforms, which, surprisingly, didn’t look bad. They did seem a little subdued. The crowd was a bit smaller than yesterday at 1792. The UTEP section seemed bigger. Several of them were coming at the same time I was. There were still plenty of kids here for the match. Mustache-less Pete was our Pistol Pete of the Day. Tess Fuqua was starting this time. Jacqueline Corcoran was starting over the taller Kate Sinclair. Coach Jordan was going small.
Set 1
That decision paid off immediately, as Jac got the first kill of the match. Maggie Lightheart made it 2-0 after tooling a block. Then Nellie Reese had a mis-set and the Miners came back. Tess had a no doubt kill to make it, 3-2 Aggies. That lead was short-lived. The Miners took the lead after a Carry call on the Aggies. 3-6 UTEP, Maggie was blocked. The Miner Reserves let off a big cheer. Kaya Weaver then had an ace off Maggie.
It got worse from there. 3-9 Miners, UTEP made an off-court save on a big swing by Jaelynn Kohli. Kate would be blocked on the point to finish it. After another ace off Maggie, the Aggies called a timeout. Out of the break, Kate was blocked. Maggie dug it out, but UTEP finished it with a kill. 5-11 UTEP, Jae came back with a kill. The crowd was still into it and cheered. After that, Maggie and UTEP traded service errors. I don’t know what triggers back-to-back SE’s so often.
7-12 Miners, Kate made a solo block. The crowd roared. Tess was blocked on the next point and the UTEP section roared. Jae had a tip kill at 8-13, but UTEP took the next three points, including another ace off Maggie. She was served at constantly ***last weekend*** and dug them out, but it wasn’t happening this weekend. Ashley Herman, injured on her scooter, was yelling at the team from the bench. Another issue was “high air,” as the Coach would say. They were firing the ball long. 8-18 Jac was blocked and the Aggies took another timeout.
Yesterday, Coach Jordan didn’t seem mad. Today he was. I think he could take losing to a better team, but couldn’t tolerate them beating themselves. 9-18 Miners, the UTEP girls wanted to challenge the play. After all of the reversed calls yesterday, UTEP Coach Wallis wasn’t happy with the refs. Coach Jordan didn’t talk to the team in the break, but the starters talked to each other. The call was reversed, 8-19.
8-20 Miners, this was a low point. There was a nice dig by Makayla Martinez on a serve and the team let the ball drop to the floor. Tess came right back with a kill with some heat. The kids were yelling and cheering. Where would we be without the indefatigable children cheerleading? Tess got another kill on a tip. Makayla made two great saves on the point. 11-21 UTEP adjusted and blocked Tess. Tess pointed to herself to setter Claudia Rossi to take the blame for it.
That’s another issue. Nellie started. Rilen Garcia rotated in, but then she was pulled for Claudia. Nellie was on the bench next to the Coach getting instruction. He wasn’t happy with the setting. I said all three setters should be kept warm and ready to play, but this isn’t how I meant it, not in the middle of a set. Rotating three setters doesn’t usually work, unless the Coach was writing off these two matches and wanted to get them work. Tess had a final angry kill at 12-21. An out swing by Jae ended the set, 12-25 Miners.
Set 2: Miners 1, Aggies 0
UTEP took a 2-1 lead after another ace off Maggie. Their serving was giving her fits. A mis-set by Nellie had Mia Fox taking a swing into the antenna for another UTEP point. Maggie made a swing into the net. UTEP added a setter dump to make it 1-7. The Aggies took a timeout. The usually cheerful Reserves were lifeless.
Mia was blocked out of the break. 2-8 Miners, Maggie had a tip kill, but couldn’t even celebrate as she took a shot to the nose. Not the face! Not that beautiful angelic face! It bothered her for a minute, but no blood. Nellie had a mis-set next, which is so uncharacteristic. I should mention that UTEP was all smiles to this point. One of their servers was even smirking.
4-9 Miners, Rilen came in and Jae got a touch kill. 5-10 Kate buried one and the crowd was yelling. 6-10 UTEP was busted for being out-of-rotation. Kate followed that with at tip kill. Jae made a solo block at 8-10. The crowd was definitely back into it. Maggie had a good 4-point run on serve.
UTEP had a mis-set at 9-12 Miners. Jac made a solo block next. Rilen then had a mis-set, but Tess tooled a block at 11-13. 11-15 Miners, UTEP made a save over the sideline table and got a kill. Maggie came back with a crosscourt kill. 12-17 the Miners hit a hard kill and the Aggies took a timeout.
Trey Reese was on camera in the break. His nieces framed him with souvenirs. They were enjoying it. Robin Reese was trying to be anonymous. Tess and Maggie came back with kills. After UTEP had an attack error, they took a timeout. Was this UTEP’s first timeout of the weekend? The Miners were no longer smiling.
16-17 Miners, Mia dunked one on top a defender’s head. UTEP hit one into the antenna to tie it. The Aggies got the lead on a kill by Maggie, 18-17, and the crowd erupted. Mia increased the lead with a block and the crowd was chanting. Tess had a 6-point run on serve.
UTEP came back. Jae was blocked and the Miners tied it at 19. The UTEP section started chanting for their team. The Aggie fans immediately shouted them down, but on court, the Miners took the lead. Maggie was blocked and she was aced on again. 20-22 UTEP, the Miners had a service error. Jae had a kill after a long rally to fend off set point, but an out swing by Maggie ended it, 21-25 Miners. The UTEP section shouted “UTEP” over the Aggie fight song.
Set 3: Miners 2, Aggies 0
I admit I’d gotten angry early in the second set, as the score got humiliating. I try to remember that it’s just a game, but it’s hard to take getting your nose rubbed in it. I can only imagine what the Aggie players were feeling at that point. The Aggie crowd was a bit deflated. UTEP fans started a chant before play. Maggie and Mia were sharing a laugh on court, so they were able to stay loose and keep it in perspective.
Maggie started the set with a pair of kills, though Mia was blocked by Kaya to tie it at 2. Kaya had an overpass dunk for a 2-3 Miner lead. Jae tied it at 3 with a kill. UTEP had an unblocked kill at 3-5. Jac made a save way off-court on the point. Jae sided out with a kill. Maggie went on serve and the Coach was yelling at her from the bench. Jae came back with another kill and a block to make it, 7-5 Aggies.
7-6 Aggies, the Miners took the point after a huge rally. Jac made a couple of nice digs on it. UTEP retook the lead. 7-9 Miners after an overpass tip. Claudia was back in at setter. Kate had a block to tie it at 9. Tess made a crosscourt kill to tie it at 11. Nellie was setting on the point and made a sliding set from her knees on the point. Maggie tooled a block to tie it at 12.
The Miners took the lead, 13-14, on an unblocked kill. The ball bounced into the stands in front of us. The Media timeout came in at 13-15. The Coach spoke mostly to the ref in the break, instead of the team. The camera found some kids in a suite dancing. The Coach put Bella Castro in for Maggie on serve receive. It worked. Jae got the kill on the point.
15-18 Miners, Jac rotated back in and had a kill and then tooled a block. She was fired up. 17-20 Tess had a kill and Maggie followed that with a kill. UTEP libero Fuka Sekita had a pancake save on the point. 19-20 Maggie tooled a block with a touch kill. Timeout UTEP. Jae would tie it at 21 on a block.
Maggie fired out on the next point, but the Coach challenged a touch. The girls were loose and laughing in the break. I think the crowd was more tense. The call was reversed, 22-21 Aggies. The girls and the crowd celebrated. However, UTEP came back. 22-23 UTEP got an ace off of Jac. Timeout Aggies. The Miners took the next point and the Aggies called their final timeout.
Maggie got a kill on the next point, 23-24 Miners. She took the ball and ran back to serve. Claudia quickly ran back and took the ball from her. It was her turn to serve. I like that Maggie wanted the responsibility, though. Jae tied it at 24 with a kill. Unfortunately, the Miners took the next point and Jae fired out to end it. Miners take the set 24-26 and the match, 0-3.
The Aggies put up a much better fight today than yesterday, but had to be knocked to the mat first. Also, unlike yesterday, the Miners did have play their best to win this. A couple of mistakes on their part might have changed the match. Still, the Miners are more talented and played better. The Aggies didn’t play their best and what’s going on with the Coach and the setters? Their mistakes were out-of-character like they were tight. I don’t know if these teams have bad blood, but the fans might after this. Aggie fans aren’t going to tolerate their house getting taken over.
The Miners out-hit the Aggies .202 to .089, though the Aggies led in kills, 35 to 31. The brutal stat was serving. UTEP had 7 aces and 7 SE. The Aggies had 1 ace and 7 SE. The Miners led in blocks 11 to 7. Serving and blocking are two things the Aggies usually do well. The serving issue might have been mental, but the Miners just did better blocking. The Aggies were much more tenacious against their other rival, the Lobos, but maybe UNM wasn’t as good the Miners.
Once again, Torrance Lovesee led the Miners with 11 kills. Kaya Weaver had 10. Even having issues today, Maggie Lightheart led the Aggies with 11 kills and had the only Aggie ace. Tess Fuqua led the team in digs with 10. I was impressed with Jacqueline Corcoran at the end of the match. She seems undersized, but could really play and with passion. Hopefully, this flips a switch with her performance.
Ominously, in the postgame huddle, the Coach just said, “Meet me in the locker room.” (Or words to that effect.) The girls waved to their families in attendance and then took off. I worry what fate awaited them. Even in victory, Coach Wallis was likely chewing out UTEP for letting the Aggies get back into to this one. (Heck, I was getting mad all over again just writing this.)
Aggie Baseball Exhibition
At least with only a three-set match, the Reese family was able to go to Presley Askew Field to watch their son, Cooper Reese, pitch. The bad news was that during the third set, we were told that it was raining outside. When I got out, it was damp and cloudy, but not currently raining. More seemed to be sure to come, but I was hopeful.
I called Fan Michael from my car, as he had the ticket for me. Cade Shumard’s parents during Volleyball were saying that Cade had their tickets, but they couldn’t get ahold of him. I was just about in the same boat (poor choice of words given the weather). I had to leave a message for Michael. I dithered about what to do, but thankfully he called me back a couple of minutes later.
Let me properly set the scene. It’s kind of cold and rainy, about to be really raining. The advertised exhibition with the Mexican team would not be happening due to their visa issues, so this was just an inter-squad scrimmage. Tickets for this event were $50.
The parking lot was full. Inside the stadium, it was full. I was stunned. Where were these people during the regular season? I asked Michael later about the crowd. His two word response, “Free beer.” It’s true and there was free soda, as well. They had 7-Up’s, which usually nobody carries, and I got an A&W Cream Soda, also rare.
Michael was holding a pizza slice when I met him. I picked up one of those. It was a bit cold. It might have been from Peter Piper Pizza, but deep dish style, and was pretty good. A local restaurant had three tents set up handing out Mexican food. I went back for nachos and cheese quesadas, which were also good.
One of the tents was in the Diamond Club area. They’ve redone it and it looks good with an elevated pavilion. I was able to see the game from there. The food tent was serving something that smelled like barbeque, but maybe looked like tacos. I never got a good look. I stood in line twice, but it was moving too slow with the rain and I gave up. What I ate was pretty filling anyway.
Also, I had to wolf it down. The rain got worse after I got there. I didn’t want my nachos to get soggy. I’d dressed for the possibility of rain, but it didn’t stop me from getting soaked. Michael had also gotten a ticket for Ken. I was sitting with him in the usual spot. Ken announced that he wasn’t planning on going out to games this season. The university had made a huge settlement with former disgraced Men’s Basketball Coach Greg Heiar. Ken didn’t want to support NMSU after that.
A local bank (not mine) was handing out giveaways. I got a small, clear bag with four hand sanitizer pens and three temporary Aggie tattoos. I probably should have declined. They were also handing out car window shades. People were opportunely using them as umbrellas over their heads.
There was a DJ under a tent along the third base line. He was blaring loud Mexican music. This was sort of like Mexican League Baseball, but the music wasn’t stopping for pitches; it was continuous. However, they did not have a midget bat boy working the game. (Michael knew exactly what I was talking about.) Jack Nixon was working the game was the PA.
As for the game play, I did see Cooper briefly in his first inning start. There were some runs scored in the innings I was there. I was told there were programs somewhere, but I never saw them. I sort of anticipated this and didn’t even think about bringing scorecards. It was raining, there was loud music, and I was stuffing my face with food. Paying attention to a ball game seemed unlikely.
I was there for about an hour, maybe three innings, before I couldn’t take it anymore. Ken had left earlier. Trey had gotten to see his son pitch and came by to see Michael. I’d eaten all the food I’d gotten and couldn’t see myself kicking back and enjoying the game. I said, “Thanks for the ticket and see you later.” While there were people in the stands, most of the crowd seemed to be under the grandstand drinking. They were having a good time.
I think the baseball team will be able to play under any conditions after this experience. The organizers could not cancel this event for either the lack of an opponent or the weather. For $50 tickets sold to a bunch of fans, the guys had to play regardless. You’d wish that they’d scheduled this for next weekend when there’s no Aggie Sports going on on campus. Given this was the final game before they tore up the old turf and put in the new one that might not have been an option. We certainly wish they’d put up a new canopy before tonight.
Aggie Soccer
Pulling out of Baseball, I drove by the next door Soccer field. They were just about to start their final home game. I had an umbrella in the car, but I was already soaked. (I could have taken it into baseball, but that seemed dangerous in the close quarters of the stadium. Indeed, Ken almost brained me with his several times sitting next to him.) Still, I nearly stopped at the thought of seeing some of the cuter girls on the team sopping wet. Sigh. It might have been worth it, just to see that fantasy brought to life.
Back at home, what a time not to have any hot chocolate on hand. I was about to buy some last week and didn’t do it. I had to content myself with some hot tea, while checking the live scoring from the game. I was briefly heartened to see the Aggies up on a goal by Amaya Simoni-Walters 38’ in. The rain had also stopped at some point, which made me feel worse about not staying.
However, checking back later, they had lost 2-1 to LA Tech. It was also raining again, so I at least felt better about coming home, though I felt really bad for the girls. The two LA Tech goals had happened late and within five minutes of each other. That must have been crushing. Even worse, the Aggies had peppered them with shots. LA Tech had less than half the shots, but made theirs count.
It was also Senior Day. The listed attendance was on par for just friends and family for such an event (att. 300). What a way to go out at home and they still have three road matches left in the season. A win at UTEP in a couple of weeks is their last chance some redemption. Except for the food, this was a triple header of disappointments tonight and like pulling teeth to write. A weekend off for the fans is in order.
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