Springhill Suites Borderland Invite NMSU vs MT 9-7-18

Invitational Game 3: NM State Aggies vs Montana Griz

With an hour between matches after the UTEP/Arizona match, I made a judgment call that I wasn’t going to be able to make it from Schlotzsky’s across the street back to the Pan-Am Center and actually be able to eat the meal.  I settled on the concessions.  It was actually pretty good this time.  The hot dog had a fresh bun.  The pretzel was pretty tasty.  The large raspberry tea was great.  And, it was all for about twice what I would have paid for a better meal at Schlotzksky’s (minus the ice cream, which they don’t have anymore, we’ve gone on at length about this issue). 

I found a quiet set of steps to eat at and then returned to my seat next to Danny.  Adam Young and the lovely Kelsi Meredith were doing their pregame below us.  The camera crew wasn’t watching them.  They were turned around to the court, guarding the camera as the Aggies and Griz were both doing their warm-ups and loose balls were flying around. 

A good crowd filled in for the match.  There were plenty of kids there, which is always a good thing for attendance.  (Families buy more tickets.)  The UTEP girls came back out to watch.  I don’t think they were scouting either team.  They were likely waiting for their bus.  Some of the girls were wearing the souvenir Invitational shirts.  A couple of regulars that Danny is friends with, Rob and Mina, sat down behind us.  They were very pleasant and even gave me a fruit snack during the game. 

Just to reemphasize something from Game 1, the Montana girls are tall and well-built.  This really got driven home seeing them next to the Aggie girls, who suddenly looked overmatched.  I see other volleyball programs clearly recruiting to a certain body standard.  Coach Jordan mixes-and-matches all sorts of girls for his team.  We’ll see how this works out tonight. 

The first sign that the Coach was still searching for a solid lineup was that freshmen Cat Kelly and Lindsay Blakey were starting.  As the match went on, who started really didn’t matter.  Danny told me earlier that Cat had been the New Mexico female athlete of the year last year, which I have no trouble believing. 

Tuesday night there was a small problem with the house lights coming back up after running the intro video.  Part of the arena stayed dark, but it didn’t impede play.  Tonight, they just left all the lights on, which kills the drama of the video, but might be more practical.

Set 1

Cat started off the match well with two kills and a dig off the net.  At 6-5 Aggies, libero Jordan Pleasants and Cat combined on two great digs, though they lost the point.  Unfortunately, this set an ominous standard for the rest of the match: the girls having to make multiple great digs on points.  Nothing came easy or was routine. 

Another standard for the match were the subs for the Aggies.  They were using a bunch of different players in different combinations.  This would cause some confusion on coverage and plays.  I am glad that more players are getting actual play time though.  The Griz, meanwhile, were hurting themselves with at least three net serves and touching at least three balls that should have been let go. 

It was at this point in my notes that I apparently had some epiphany that volleyball was the sporting equivalent of Wushu, the cinematic version of martial arts.  At 1:00am Saturday morning I started expounding on that thought.  Lucky you, I reread that later and deleted it.  You’re welcome. 

During a break, Pistol Pete danced for some of the girls in the student section.  That may have been the Swim and Dive team there again, though I saw Rebecca Mazzie and Audrey Chavez from the Soccer team there.  On the other side of the court, the Miner girls were singing along with the song.  (Sorry, I don’t remember what the song was and couldn’t identify it at the time).  They were having a good time.

Back to the action, Kiley Tonge came in and served an ace to get the Aggies to 20 first.  Megan Hart was looking good on her swings.  Halle Razo came in to serve and got one of her knuckleballs in, though MT won that point.  24-18 Tatyana Battle and Jordan P. got two great digs on the point and the Griz nearly dug out a shot over the media table.  The Aggies took Set 1 25-18 off a block.  Things were looking good so far.

Set 2: Aggies 1, Griz 0

Montana got off to a quick start in this set, forcing a timeout.  Natalie Mikels finally broke up the run at 8-2 with a dump shot.  The damage was more-or-less done by that point.  The Griz had adjusted their blocking and hitting, frustrating the Aggies offensively and defensively.  They managed to keep the Aggies in the set by playing at least three more shots that were obviously going out.  Bridgette Lowe cycled in during this set.  25-19 Griz to tie the match. 

Set 3: Aggies 1, Griz 1

This was probably inevitable.  This was the point where I finally got confused as to what set it was.  I may have been confused as to who was playing too.  Three matches in a day may have been over my psychological limit.     

Coach Jordan had seen enough apparently after some backcourt digging problems.  Halle Razo was now dressed out as the libero and came in.  Julianna Salanoa also came in.  She got in an overpass kill early.  That was a good-looking play from her.  10-7 Aggies was the point of the day (perhaps the whole season).  Halle and Taty made about 7 diving digs on one point to keep it going until Julianna killed it.  A couple of those kind of digs will get the crowd going “Oooh.”  After seven, the crowd was standing and shouting.  Timeout Montana, as the fans gave the girls a round of applause. 

I’m thinking the Coach must have been feeling pretty good about his decision to put Halle in by this point.  The rest of the set went to the Aggies.  Megan killed it to finish it at 25-18. 

Set 4: Aggies 2, Griz 1

“Show us your boobs!” said PA Ed.  Oh wait, he said “Show us your MOVES,” for the Dance Cam.  I guess that was wishful mis-hearing on my part.  I’ll avoid naming who I was thinking of.  (I’m sure most of the guys in the Pan-Am would have agreed with my choice.) 

On the first point, Megan pegged a girl in the face.  Thankfully, the girl laughed it off.  The Aggies went up early behind Savannah Davison getting some big kills.  The team was playing back on receiving serve, trying to avoid Halle being targeting.  MT made a comeback and tied it at 14 and then took a lead. 

Halle was still being served at.  The hitters’ big swings were being turned away.  The Aggie coaches looked like they were about to have a collective seizure.  At one point, Coach Jordan turned his back to the court and wouldn’t even watch.  Taty got a couple on serve and got it close.  Sav got a tip kill and hammered another into the corner, but the Griz prevailed 25-21.  We were tied in sets at 2.

Another drama was playing out on court.  One of the guy cheerleaders was having trouble lifting one of the girls.  By this point in the match, he’d given up trying, perhaps to both of their relief.  “Boy needs to hit the weight room,” said Rob.  (Ahem, or somebody else might want to work on their weight.) 

Set 5: Aggies 2, Griz 2

We were doing the Macarena before the start of the set.  An entire row of girls were doing it to the music.  It was a light-hearted moment before the tension of a first-to-15 final set.  The girls were diving all over the place to start the set.  The Griz seemed to be targeting Savannah now.  In addition to leading the offense, she was covering her spot defensively and trying to help whoever was the libero.  She may have been exhausted by this point.  Cat Kelly came back in and quickly contributed by getting the Aggies to 8 first.

The teams changed sides.  Kids were dancing in the aisles to the music trying to get on camera.  Megan killed it to get the Aggies to 10 with a two-point lead.  Lovely Montana Coach Allison used a timeout here and again when the Aggies went up by 3.  Montana mounted a comeback and got it within 1.  I actually nearly jumped out of my seat trying to help with a dig. 

Halle popped up a serve that went for an overpass kill to tie the score at 13.  Halle was pulled off, and Jordan P. came back in.  Taty pounded a kill to give the Aggies a match point.  Next point, the Griz put the ball in the net giving the Aggies a 15-13 and 3-2 win.

Whew.

I was exhausted.  The girls must have been exhausted.  I could see the Aggie players perhaps overlooking Montana with their upcoming matches with Arizona and UTEP.  I’m sure the Griz got the girls’ attention.  They got my attention when I got a side-by-side comparison of how much bigger they were.  (Not to mention, their pretty coach piqued my interest.)  Coach Jordan, however, was playing this like Game 7 of the World Series with his personnel moves.  I don’t know what to make of that other than the girls responded and the other team may have gotten confused.  This was a good, gritty win.   

I noticed former team member Megan McGuire was there.  I didn’t know if she was still in town, since she wasn’t on the team.  After the match, she chatted with Megan Hart.  They’re still good friends I’d guess.  Excited about the win, I called my folks and my co-worker, who was filling in for me.  This was a heck of a day of volleyball.  It just kept getting better as it went along.  I do question why I’m going to these marathon game days.  Good games like this one are probably part of the reason.