Springhill Suites Borderland Invite NMSU vs UTEP 9-9-18

Invitational Game 5 (for me): NM State Aggies vs UTEP Miners

I was not there for this match because it was in El Paso and I was at an Aggie Soccer match at the time.  Both events started at the same time, so I brought my radio with me to listen.  Ron, who was with me, did the same.  (I’m modeling bad fanboy behavior to others now.)  Between crowd noise and the Aggie Band percussion section and the radio, I was having trouble keeping up with the soccer match in front of me at times, much less take notes on the game on the radio.

Allow me to backtrack a little to yesterday’s awesome win over Arizona.  The Sun-News put their win on top of the sports section and even had three pictures from the match with the article.  This was the first Aggie win against Arizona since volleyball became an NCAA sport.  Officially, Savannah Davison had 15 kills, Tatyana Battle had 14, and Megan Hart had 12.  I admit wasn’t really watching the other team, but oh my goodness, how did miss Kendra Dahlke getting 30 kills in the match for Arizona?  (In an interview later, Coach Rubio listed AZ over-relying on a couple players as being their downfall.) 

The writer of the article, Derek Gonzales, was definitely there.  He pinpointed the moment in the fourth set when the Aggies were down and the crowd was out of it.  There was an Aggie timeout and Coach Jordan must have used the right words to get a comeback out of his team.  They were on the other side from me, so I didn’t hear it.  I chatted with Danny, also at the soccer match (I-10 was closed this weekend so he didn’t want to go to El Paso for volleyball), about the Saturday game.  He was seated across from the bench and he heard the Coach’s “pep” talk.  (The girls’ ears were probably still ringing today.) 

Danny was also worried about Taty’s weight.  Him and some others think that she’s lost some weight and its effecting the power of her swings.  He was also reporting that her parents at the games don’t seem to be cheering as much as they used to.  Friday, a couple times, I remember walking past some seniors talking about the team.  I was surprised by how in-depth they knew the players’ games and even personal stuff.  Me sitting here writing these recaps is pretty fanboy-ish, but there are other fans who are waaaaay more dedicated to following the team than myself.

Today, the Coach was afraid of a letdown after such a big win, even with a rivalry game.  It also sounded like a good crowd there at Memorial Gym.  I think Adam Young mentioned that there were quite a few UTEP students in attendance.  The UTEP band sounded like they were there too (they were). 

Good news for the Aggies, Lia Mosher was reported out of the boot and wearing shoes.  Adam talked a bit about the Miners’ libero, Briana Bustillos, since she was on the Aggies two years ago.  I’m sorry she’s not still with our team, because she’s a major league cutie.  She looked a bit rough around the edges in UTEP’s game against Arizona and from what I heard today.  She’s somehow still listed as a sophomore, even though this is her third school.  I think she’ll mature and be really good by the end of the season.

The Aggies showed no fatigue from playing two five-set matches the last two days in Set 1.  They won 25-11.  The team went on an 8-0 run on Briana Ainsworth’s serve.  In Set 2, the Miners mostly led comfortably.  Then it happened again.  Halle Razo, who’d been designated the libero for this match, went on a 7-0 run on serve.  The Miners were absolutely stunned and lost 25-22.  The Aggies closed it out in straight sets with a 25-20 win in the third and a 3-0 match win.           

Owing to crowd noise at the soccer match, I didn’t get much in the way of player totals.  The paper had Taty with 13 kills and Bri with 18 assists and 11 digs.  I think Savannah Davison, Megan Hart, and Juilanna Salanoa also had good games.  I’m glad Jules is okay.  I was worried about her not playing yesterday.  Coach Jordan was all smiles afterward (even over the radio).  He loves taking these rivalry wins and dominating UNM and UTEP.  As long as the Aggies are better than those two schools, the school can recruit many of the best regional athletes.  This was a great week for volleyball seeing the Aggies and Arizona, Montana, and UTEP.  I’m real happy I took this week off for the Invite.