NM State Aggies vs Chicago State Cougars Volleyball 11-17-18

I made it!  I got to go to all of the home Aggie Volleyball games this year.  How about that?  If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.  I only saw one loss this year as well.  (Umm . . . Spoilers.  Oops.)  Ron called me an hour before the match and canceled for family business.  I arrived alone in the parking lot and was greeted by a large dust devil.  It wasn’t windy today, but this was hard to miss.  A bunch of fall leaves were caught up in the whirlwind as it twisted past the Pan-Am Center.  Was this some kind of sign?  Not that I could see, but it was interesting.

Inside, I picked up a program and noticed a button with our two seniors, Briana Ainsworth and Tatyana Battle, on it.  There was just one there.  I guess it was a giveaway, so I snatched it and put it on.  It was an unexpected treat.  I didn’t see anyone else wearing one though.  There probably weren’t very many of them handed out.  I hadn’t properly hydrated at home and ended up picking up a raspberry tea.  You don’t want to get dehydrated watching a sport after all, especially on Senior Day when you can expect tears. 

I decided to sit behind the booster section behind the bench where I usually sit when I’m by myself.  A couple rows below me, I noticed Kaylee Neal, a senior from last year, and her husband.  Yep, I had seen her a couple of days ago (11-15-18) working as an official on the sidelines.  I finally made the connection that that was her husband, Jared Neal, working the other side of the court as a ref.  I bit later I figured out that he was the guy playing with the team at the Crimson and White Scrimmage (8-18-18).  I’d seen him at last years’ senior day ceremony (11-4-17), but hadn’t recognized him.  The guy loves volleyball to point that he married into it.  (Sounds like a great idea to me.)

Later, I noticed that red-headed girl that I’d been hypnotized by before in the booster section.  She gave Coach Rubio a hug after the match, so she’s a friend or relative of somebody on the team.  Before the match, I saw Coach Jordan talking to a striking brunette in the student section.  PA Ed would single her out as former Aggie Volleyball great, Gwen Murphy.  (I think she was blonde when she was playing?  [Edit: She was.])  She got a big round of applause.  I never saw her play, but I’ve heard the coach keenly miss not having her still on his team.  He clearly holds up Gwen as a standard of excellence.  I guess she was there for Taty and Bri’s last game since they had all played together. 

It was a bit of a smaller crowd at 777, but it seemed a lot more passionate.  The booster section was stuffed.  PA Ed was roaring to start the match.  The game wasn’t being covered on radio or Aggievision today (with Men’s Basketball and Football going on out-of-town), but there was WAC video coverage.  I saw a woman with a headset on at the TV media table, who might have been calling the match. 

On court, Lindsay Blakey was still just tipping the ball in practice.  (Why?)  Lia Mosher looked ready to go, but wasn’t going to be playing for the rest of the year.  Jordan George was out of her boot and looked to be walking around okay.  The Chicago State girls looked pretty impressive size and height-wise, even if their record didn’t reflect that.  They changed into their uniform tops in their locker room.  I’ve seen less bashful teams change by the side of the court.  (I averted my eyes.  Yes, really.)  During introductions, the Cougar girls scattered and squealed.  Some kind of bug dropped on them.  One of the girls stepped on it and tossed it aside.  Now there’s a sign. 

Set 1

Cat Kelly started for the Aggies.  It was good to see her in.  She was a bit rusty and fired her first couple of swings into the net.  She looked better on her next couple of swings before cycling out.  Cat sat next to the coach for a minute and they had a short talk.  She didn’t come back in for the rest of the match, so she must still not be feeling well.  Poor thing.  I know Cat wants to play more than her body will let her.

3-0 Aggies, beautiful Megan Hart got her first good-looking kill with a flourish and style points.  7-0 Aggies, timeout Cougars.  I admit I was kind of expecting a win here, but this was more of a wipeout.  Several Aggie points came off of Cougar fouls.  7-1 Chicago State (let’s go with CS from here out) got their first point on a block.  8-4 Briana got hit on the head on an overpass swat by the Cougars.  In spite of the embarrassment, the Aggies recovered and won the point. 

The Cougars started a comeback.  14-9 Julianna Salanoa got stuffed on a solo block.  14-10 Ashley Anselmo shanked a dig.  Timeout Aggies.  14-11 right out of the timeout, Jules was stuffed again.  I think it was #12 Karen Asprilla on the block both times.  16-11 Sav used her running jump serve and boomed one over the net.  That got a rise out of the crowd.  She used her usual jump serve after that one though.  19-11 Jules made a great decoy on a set, and Tatyana got a wide-open shot for a kill.               

22-15 Another bug delay.  The CS girls ran away from the net between points.  Brave #11 Ludmila Bomfim (from Brazil) got the ref’s towel and tried to kill whatever it was flying around the net.  It got away, but didn’t bother girls for the rest of the match.  The girl got a round of applause for her efforts.  Security really should have intervened to escort the bug from the facility for disrupting the game.  Alternately, the Pan-Am Center needs a visit from an exterminator. 

“Block party!” shouted PA Ed at 24-16 as Megan and Taty combined on a block.  Krysten Garrison came in to serve after the point.  24-18 CS sided out, but before they could serve on this point, the Aggies were called for something and the Cougars were given the point.  The girls stood on court in confusion.  Coach Jordan argued briefly, but didn’t get angry.  The official scoring called it an ace and was no help in explaining the actual foul.  The Aggies would win the set anyway 25-18. 

Set 2: Aggies 1, Cougars 1

I wasn’t expecting a great match going into this, much less after the first set, but this turned out to be one of the best sets I’ve seen this year.  The coach and the girls probably didn’t want this much drama today, but maybe this will help their mental toughness in the tournament next week. 

CS went up 0-3 right off the bat.  Megan slapped a dump kill for the first Aggie point at 1-3.  2-5 Cougars, they got two big blocks on this point.  If nothing else, these girls can block.  3-6 Meg got another kill.  4-7 Brigette Lowe came in and got a kill.  6-8 Julianna was not going to be denied all match.  She hit a kill hard enough that it was deflected six rows up in the stands.  9-10 Megan slapped another kill.

Still, the Aggies were not thriving.  10-14 Savannah shanked a dig.  10-15 Coach Jordan finally called a timeout.  The crowd was grumbling at this point.  They wanted their three-set sweep Raising Canes promotional coupon.  The Cheerleaders came out on court and PA Ed asked the crowd to give them a hand for their work this season.  They are very hard-working performers.

10-16 CS won a long rally point.  The Aggies almost won it twice, but the Cougars did not give up on it.  10-17 Sav let a ball drop right in front of her.  Savannah is one of the hardest workers on court.  I think she might have gotten winded.  I’ve said before, as she plays nearly point, she may need some more conditioning work in the offseason.  10-18 CS now had an eight-point lead, which was their largest in the set. 

11-18 Taty got a kill to finally break up the run.  13-19 Lindsay Blakey had come in a couple of points before.  Here, she took a full swing and got a kill.  That’s the way to do it.  14-19 Sav got a beautiful tip.  15-19 Sav killed it hard enough to get the crowd back into it.  16-20 and another kill for Sav.  I think she’d got her second wind.  18-20 Jules got a kill on a mishit.  Timeout Cougars. 

19-20 Natalie Mikels dropped in an ace.  20-21 another block party, this time with Jules and Sav.  20-23 timeout Aggies after CS got in a couple of good shots.  21-23 Nat set Jules from her knees for a kill.  23-24 Briana dropped in an ace on a CS set point.  Timeout Cougars.  On a Tatyana kill down the line, the Aggies finally tied it at 24.  The comeback had taken all set and come at the last possible moment.  25-24 the Aggies took the lead and got a set point with another Taty kill and a great dig by Halle Razo. 

But this one wasn’t over yet.  25-26 the Cougars got back in the lead after stuffing Megan on a swing.  26-26 Sav got a kill that seemed to roll down the length of the net after a long thrilling rally.  27-26 Aggies up with a Megan kill.  28-27 Kiley Tonge came to serve.  28-28 CS evened it again.  Kiley got a great dig on the point.  I could see Gwen yelling from the student section.  The crowd had gotten up and sat down for several Aggie set points, but weren’t tired yet and were being brought to a fever pitch. 

29-28 Sav powered a kill through the CS blockers.  30-29 Ashley hit an amazing kill.  Jordan Pleasants came in to serve for the set.  Finally, a Cougar swing went into the net and the Aggies won Set 2, 31-29.  There were like 7 or 8 set points in this set.  It almost seemed unfair that somebody was going to have to lose it.  The Cougars did a good job of dominating most of the set and fighting off several set points.  The Aggies did a great job of coming back and not giving up.

Set 3: Aggies 2, Cougars 1

Adding to the tension of the previous set, I’d finished my raspberry tea and needed to relieve myself of it by the end.  Bad.  I wasn’t the only one.  There was a line to the urinals going out the bathroom entrance.  Some people ran to the other bathrooms.  While in line, I heard PA Ed announce that the Women’s Basketball team had just beaten UTEP in El Paso.  Alright.

I almost managed to fall down the steps going back to my seat, but no harm done.  I noticed the CS team went to the locker room.  The Aggies stayed on court.  Another fan asked me during the break why I was taking notes and if I was with the paper.  I’m just writing to post this on my little blog, so I can remember in later years peeing out that raspberry tea for a minute straight.  (That wasn’t what I told him.  I should make up a little sign saying I’m not with the newspaper and I don’t know why I’m doing this.)

Back to play, the Cougars won the first point on a very long rally.  It was like both teams were still playing the end of the last set.  It was almost deafeningly quiet in the arena with the start of the set in spite of that great first point.  Was everyone still at the concessions or was it really that loud at the end of the last set?  1-1 I think an out-of-rotation call was called on CS.  It was another unexplained call.  3-2 Aggies, Natalie put in another ace.  This girl is just deadly from the backline.  4-3 Julianna got a kill hitting the ball into the back court while falling backward.  Nice.  She got another at 7-5.

CS was still blocking well and would take the lead.  8-11 Cougars, they served an ace.  The CS bench was starting to get on my nerves.  During Aggie serves, they’d start a countdown.  While Briana getting ready to serve, they’d do a “Bounce, bounce, bounce” chant when she was bouncing the ball.  9-11 the Aggies showed some hustle on this point.  Savannah fell down and managed a fist save from her knees.  Bri took it from there and knocked it over.

11-11 Sav got a dive save on this point.  Like I said before elsewhere, if her defense is solid, she won’t have to worry about being taken out after a couple of bad swings.  12-11 Aggies, here’s Megan getting another kill at a crucial moment.  13-11 timeout Cougars.  13-13 CS tied it.  The net took a beating on this point as several balls hit the tape.  14-13 Aggies, Brigette powered a kill through two blockers.  Alright, Brig!  16-15 Nat fired another ace serve that hit the defender in the face after a mishit.  Take that, bench hecklers!

18-15 Jules and Sav combined on a block.  19-15 Jules and Ashley combined on a block.  20-16 Jules and JDH417 combined on a block.  Just kidding.  Actually, Jules buried a kill into the court.  21-17 Jules put a soft tip right on the line.  She’s everywhere!  21-18 the Cougars took the point, but Halle made a great jump fist save.  She’s really earning that libero shirt. 

22-18 Tatyana slammed one.  Timeout Cougars.  23-19 Brigette and Meg combined for a block.  24-20 Brig hit a kill on the backline.  I hope Cat is 100% for the tournament, but Brigette is good to go if she isn’t.  Kiley came in to serve for the match.  Savannah got a kill on the line to win it for the Aggies, 25-20 and 3-0.

Not to sound patronizing, but congratulations to Chicago State for really showing some fight in this match.  I seem to remember that they’ve given other good teams in the conference a hard time.  Their blocking was really good.  #8 Lauryn Dela Cruz led them with 12 kills.  The Aggies simultaneously took care of business and showed a lot of grit today.  Savannah Davison led with 13 kills and a bunch of hustle.  Tatyana Battle had 11 and was a rock.  Julianna Salanoa had 9 kills and was a force at the net.  The Aggies secured second place in conference and will get a first round bye. 

Senior Day Ceremony

Raising Canes coupons for everyone!  They were being handed out at the north entrance.  I briefly wondered if I should run up there and come back, but the Cheerleaders worked the crowd and handed them out to the people staying for the ceremony.  Thanks.  Ron suddenly showed up behind me.  His home obligations had cleared up and he was able to go late.  He arrived halfway through the second set, so at least he got to see the best of it.  Since I wasn’t sitting where we usually sit and I wasn’t wearing what I wore last time, he wasn’t able to find me in the crowd until some people left. 

Tear stains ruined my notes here.  First up, Kaylee Neal got to present her eponymous award for the best teammate this season.  It went to Lia Mosher.  In spite of her near season-long injury, she had still been contributing to the team.  PA Ed boomed out her name with the announcement.  He loves saying her name.  Ed really gets in some bass with it.  “I haven’t been able to say it all season!” he exclaimed.

Briana Ainsworth came out with her family.  She was smiling, of course, and kind of giggled during her speech.  She had been working hard on a nursing degree this semester and hadn’t been able to practice with the team all the time.  She said her parents had worked out with her last night at midnight to prepare for today’s match.  Coach Jordan got choked up talking about her.  This must be the worst part of the job.  During his praise, he did mention she is the worst singer on the team.  I wonder how he found that out.  I think a lot of future patients are going to be comforted by Bri’s smile and her tender attitude.

Captain Tatyana Battle was also all smiles and giggles coming out with her family.  What a change from last years’ waterworks.  She thanked the fans first.  She liked how well they’d treated her and been involved with the team.  We love you too.  Her and Bri had a great relationship on court.  Taty specifically thanked her for her sets.  The coach added a very technical note on how often she’d set Taty up.  Taty also said she’d miss Bri’s “beautiful smiles.”  Now, I’m getting choked up again writing this.  Tatyana forgot to mention her future plans after graduation, but I’m sure she’ll be a success in whatever she chooses.  Coach Jordan had the last word and told the fans the truth, with girls like this who are such fine players and people, “You guys are spoiled.” 

(Sniff, sniff)

I’m okay.  I can finish this. 

Raising Canes got my dinner business for the second time this week as Ron and I went there again.  We ended up staying late.  I was not dressed warm enough for being out after the sun went down, but then I suggested going next door to Sonic for ice cream anyway.  They have something like a Blizzard there, which was okay.  Ron was starving and had the six-piece meal at Canes and a medium cup of ice cream.  I remembered that Aggie Men’s Basketball was playing.  We listened to them on his car radio as they beat the Lobos (I’ll detail that a bit more later).  Ron nursed some severe indigestion from overeating. 

I’m going to wait until after the tournament (and hopefully an NCAA appearance) to try and sum up the season.  (I’m already groaning thinking about how much work that will be.)  For now, it was another good win, but a hard-to-take Senior Day, and a couple more unwanted final farewells to some wonderful players.