It was a heck of an Aggie Volleyball season! I’ve been doing these recaps for Softball and
Baseball for a couple of years. Since I
went to all the home games this season, it seemed like a good idea to do one
for Volleyball. (Tellingly, I didn’t
consider doing this for Soccer. It was a
season to forget.) I wasn’t able to see
every game. I would have had to have
been there for some games, since there wasn’t any video or radio for them. I also missed a couple of games that I didn’t
have any or much information on.
This is such a great event for the fans. This year there was the novelty of seeing a
guy playing with the team. Standout
freshman, Brielle Sterns, was
unfortunately injured before the season even started. The girls looked good, though the libero
position was wide open. This was the only
time I saw freshman Brittany Welch
play. I thought she looked good out
there, but she disappeared from the team in late September. Not knowing what happened to her has been
bugging me all season.
The Aggies won two games at the ASU invitational, but
lost here to the Sun Devils. I thought the team looked flat. Actually, they were probably tired from
having played that morning.
Next, the girls were in Albuquerque for another
invitational. I hadn’t heard of FGC, but they’re apparently well
regarded. Could the Aggies take
them? We’ll never know. Lia
Mosher was injured in a freak accident in warm ups. The Aggies were in disorder for the
match. Megan Hart wasn’t herself. I
seem to recall she’d gotten a pain shot this week and hadn’t been able to
practice.
No rest for the Aggies.
Later that afternoon, they had their next match, but at least it was
against a winless team. It ended up
being five sets of “not easy.” The
Aggies not only prevailed, but I think several players showed what they were
capable of. Savannah Davison and Julianna
Salanoa in particular turned it on.
Playing in the Pit
against their in-state rival, the Aggies had a great straight sets win. This was unexpected in front of a big crowd
(though not all Lobo fans) and
especially after the Lobos had beaten FGC
last night. (FGC losing their star
player in the first set, might have had something to do with that. Said girl was from Albuquerque and had been
heavily recruited by UNM and NMSU.)
The Aggies showed some potential here.
If this had been a Battle
of the Bands, it would have been a closer contest. This was the Aggies’ first home match and resulted
in Raising Canes’ coupons for everyone
for the sweep.
9-7-18 Springhill Suites Invitational Day 1
I developed a crush on the Montana coach, while Arizona
crushed Montana on court.
Former Aggie, Briana
Bustillos, was now playing for the Miners. I was glad to see her playing. AZ got a better workout in this match, but
then again, they’d played that morning.
I’d noticed how big and tall those Montana girls were in the morning.
They gave the Aggies all they could handle. The Aggies prevailed in five sets, but the
libero position and digging in general seemed like a major problem.
I admit that I wasn’t expecting a win here. The Wildcats
looked pretty good and the Aggies were a bit disorganized. The Aggies did have problems. They went through three liberos and the team
had issues with service receiving. But Coach Jordan went mad scientist with
his lineup and seemed to confuse the Wildcats’ Coach Rubio and his players.
I have to single out Megan Hart’s
play. Her height was the Aggies’ main
advantage in the match and they rode that to a five-set victory. This was definitely the biggest Aggie
Volleyball win I’ve seen.
No let down for the Aggies in this straight sets rivalry
win. Briana Ainsworth and Halle
Razzo both had long serving runs in the match.
After beating UC-Davis
a couple hours earlier, the Aggies were swept in their rematch with AZ on their
home court. The Aggies may have run out
of gas about halfway through the match. Lia Mosher was back playing.
The Aggies had a tough five-set road loss to the
newcomer Lancers. I give the Aggies credit for forcing it to
five sets after losing the first two. They would also lose a couple days later in
five sets to Bakersfield. This might have been the low point of the
season, and certainly the girls must have been exhausted after two five-set
matches.
Lia
Mosher was back out and out for good for the season. Set 1 went 31-33 Redhawks. The Aggies came
back from a 1-8 deficit in the set. They
would win in four sets anyway.
The girls won in straight sets, but Ashley Anselmo was injured during play. She kept playing in future games, but
wouldn’t be 100% for a while. Cat Kelly was very good in a relief
role. I got my autographs with the girls
afterward. No phone numbers though. Sigh.
The Aggies got a straight sets win on the road against a
good team. They were missing their best
player, but it still counts in the standings.
Julianna Salanoa had a great
game.
I think I’m skipping a couple of games here. Cat
Kelly had a career game in a five-set win at UTRGV. The Aggies won here
in four sets against Utah Valley. The visitors really impressed me though. I think this is the match where Halle Razzo finally definitively won
the libero job.
Jordan
George was injured before this game. She’s had hard luck here with the
Aggies. This was the “Block Party” game,
where the Aggies stuffed the daylights out of the Roadrunners. It was a
straight sets win which included an incredible 11-point run by Tatyana Battle on serve.
The heartbreak. In
front of their biggest home crowd of the year for the Pack the Pan-Am event, the Aggies lost in five sets. Their home winning streak was broken at 20
games. Oh, that terrible first set loss
that I am still not over. The Vaqueros went on a 7-point run with the
Aggies holding set point the whole time and won, stunning the large crowd. This was also the “DT match,” where double
touches were the foul call du jour.
The Aggies really fought back after that demoralizing
first set. Savannah Davison had a rough game and was taken out for more than a
set, but after this match, I think she cleaned up a lot of deficiencies in her
play. Cat Kelly had a monster game with 18 kills.
Straight sets road win, but Cat Kelly was out starting with this game. I’d assumed it was an injury, but it was a
nasty viral infection. Team serving
shined in this game. The Aggies would lose
a couple of days later at Utah Valley. I never got any details on this other than
they lost in five after winning the first two sets.
The Aggies won in four, but this one never seemed in
doubt. Megan Hart had a great game in kills and blocks. Julianna
Salanoa set an Aggie record with a .700 hitting percentage. I noticed Brigette Lowe starting here, but it probably began when Cat Kelly went out.
It was an odd four-set match win for the Aggies as three
of the sets were blowouts, one of which went to CBU. Aggie serving was
deadly with 10 aces. Natalie Mikels shined here. Tatyana
Battle absolutely dominated the third set.
This battle went five intense sets. The Aggies started poorly, but finished well
and won it. Tatyana Battle, again, came up huge with 27 kills. After all these five-setters, thank goodness
the Aggies had been using so many players this year. I think they all improved too with the
additional play time.
Continued in the Postseason Recap
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