Borderland Invitational UNM vs Pacific Volleyball 9-7-19

Pacific Tiger Allison Dennemann

I had to wake up early for this game and had trouble sleeping.  There was some kind of domestic disturbance in my apartment building after I got up.  Four policemen showed up just as I was leaving.  I felt like I was fleeing the scene of a crime.  That was an inauspicious start.  At the Pan-Am Center, a gentleman in front of me at the courtesy table left a giveaway shirt from last night there.  (I was wearing mine.)  He said it was too big for him.  I took it and found Danny with the intention of making up for his stolen shirt, but it was too big for him.  Rats.  I took the shirt back to the table.  I think Danny knows who stole his shirt and is plotting something.

I had breakfast beforehand, so no expensive trips to the concessions today.  No Emerson either at the scorer’s table.  Darn it.  Adam Young was there in extreme casual wear (well, exercise clothes, not a bathrobe) to scout the Lobos before the match with the Aggies tonight.  Again, there was a light crowd.  The number of Pacific Tiger fans and Lobo fans may have been equal here.  I’m surprised the Lobos aren’t travelling better.  (They certainly do for their Women’s Basketball team.) 

Is that a Billie Eilish song on the PA?  She’s everywhere.  I liked this song.  Danny liked it too.  He also mentioned that UTEP had beaten Texas A&M Corpus Christi (UNM’s opponent here yesterday).  (I think he actually went down to El Paso to see that game.)  A&M-CC looked pretty good night, so that’s an impressive win for the Miners.  They even came back from two sets down to win in five sets.  I have to figure that A&M was probably exhausted from playing earlier in the day though.  They were blown out in the final set. 

The Aggie Volleyball team came in to watch along with Assistant Coach Chris Hertel.  They were mostly decked in black, including some in giveaway shirts.  Before the match, one of the referees came over and talked to the girls.  Danny thought they might be in some trouble, but, no.  With nobody from Aggie Softball present or any willing teen girls available in crowd, they needed ballgirls for the match.  Dutifully, some freshmen were volunteered, probably by the seniors.  (And I didn’t write down who the freshmen were to give them credit and I don’t remember.  Sorry.) 

UNM Lobo Alena Moldan

Set 1

The Lobos started with a five to seven advantage in reserves.  For the most part, the Lobo reserves were a bit more reserved than in their last match with A&M-CC, where it felt like the opposing benches were fighting each other.  Inauspiciously again, the match started on dead ball foul.  Roofing perhaps?  A Lobos player disputed it to no avail.  After that, the Lobos ran off four points on a couple of Tiger out swings.  They got it up to 5-2 on an untouched free ball by libero Alena Moldan.  You know things are going well for you when that happens.  Alena’s a distinctive-looking light brunette with a slight build out there.  She nearly looks too young for college.

7-4 Lobos, Allison Dennemann for the Tigers made a couple of kills to keep them in it.  Here was another slim pretty blonde I kept watching.  (Don’t tell me I’m developing a type because I’m missing an Aggie player I only got to see play once and feel cheated.)  8-5 UNM, oops, Alena shanked one into the scorer’s table.  10-7, the Lobo’s first double touch call.  There was a new up official this time, so it wasn’t just the ref. 

10-8 Lobos, the Tigers were keeping it close and got a block here.  Assistant AD Herb Taylor walked by and greeted the deputized Aggie ballgirls.  The Tigers were down by 17-16, after an overpass kill.  18-18, Tiger libero Jadyn Tubbs made a great save and helped win the point.  19-18 Tigers took the lead on a Lobo attack error.  Timeout Lobos.  The Lobos came right back and retook the lead, 20-19.  Timeout Tigers.  The Tigers tied it again at 20 on a block.  From there the Lobos reasserted themselves and took the lead again.  Their reserves danced in a circle.  The Lobos closed it out 25-21.

Set 2: Lobos 1, Tigers 0

Tainted Love played over the PA.  A family of Lobo fans changed sides to stay with their team as they changed sides of the court.  Aggie Volleyball left, but some freshmen stayed to keep working the game.  Redhead Kaleigh Thomas and blonde Autumn Gentry took over on the sidelines.  Kaleigh found herself chasing errant balls into the stands. 

Pacific went out to an early 5-2 lead, but it was short-lived as the Lobos tied it at 6-6.  9-8, the Lobos took the lead.  Okay, attention on the game was drifting here for the rest of the match.  I wasn’t exactly tired, but wasn’t very sharp.  The Tigers tied it at 10, but the Lobos ran off three points, forcing a Pacific timeout.  Kaleigh chatted with one of the line officials during the break, as How Soon Is Now (the Charmed theme) played. 

From here the Lobos added to their lead.  At 20-14, Riley Patterson for the Tigers pounded an out-shot into the courtside table.  She was easily the hardest hitter on court.  You could tell it was her just by the sound.  20-15, Alena made a couple of tremendous dives on the court to keep the point going, though the Lobos lost it.  25-20, Set 2 to the Lobos.  The reserves were trying to spell out “U-N-M” during the point, but their players won it before they could finish.

Set 3: Lobos 2, Tigers 0

Katie Birtcil came in as a ballgirl.  Tessa Fisk and Brie Mortensen were maybe working with her (I didn’t positively identify them).  4-3 Lobos, Jadyn for the Tigers went headfirst into the stands going for a ball.  She popped up okay.  “It’s all good,” she said.  The Lobos continued to add to their lead.  10-5, a Lobo fastball went right into the middle of the court.  The reserves did their, “Aussie!  Oi!  Oi!” chant.

The Tigers would play good for a couple of points, but not more than that, so the Lobos kept getting further ahead.  The Lobo reserves started doing a, “Go Lobos!” shout during Tiger serves.  19-13, the Tigers started to unravel here, even after a timeout.  Katie practiced dribbling on the sideline and then the Aggie girls were doing a salsa dance with the PA music.  23-14, Riley made a jump serve strong enough to knockdown Alena on the receive.  She did keep it in play though.  The Lobos took the set 25-16 and the match 3-0.       

I’d like to give some stats for scoring, but once again the scoreboard wasn’t keeping up with personnel changes and didn’t seem reliable.  I don’t have a volleyball scorecard to do it myself (and it’s not worth looking up later online).  So, I don’t know what to say about individual players for this game.  I’m sorry.  I may have been sleepwalking covering this match.  Pacific may be in trouble later this afternoon against UTEP, but I should be more awake for it.