Sports Journal Women's College Volleyball Edition 10-27-19

After two volleyball games this week (10-24-19 and 10-26-19) and one on Monday, how about a double header on Sunday?  I’m usually a bit skeptical when Stadium schedules live college sports since I’ve burned any number of times.  (Actually, they had a volleyball game scheduled for Saturday that didn’t come on, which was okay since it conflicted with Aggie Volleyball.)  I was more surprised than anyone when the two scheduled volleyball games came on Sunday.  I kicked back for the next four hours and watched.

First up was a Mountain West match in Las Vegas with UNLV.  This match happened on Tuesday, but it was new to me.  Since the coverage was a bit chopped in places for time, it initially skipped who the opponent was.  Strangely, I recognized the opposing libero.  I couldn’t remember where until they finally announced the other team was the UNM Lobos.  I’d seen them in person last month (vs Pacific and vs A&MCC).  The player was the rather sexy Alena Moldan.  I also remembered their star player, Lauren Twitty, as well. 

I’d seen UNLV in person too, but that was two years ago (vs UCLA and vs Aggies).  I’d also seen them on TV (10-13-18).  Mostly I remembered the pretty Norwegian blonde, Thea Sweder, who was still playing with them.  (Her name is not pronounced how it looks apparently.)  It was a sparse crowd for the home team.  The arena has the look of a big warehouse, but I do like the big hanging banners of the players up on the walls.  The Rebels were decked in pink for an awareness game. 

The Rebels were a good team at 10-9 (6-2 conference).  They were on a winning streak and had comeback on Boise State, down two sets and down 24-22 in the third, for the win.  The Aggies had had their way with the Lobos (9-7-19) and so had most everyone else.  They were 6-15 (1-8 conference).  Colorado State and Kirstie Hillyer (#13) were mentioned as undefeated in conference.  I’m not surprised.

Set 1 started badly with an overturned call.  I liked the Rebel’s announcer, whose name I didn’t catch.  After a UNLV ace, he made a comment about the team serving well, and then the next one went into the net.  “The announcer’s jinx strikes again.”  He described ace serves as being, “High risk, high reward,” propositions.  The Rebels got three aces in the set.  “The Lobos look like they’re stuck in cement.”  Aces were good for the fans.  T-shirts were thrown out with each one.  (There weren’t any cheerleaders there doing it though.)  After holding the Lobos to a negative hitting percentage, the Rebels won Set 1, 25-12, with an ace.

Set 2 was joined in progress, 11 points in.  Those Rebel aces were coming at a price.  They had 9 service errors to this point.  The Lobos took Set 2, 25-19.  While that set was cut short, they showed half of the five-minute break before Set 3.  The Rebels took that set, 25-16.  They had their sixth ace.

They showed the break before Set 4 too.  They weren’t editing the match well.  Early in the set, there were two back-to-back challenges on the same point.  That took awhile.  The Mountain West conference doesn’t have the high-speed cameras and silhouette system of international volleyball, so reviews take some time and aren’t generally conclusive.  It’s probably a good thing the WAC doesn’t have challenges.  They don’t seem worth the time and the effort without the technology.  The UNLV girls danced and posed for the cameras during the break.

The Rebels got a point by digging a ball they hit off the net.  Then they had another net serve.  “The net is either you best friend or your worst enemy.”  Alena made a great save on a play by going into her own bench for a dig.  Later, there was another challenge.  Alison French started jazz dancing to entertain the crowd.  The announcer was painfully honest during this delay.  “I’m sitting here talking to myself.  You can only give the stats and scores so many times when the game gets brought to a screeching halt.” 

UNLV was serving at match point.  “This would be a great time for another ace.”  The serve went way out.  “I need to learn to keep my mouth shut.”  They went ahead and won 25-19 and 3-1.  Three Rebels were in double figures.  Only Twitty had as many as 10 for the Lobos. 

Following that match was a live contest from the Patriot League between the Lafayette Leopards and the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.  I was informed that this was a rivalry game.  I wouldn’t know otherwise. What I was fascinated by was where they were playing, Grace Hall.  This was Lehigh’s home court there in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Your typical volleyball court is laid out inside of a basketball court.  In this case, the volleyball court was laid out across perpendicular across the center of the basketball court.  This was because the stands pulled out over the ends of the basketball court.  On one end of the volleyball court was a glass window wall covering a large stairwell.  Servers stood right next to it.  Servers stood up against a blank wall on the other side.  Balconies lined both ends of the court.  I saw a couple of balls rebound out there.  Of course, there was a low ceiling and it was in play.  It was like they were playing in phone booth.

The announcer kept talking about the weather as it was interfering with a Lehigh soccer match.  It was suspended, but would have to be replayed because there were postseason implications.  (That could have happened with that darkness match the Aggies had on 10-4-19.)  I didn’t entirely understand this weather talk until later.  The clouds apparently broke and sunlight came down on the court.  I never figured out where the light was coming from, but it was natural.

There was good attendance in the bleachers, at least on one side.  You couldn’t put a very big crowd in there.  They were raucous though.  The small venue amplified the acoustics well.  Balls that were struck hard enough boomed.  As for the teams, Lehigh was in dark brown.  Lafayette was in dark blue.  Both liberos were wearing white shirts.  You could barely tell the teams apart.  

While Lafayette had the better record, you could throw that out for a rivalry game.  In Set 1, Lehigh went down big, but came back to tie it with a 14-4 run!  They lost it 25-23 though.  During Set 2, in spite of the action on court, I drifted off.  I’m embarrassed.  I missed the end of the set.  I was woken up by Morgan Uber giving the Patriot League report.  I couldn’t sleep through that.  The scorekeeper fell asleep too and forgot to update the set score.  Lehigh had tied it. 

Set point #1 for Lehigh in Set 3 was an epic rally.  They took that in extra points, 26-24.  They won the match in Set 4 with an ace, 25-15 and 3-1.  The Lafayette coach only called one timeout during the match.  He preferred to let his team play through any issues.  Interesting philosophy.  Okay, that was a fun afternoon, if not quite restful even.  Hopefully, Stadium will show a couple more volleyball matches before the season ends.

NM State Aggies vs Seattle U Redhawks Volleyball 10-26-19

I was solo for today’s match.  Danny was going to be out-of-town to watch some DII volleyball and softball in Silver City.  Ron’s emergency that kept him from coming to Thursday’s game was a medical one.  The person he was caretaking for passed away Friday.  That was not unexpected.  He was going to be wrapping stuff up Saturday, but was planning on going to Monday’s game. 

I was not alone, however.  It was a Pack the Pan-Am event today with a bunch of $1 tickets sold to the community.  I went early and there were quite a few cars already in the lot.  During the match, a long list of companies and individual donors were read off as bulk ticket buyers.  The crowd that finally materialized was maybe disappointing in that respect, but the program probably made some extra money.  It was perhaps a bit larger than Thursday’s 1,000.  There were a lot more kids though.  I’d say this crowd was more enthusiastic.

On the way over, I did see an odd sight.  It was a perfect clear blue day with virtually no breeze.  However, a black piece of tarp was somehow caught up in the air like a kite.  It somewhat impossibly flew around over the road.  It seemed like an act of transvection this close to Halloween.  I refused to accept this sight as a bad omen.

Inside the Pan-Am, I picked up a Gia Pack Aggie Women’s Basketball poster, since I’d finally remembered to bring a rubber band with me to roll it up with.  I’d gotten the two Men’s Basketball posters a couple of weeks ago, but left them in Ron’s car and hadn’t seen him since.  (In the meantime, AJ Harris, one of the poster boys, had gotten injured and was going to be out for a while.) 

There was also a giveaway courtesy of El Paso Electric.  They were handing out drawstring backpacks along with a four-pack of LED lightbulbs.  That’s quite a gift, since I think those things are pricey (compared to incandescent bulbs).  I don’t have a use for them at the moment.  I’m mostly using some CFL bulbs that I’d bought on closeout when those fell out of fashion. 

I picked my old spot to sit at on the east side behind the boosters.  You can see what’s going on at the Aggie bench and even occasionally hear Coach Jordan if he’s yelling loud enough (9-2-17).  When the teams change sides, you can get a good look at the visitors.  Also, the up official blocks some of the action on the other side.  However, I wasn’t able to see Emerson working with PA Ed at the scorer’s table as well as from the other side.  Today, amazing Grace was working with them and even took over Emerson’s duties for the afternoon.  (I am so jealous of Ed working with those two beauties.)

Aggie Football was on one of the scoring table monitors.  They were playing Georgia Southern this afternoon.  I’d heard the first series of the game at home.  The Aggies forced a fumble and had scored.  I’d taken my radio with me, but after I’d sat down, I was content to watch the girls warm up and listen to the PA music.  Later, I’d asked my dad about the game.  He said the final was 41-7 Georgia Southern.  I apparently heard all of the Aggie highlights when I’d listened earlier.

In our now regular attractive opposing assistant coach segment, Cheri Lindsay looked tough, but hot for the Seattle U Redhawks.  She had her hair up and was wearing high spiked heels with a tight-fitting dress shirt.  She had a sucker in her mouth on court.  That’s probably not a good idea with balls flying around.  (Grace had one too.  They must have had them available at the scorer’s table.)  Their other assistant coach, Giedre Tarnauskaite had very nice hair.  (I couldn't find good pictures of either on their team website.)  

Speaking of lovely hair, their head coach got a visit from our own TV commentator with long tresses, Kelsi Meredith.  It was a short talk.  I wonder if she played against him and was just saying, “Hi.”  The Redhawks were 10-13 overall, but 1-8 in conference.  How could anybody (other than Chicago State) be 1-8 in the WAC?  I thought I remembered hearing they were supposed to be a good team this year, but were devastated with injuries.  Their collapse must have happened at the start of their conference schedule.   

The courtside video board was bathing the Aggie girls in a weird red light.  You didn’t see that from the other side.  Cat Kelly’s thigh was still bandaged up.  In the postgame interview from Thursday, Coach Jordan said that her and Savannah Davison hadn’t practiced much during the week because of injuries.  They did seem a little off in Thursday’s game, but still led the team in kills.  Gee, how would they have been if they’d been totally healthy?

After the team was dressed, diminutive Brenda Hernandez led the team out instead of Analyssa Acosta.  For the player introductions, Julianna Salanoa made a great toss with her autographed ball to a girl in the stands.  Savannah ran over to the sidelines and gave hers to a little girl.  The crowd was still coming in as the match started.  Across the court, where I was usually sitting, there was a father and little daughter that I’d noticed outside.  It looked like some quality bonding time, as he had his arm around her.  Aww.     

Set 1

Wow, three pages in before I actually get to the game.  This is why I shouldn’t go to these things alone.  I start writing too much.  Cat was still playing well and got the first point with a kill.  The Redhawks got the next point as Natalie Mikels served out.  2-1 Aggies, SU returned the favor by serving into the net.  3-1, Julianna and Ashley Anselmo combined on a block.  4-2, Jules came up with a hard kill.  5-2, Jules served an ace.  She was everywhere. 

6-3 Aggies, Ash went crosscourt for a kill.  SU looked totally disorganized on the point.  7-4, beautiful Megan Hart slammed one after firing out on the previous point.  8-4, Cat and Lia Mosher combined on a block.  8-5, the Redhawks won the point, but Krysten Garrison made a great fist dig on an overpass kill attempt.  10-6, SU took this point as Lia jumped into a set for her.  When she cycled out, she apologized to the coach standing on the sidelines. 

13-7 Aggies, Julianna was still on fire.  She had a block or a hard tip on this point.  Annie made a great diving save at the net to keep it going.  14-8, the Aggies were called for being in the net.  15-8, SU was called for a double touch, which took us to the media timeout.  Coach Jordan and Assistant Coach Hertel did the talking in the huddle.  Nobody looked angry yet.  The video screen showed a kid doing the scissors to Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics.  I’m sure this kind of spectacle was never imagined when the song was written.  He got a round of applause.

16-8 Aggies, I think the Redhawks were called for being out-of-rotation.  The foul was called before the Aggie serve.  Their coach argued unsuccessfully.  16-9, SU won the point, but the Aggies conducted a fire drill at the net to keep the point going.  17-10, Sav with the kill to break up the SU run.  18-10, Lia flexed on a kill here.  19-10, Meg got a kill.  Timeout Seattle U.  They showed that kid dancing on camera again.  The video director had found a star.

20-10 Aggies, Savannah got the kill to finish a minute-long rally.  Cat had two great digs.  The crowd was screaming as the point kept going.  They willed that one for the Aggies.  23-11, Halle Razo came in to serve and Tessa Fisk joined her.  Tessa, the tall freshman, combined with Meg on a block and Cat took the point with a kill.  Reserves Autumn Gentry and Kassi Stolz came in.  Oh, too bad Ron isn’t here to see his favorites.  Perhaps just as well.  The Redhawks went on a 5-point run that included the Aggies getting called for being out-of-rotation.  The crowd just kept getting louder for the Aggies though.  Megan was still in and trying dig, set, and swing.  Cat finally ended it with a kill.  25-16 Aggies.

Set 2: Aggies 1, Redhawks 0

Bang!  3-1 Aggies, Megan got things rolling with a kill that rebounded into the stands.  Brigette Lowe was in for this set.  6-4, Amaris Carter with SU had a great kill.  7-4, Julianna took a very low set and blasted it in for a kill.  That’s where she likes the ball put.  8-4, Jules and Ashley combined on a block.  8-5, Nat had a net serve.  The coach may be giving her more leeway, since she has the most aces. 

9-7 Aggies, Redhawk Eve Kerschenbaum made a dunk on an overpass.  She’s a tall, pretty blonde.  I warned you I’d be checking out the other team when they changed ends.  Their libero, Tijana Milojevic, was also really pretty, though she did clank on a couple of serve receives.  10-7, Sav answered by burying a kill.  SU came back to tie it at 10 with an ace by Eve.  They took an 11-10 lead on a Sav attack error.  She went crosscourt on the next point to equalize it.

13-11 Aggies, Brigette let a popup at the net fall at her feet, just out.  That was gutty, because it looked in.  14-12, Sav muscled a kill through a block.  15-12, Meg made a solo block to take us to the media timeout.  A troop of little girls danced for the camera.  Back to the boy, he was dabbing now.  You think he plays Fortnite? 

16-12 Aggies, out of the break, Brig got the block.  17-12, Meg and Cat made a block.  Timeout SU.  There was a souvenir hat toss into the crowd.  Did they say it was a leather hat?  That seems unlikely.  I didn’t get a good look at it.  20-13, Krysten made a great dive save at the net.  Jules popped it up and the ball hit the SU backline.  It’s no fair getting that lucky.  24-14, Nat got in an ace at the defender’s ankles.  Sav missed on the first two set points, but Ash finished with a kill, 25-16.

Set 3: Aggies 2, Redhawks 0

I hadn’t seen Pistol Pete all game until I noticed him with the Cheerleaders.  He was keeping a low profile.  Usually he’s working the whole crowd.  Brenda and Kassi were working it for dance cam on the sidelines.

1-1, Jules whiffed on a tip.  Nobody’s perfect.  SU took the lead on the next point with an ace, but were called for a lift on the next point.  3-2 Aggies, Sav powered one in.  4-3 SU, Jules missed on a soft shot.  Coach Jordan had been sitting, but got up to say something to the girls on court.  5-3 SU, the Redhawks took a long rally as Ashley was blocked.  5-4 SU, they served into the net here.

5-5, Savannah hit one way out, but a touch was called.  The Redhawk coach complained.  Sav grinned like she’d gotten away with one.  7-5 SU, the Redhawks went back into the lead as Meg went into the net for a foul.  8-5 SU, the Redhawks got an ace off a tape shot.  The crowd started getting loud cheering for the Aggies to comeback.  8-6 SU, Megan had a kill.  10-7 SU, Sav served into the net.  10-8 SU, Cat split the defenders for the kill.  11-8 SU, Lia tried to go crosscourt, but didn’t make it over the net. 

11-10 SU, a block error on a swing by Ashley went out.  12-10 SU, Natalie served into the net.  12-12, Sav had a block to tie it and then gave the Aggies the lead on the next point with a kill.  14-12 Aggies, Ash and Jules had a block.  15-13, Sav dunked one for a kill.  We went to the media timeout.  Yes, finally.  I was in the Raising Canes coupon giveaway section.  That was another reason why I chose to sit here.  I had a feeling. 

16-14 Aggies, Ashley fired one wide.  Now Coach Jordan was yelling, though he took it out on Coach Hertel.  17-14, Ash took the next pass and put it in for a kill.  19-14, an SU out shot went into the scorer’s table.  The guys there watching their monitors were unfazed.  Coach Jordan said something to them.  He probably told them to pay attention and dig those shots out.  20-15, Sav pounded another kill.  Halle came in to serve for her.  Sav looked a little gassed, but happy.  She’d done a good job bringing the Aggies back for this set.

21-16 Aggies, SU took a timeout.  Mini balls were tossed into the crowd by the Cheerleaders.  22-16, Jules and Lia combined for a block.  Jordan George came in.  22-16, freshman Katie Birtcil came in.  24-18, Cat got a no-set kill.  She’s a dynamo.  24-19, Katie came up to serve and put it right in the net.  That was her first serve of the year.  Brenda came in to some cheers.  The Redhawks picked on her immediately and got two aces serving to her.  The coach put a couple of the regulars back in.  Brenda still got some cheers coming out.  Jules ended it with a kill.  The Aggies took Set 3, 25-21, and the match, 3-0.

The Aggies slipped a bit in the third set, but took care of business.  Coach Jordan was a bit too eager to put in the reserves at the end to save them for their Monday game.  The team was 13 to 2 in blocks and 60 to 33 in kills.  Savannah Davison led with 16 kills.  She was a real spark for the team in the third set and just willed them into the lead.  Cat Kelly was a steady force with 13 kills.  Julianna Salanoa, Megan Hart, and Ashley Anselmo were a bit quiet with the kills, but were awesome in blocking. That’s the thing with this team.  At least two players are going to have double digit kills and five different players are capable of doing that.  You can’t shut everyone out.

Analyssa came up in stands to see her folks.  I think I’ve figured out that there’s not going to be an autograph session this season.  She’s the one I really wanted to see to congratulate her on starting.  I hung around for a minute, but she didn’t get close enough to get her attention.  Oh, well.  I did meet a lady as I was coming out of the bathroom.  I think she was the lady who was sitting somewhere behind me and was the loudest cheerer in the crowd.  She asked me about my notetaking.  I must look like a nut.  I gave her my blog address at her request. 

Later, I heard the Coach’s postgame comments.  Coach Jordan was much more sympathetic and understanding towards the reserve players that came in at the end than I’d imagined.  He said that he carried a large roster and had a lot of walk-ons.  He wanted to respect the work that they were putting in by getting them into games.  At the same time, he recognized that it was very hard for someone to come into a game cold and unexpected.  The Coach praised Brenda and Katie’s abilities, knowing he’d put them in a difficult spots.  

At one-and-a-half hours, that was a very efficient match.  Coupon in hand, I called my dad and asked if he’d like some Raising Cane’s chicken.  It was a bit early for dinner, but he was interested.  At the restaurant, I ran into the Aggie Cheerleaders, still in uniform.  As they’d been the ones to hand out the coupons, I told them, “Thanks.”  They were using them too.  Over at my parent’s apartment, dad showed me the newspaper article of Thursday game and asked if that was me in the background of the picture.  It was. 

I got back home and settled in to watch the World Series.  Unfortunately, as the game got out-of-hand, I started flipping channels.  There was a Men’s College Volleyball match on a Mexican station that I stopped on and watched for a bit.  The guys were huge.  The court could barely fit all of them and they were swinging very hard.  Somewhat like tennis, the women’s game is probably more watchable, because the men’s pure power game isn’t that entertaining.  (Of course, the looks don’t hurt either.  Volleyball girls also don’t distractingly grunt like the tennis girls.)  The Aggies have a tough match coming on Monday.  Hopefully, they’ll be okay on short rest.

NM State Aggies vs Utah Valley Wolverines Volleyball 10-24-19

I drove over from the Soccer Complex to the Pan-Am parking lot.  I sat in my truck for a few minutes to warmup from the cold outside.  I also needed to think about what to do for dinner.  It was now a bit after 5:00pm and I’d only had lunch today around noon.  I decided to get a snack at the concessions.  I got the raspberry tea and a lightly salted pretzel for $9.  Ouch.  At least both items tasted really good.  I wasn’t full though.  If the match finished early enough, I thought might go somewhere on the way home.   

Ron told me he’d planned on showing up for soccer late and then coming to volleyball.  He didn’t come for either and I couldn’t get him on the phone once I got inside.  (I found out later he had urgent personal business.)  I did reconnect with Danny and sat with him.  He sounded better out of the cold.  I did keep checking behind me to see if Ron had shown up.      

The Aggies won 3-0 against Chicago State last weekend.  They were still unbeaten in conference.  They’d beaten tonight’s opponent, Utah Valley, last month on the road (9-26-19).  While the Wolverines had a losing record overall, they were 5-3 in conference.  I think they were missing a key player last time.  They’d improved since then. 

There was a good-looking crowd tonight at the Pan-Am, maybe over a 1,000.  Barbara Hubbard was there, the doyenne of the arena, decked head-to-toe in crimson.  However, from looking at attendance figures on the program, that game in Orem, Utah had 1,600 there.  That’s been the biggest crowd the Aggies have played in front of this year.  I wonder if the Wolverines were running a promotion that night.   

I’d seen redheaded freshman Kaleigh Thomas leading a troop of girls out of the ticket office outside.  I guess she had some friends in for the game.  I probably should have called out to her to make her look good, but since autographs were canceled last week, I had no prior relationship with her to do so.  Lovely Swim & Dive team member/marketing intern Grace Laporte, who I have met (10-18-19), was working a camera on the floor with a teammate from right out of swim practice.  I’m assuming this because they both had wet hair, long gorgeous wet hair.  Speaking of great follicles, TV commentator Kelsi Meredith was wearing a bold outfit tonight.  She was in these wide blousy pants with big colorful stripes.  She officially looks good in anything.

I’m alright!  The music was much better here than at the soccer field.  The Caddshack theme is one of my favorites.  The Aggies were having fun warming up.  Brenda Hernandez had a pink tint to her hair for the Awareness game.  (Aggie super fan Tom was there in a pink shirt.)  Julianna Salanoa made a dive attempt practicing digging and her slide went nowhere.  This got a laugh out of the team.  6’3” Lindsay Blakey took a couple of really good swings in practice.  We need her for next year when beautiful Megan Hart is gone (and I start crying).  There was a nice write up of Megan in the Sun-News a couple of weeks ago.  She’s a star. 

  

Emerson was here working with PA Ed.  She’s a busy young woman working two events today.  Ed went over to the Utah Valley coach before the match.  I’m guessing he wanted help pronouncing some of his girls’ names, like Kazna Tarawhiti (a striking young woman), Oferira Petaia, and Jasmine Niutupuivaha.  (They’re all from Hawaii if you can’t guess.  Their website has pronunciation audio clips for them.)  I liked the cool look and name of their tall libero, Seren Merrill.  There’s some other good names here I like, such as Tori Corus, Bailey Christensen, Sadie Hamson, and Abbe Hughes.  I feel like stealing some of these names for characters in a story.  And there’s, Kristen Bell.  If volleyball players had walkup music, I’m hearing something from Frozen.  

   

Once again, the opposition had a very attractive assistant coach, Kylin Munoz.  This is such a deficiency on the Aggies.  In practice, Halle Razo almost ran into her on the bench going for a dig.  I did hear an interview with Aggie Assistant Coach Chris Hertel yesterday.  He seemed like a surprisingly soft-spoken mellow guy to be working with Coach Jordan.  He talked about Analyssa Acosta’s progress this season.  For the first road trip of the season, they almost left her behind, not needing her.  From that, she worked her way into being the starting libero.  She’s an inspirational story.

Set 1

The first thing I noticed in play was that Cat Kelly’s right thigh was bandaged up.  It looked like there was a stick in the back of it.  It didn’t affect her tremendous jumping ability, but Danny noted she was hitting poorly in the match.  She still got her kills though. 

Right out of the gate, the match started with about an exhausting minute-long rally.  The Aggies won that point, but it set the tone for the rest of the game.  This was going to be a dogfight.  The Aggies went up to a 4-0 lead with some great blocking.  5-1, Ashley Anselmo got a kill down the line.  6-1, a hard swing by the Wolverines bounced off Julianna and went over the net for a kill.  That got everyone laughing.  7-2, a UV dig hit the bottom of the scoreboard over the court.  Unlike the rafters in some arenas, apparently that wasn’t in play and the Aggies took the point.  8-4, Megan got her first kill.  Everything was going the Aggies’ way to this point.

8-5 Aggies, Savannah Davison served one into the net.  8-6, Meg made her second mishit on a dig.  8-8, Megan hit one out.  Utah Valley then went out into the lead, 10-9 on a questionable out call on a Cat swing.  This got Coach Jordan yelling at the refs.  13-10 UV, Brigette Lowe was in and got a kill to break up their run.  14-12 UV, the coach started screaming at Cat after another out-swing.  14-13 UV, there was another long rally that went to the Aggies.  The Wolverines made a campfire around a tip and somehow made an incredible save on it.  The media timeout came at 15-13 UV.

Sav got a big kill at 15-14 UV.  It was tied at 17 on a Wolverine attack error.  18-17 Aggies, Brigette got an overpass kill.  18-18, Krysten Garrison had an out-serve.  Aggie serving was otherwise doing well to start.  Utah Valley retook the lead at 20-18, prompting an Aggie timeout.  Cat tied it up at 21 with a kill.  The Aggies retook the lead, 22-21, on another long rally.  Sav made a great dig on the play and Cat won it with a tip. 

23-21 Aggies, Brig had a huge kill that bounced into the stands behind the court.  Timeout Utah Valley.  Cat and Sav goofed off a little with each other in break.  The Wolverines were not going away.  23-23, Brigette had an out-swing.  Timeout Aggies.  Brigette retied it at 24 with a kill.  25-24, Natalie Mikels put some mustard on her serve for an ace.  Timeout Wolverines.  They tied it up again, but out-served at 26-25 Aggies.  Finally, Sav got a wide open overpass kill to end it 27-25 Aggies.  She was grinning as she hit it and kept smiling while the teams exchanged ends.     

Set 2: Aggies 1, Wolverines 0

Pee-ew!  A terrible fart smell overwhelmed my section.  It wasn’t me.  Somebody had beans for diner.  Utah Valley took an early lead, 3-2, on an out-serve by Jules.  Meg got the lead back, 4-3, on an overpass kill.  5-3, Megan and Sav combined on a block.  7-6, Cat had a big swing and the dig went out-of-bounds.  8-8, Cat had an overpass kill.  9-8, Nat came up with another ace.  9-9, the Aggies couldn’t pull away.  Coach Jordan was reduced to yelling at the reserves to get out his frustration. 

Utah Valley took the lead.  At 13-9 UV, the Aggies took a timeout.  Jules got a kill coming out of that, 13-10 UV.  13-11 UV, Halle served up an ace.  14-13 UV, after Jules had had a good serve, the coach brought Kiley Tonge in to serve for her.  She served it out and went right into the coach’s doghouse.  The Aggies tied it at 15 after a couple of Sav kills and a UV attack error.  We were tied at 16 on a block by Meg.  We were tied at 17 as Brig went into the scorer’s table trying to dig a ball.

Utah Valley got out in front, 20-18, on a carry call on the Aggies.  20-19 UV, the Wolverines out-served.  21-20 UV, Cat got a kill.  22-22, Jules hammered one into the court.  It didn’t even bounce as the defender tried to dig it.  23-23, Meg and Ash combined on a block.  Timeout Wolverines.  The Aggies got it to set point, 24-23, as Sav dotted the line.  Timeout Wolverines.

Utah Valley tied it back up at 24, as an out call was overruled as a touch.  Aggie set point #2, 25-24, Meg got a tip in, after UV got a great pancake dig on the point.  The Wolverines made a sub that seemed to confuse the Aggies and forced a timeout.  We tied again at 25 as Megan’s block went wide.  She came back with a kill and set point #3, 26-25.  Oh, there’s that fart smell again.  The Aggies smelled it too.  The Wolverines must have been upwind.  Utah Valley tied it again and won the set 28-26 on a mishit.  The Aggies’ mistakes caught up with them here.

Set 3: Aggies 1, Wolverines 1

During the half, Pistol Pete was in the crowd dancing to Jump In the Line.  He’s very smooth.  Sav had had a mishit on the point, but came back with a kill early at 2-1 Aggies.  They added to the lead, 4-1, as Meg got an overpass kill.  5-1, Nat got a kill on an overpass dig.  She was shaking her head afterward.  7-5, Sav made a hard kill into a couple of blockers. 

10-7 Aggies, Cat and Meg combined on a block.  The Utah Valley coach argued the point.  “Sit down bus driver!”  Ah, that obnoxious loudmouth fan was back behind me (10-10-19).  12-8, Jules and Ash got the block.  14-8, Ash picked up an overpass kill.  15-8, Ashley had a solo block.  “Double ref!”  The fan was still wanting double touches called on the opposition.  Hey, we won the point.  Shut up! 

This took us to the media timeout.  I still wasn’t in the Raising Canes coupon giveaway section.  Fudge.  The video screen showed Savannah as an athletic academic honor student.  She’s a 3.9 GPA Bio-Chem major, if I was reading that right.  Looks, volleyball star, and brains?  When God was handing out the good traits, Sav snuck back in line a couple of times for more.

15-9 Aggies, Nat served it into the net out of the timeout.  Coach Jordan loves that.  16-9, Wolverine blocking turned away several swings until Jules put one through with sheer determination.  16-12, Sav fired wide and the shot bounced into the crowd.  At 16-13, the Aggies called a timeout.  17-13, UV had an out-swing, but the Coach Jordan was still yelling at his girls furiously.  17-15, UV got a big block on Ashley, but she came back on the next point with a kill. 

18-16 Aggies, Megan was blocked.  In the last match with the Wolverines, they triple-teamed her at times.  Analyssa made a great free ball save off-court to keep the point going.  19-16, Meg got the kill on the next point.  You can’t stop her every time.  I saw Annie yelling on the point.  She was fired up.  21-19, after a long rally, Cat fired one way out.  22-19, she came back with a kill.  23-19, a UV defender dug a ball into a teammate’s face.  She was okay, but Utah Valley took a timeout.  Sav finished the set off, 25-19, with a kill in anger.

Set 4: Aggies 2, Wolverines 1

I was exhausted just watching by this point.  Credit to the Aggies’ conditioning, they didn’t show any signs of fatigue.  I’ve seen them get winded before this season in a hard match (10-10-19).  The scoreboard briefly showed Savannah’s kill total a couple of times in the match for a change.  (They haven’t been doing it all season.)  She had 13 at the start of Set 4.

Utah Valley went up 2-1 early on a DT call on the Aggies.  The Coach was yelling again at the refs over the call.  I guess the ref had heard the obnoxious fan’s pleas to call more double touches and obliged.  2-2, UV net serve.  “Ball don’t lie.”  4-3 Aggies, Ash buried one at the feet of a defender with no bounce again.  4-4, Jules out-served.  The fart smell returned.  I blame that.

6-4 Aggies, two UV girls collided on the point.  8-4, Krysten Garrison aced, but at 9-6, Sav out-served.  9-7, Krysten got into the net making a set.  9-9, UV aced on a ball that hit the tape and dropped in.  10-9, Megan broke their run with a kill.  We tied again at 10.  The crowd was upset with the call that gave Utah Valley the point.  The Aggies tied it up at 11, as Lia Mosher hit a defender on the head.  The girl was okay and laughed.

12-11 Aggies, finally a DT on UV.  The loudmouth fan was happy.  13-11, Cat got a tip into the middle of four players.  14-11, Cat got a big kill that bounced into the crowd.  15-11, media timeout.  15-12, Nat served out on the next point.  Coach Jordan was frustrated to the point he almost started yelling at PA Ed and Emerson.  18-13, Ash killed it crosscourt into the sideline.  Jordan Pleasants came in to serve.  19-15, Krysten net served.  When Coach Hertel was asked if Aggie serving had improved over the season, he’d said it was a moment-to-moment thing, not a matter of progress.

The Wolverines started a comeback.  20-16, Meg had an out-swing.  The coach and the team wanted a touch on the point.  20-18, Megan was blocked.  Timeout Aggies.  It was a short talk.  It seemed like Savannah was doing the talking.  20-20, Cat fired one out.  Timeout Aggies.  This time the Coach did the talking.  21-20, Megan bump set Brig for a kill.  Meg gets it done without even swinging.  The Wolverines wanted a foul, but didn’t get it. 

Late in the match, the Aggies went to a strange alignment.  They only had one person blocking and set the rest back to receive.  I wonder if that confused the Wolverines too, as they didn’t take advantage of it.  Nat actually moved a teammate over before a UV serve.  Maybe she got confused where to stand or they were about to get an out-of-rotation foul. 

         

21-21, Utah Valley was right there again.  Krysten dove for a ball.  She missed it and hit the court in front of Coach Jordan.  He started yelling at her while she was still lying on the floor.  You have to laugh.  He’s like a supervillain.  22-21, Jules and Ash combined on a block.  Timeout UV.  Bell Biv Devoe’s Poison was getting the various young volleyball girls in the crowd grooving.  Ups to the music.  24-23, UV long served out at the wrong time.  Match point.  No extra point drama this time.  Ash and Jules finished it on a block.  The Aggies took Set 4, 25-23, and the match, 3-1.

Savanah Davison led the Aggies with 17 kills.  Cat Kelly followed with 14, Megan Hart with 10, and Ashley Anselmo with 9.  Kazna Tarawhiti paced the Wolverines with 15.  The Aggies led 63 to 46 in kills as usual.  However, both teams were even on blocks with 11.  Again, the Aggies had double-digit service errors with 10, but had 4 aces.  That was a heck of a match.  I hope the Aggies don’t face the Wolverines for a third time this season in the WAC Tournament, especially since it’s on their home court.  

Utah Valley had the answer to the Aggies.  They were blocking and digging well.  I can see why Coach Jordan was made mad at the girls.  They didn’t win because they were the more disciplined team.  They just out-talented the Wolverines.  Utah Valley made a few mistakes, but seemed to play a much tighter game generally.  The Aggies kept making mistakes and it cost them a set, but they would not be denied.

Coach Jordan was surprisingly mellow in the postgame interview.  As much yelling as he did during the match, I guess winning against a tough team took the edge off.  On the team Twitter, there was a link to a national volleyball website that interviewed the Coach and Megan and Savannah.  It was about the team’s good ability to attack out-of-system.  This was because they weren’t that good at receiving and passing. 

As well as the team has been playing, Coach Jordan has been frustrated that they’re not playing up to their full potential.  I kind of have to agree with that.  They’re awesome, but could be even better.  If anything, the coach was complimentary in thinking that this team could have a much higher ceiling.

After the match, photographer Gary Mook got a picture of the team with Mrs. Hubbard.  How cool.  Though it went four sets, they were four long sets.  The match went two-and-a-half hours.  I gave up on getting dinner out.  (McDonalds was the only easy place to go to on the way home.  Never mind.)  It was downright cold outside with the sun down.  Behind me, Grace’s S&D teammate came out behind me and cursed the cold.  She was only in a sweatshirt and yoga pants.  I had to settle for cereal and writing recaps when I got home.  There was some disappointment at soccer today, but the double header finished well with a great volleyball win. 

NM State Aggies vs UMKC Roos Soccer 10-24-19

Even after a 3-11-2 season, surprisingly the Aggies still had something to play for.  With a win, since they were 2-4-0 in conference, they would make the WAC tournament.  They’d won last weekend at Chicago State, albeit just barely, 2-1.  They’d fallen behind 1-0 until Shea O’Connor scored the equalizer in the second half.  Eli Gonzalez scored the winner in overtime.  If they’d lost to the Cougars, I’m not sure if Coach Baarts would have been on the plane back to Las Cruces.  They were playing a much better team in UMKC who were 9-3-4, except they were only 1-2-2 in conference.

They were doing the Senior Day ceremonies when I walked into the Soccer Complex.  I’d missed this last year (10-27-18).  It’s still a sore spot with me.  The Roo seniors were introduced first, then the five Aggie seniors.  When Kaitlyn May was introduced, the PA said she’d had a career-ending injury.  Kyleigh Cox was introduced as the team co-captain with Kelly Burton.  Amy Gulczynski was introduced as having come back from an injury.  Jess McDow was the other senior. 

University President John Flores came out for the coin flip and was thanked for supporting Aggie Soccer.  The four seniors that could play were all starters.  The Roos looked sharp in their blue and yellow uniforms.  Their goalie, Erin Roth, was in yellow.  I was glad the weather wasn’t as forecast yet.  It was cloudless and sunny with a cold breeze.  El Paso looked dusty to the south.  There was supposed to be a stiff, hard cold wind this afternoon. 

The crowd was “friends and family” level.  This was a 3:00pm match on a Thursday.  Dad said he looked for me on the NMSU news show later in the evening when they did coverage of the game.  He didn’t see me or anybody in the stands.  Tom didn’t make it out again.  Danny was there.  He told me they held the senior ceremony up until I got there.  I asked him if he’d heard about the UNM Lobo quarterback getting suspended.  He had and we chuckled.  The quarterback had been caught . . . umm . . . practicing some solo drills in public on the campus.  Okay, what is wrong with young women at the university that even a quarterback can’t get laid?      

First Half

The Aggie reserves let out a big cheer at the start.  They were fired up.  You could tell their energy level was high.  Goalie Dmitri Fong was yelling instructions and encouragement so loud you could clearly hear her in the stands.  (The lack of much of a crowd might have also made it easier to hear the players on field.) 

43’ left in the half, Amy was making the most of her start by taking a shot on goal.  40’ the Roos brought it back down with a free kick on the wing.  The ball was stopped and kicked out.  39’ Hannah Leitner took a hit and was on her hands and knees at midfield.  Play was stopped, but she was okay.  I didn’t see the incident.  Maybe the wind was just knocked out of her.  The Roo attacks continued.  37’ Dmitri stopped a low shot.  36’ Hannah was knocked down again.  She shook it off to help Kelly on defense.

35’ Kelly took the ball away from a Roo attacker, who was otherwise unblocked in the Aggie box.  Said Roo was Lindsey Prokop.  I’d noticed her since she was working on the near sidelines.  She was cute and had the best hair on the field, blonde with dark highlights, very fetching.  There was another immediate attack that Dmitri caught.  33’ Dmitri then caught a free kick that came from the top of the box.  32’ a Roo corner kick was headed out, but that led to another corner that was also headed out.

Amy and Kyleigh were subbed out.  They seemed to be doing a good job.  The Roos apparently thought so too.  30’ Lindsey beat Aggie defender, Analise Pacheco, who had just checked in, and found Amanda Sampson in front of the net for the goal.  1-0 Roos.  Dmitri had no chance on that one.  After that, the Aggies’ spirit seemed to deflate.

28’ Dmitri fell on a ball that rolled into the Aggie box.  27’ Shea and a Roo defender both took a tumble fighting over the ball at midfield.  26’ Hannah made a determined charge into the Roo box.  She was ridden out, but this led to a corner kick.  Kelly took a chip shot that was caught.  24’ Dmitri knocked down a long shot.  23’ Dmitri poked out a Roo corner shot.  22’ another Roo corner was broken up in the box.  Eli charged out with the ball, but was knocked down at midfield.  At a fan’s suggestion, the ref issued a yellow card to the offender.    

18’ after a ball touched two other Roos directly in front of the Aggie net, there was Lindsay again to tap it in.  2-0 Roos.  There was no defense there to help Dmitri.  She was again left helpless.  18’ back at the other end, Shea ran into the Roo goalie, who was trying retrieve a ball in the air.  The ref didn’t issue a card, but take Shea aside and gave her a talking to.  16’ Corey Kizer took a shot over the net.  On the play, Katie Martinez was injured.  The trainers had to come get her and help her off.  It was something with her foot or leg. 

13’ Jody Hernandez took a shot from the wing that went way over the net.  She immediately took another one that did the same.  9’ Sarah Trent, just into the game, had a collision with the Roo goalie Erin too.  1’ Alexa Barerra was right in front of the Roo net with the ball, but was blocked before she could get the shot off.  With under a minute left, Sarah took a shot, Erin mishandled the ball, but there was no one there to follow up on the attack. 

Halftime

The Aggies had 3 shots on goal to the 5 by the Roos.  It was 4 to 2 Roos in corners.  The wind was picking up and was getting colder, but it wasn’t uncomfortable yet.  There was another horse racing/ball kicking contest for entertainment.  I was enjoying the view of marketing intern Emerson presiding over the event.  There had been some music next door at the football field.  I think the football team was practicing.  The music at the soccer field for the half was the worst of the mainstream.  No music would have been preferable.

There was an odd occurrence after the competition.  A well-dressed middle-aged couple wandered on to the field.  They stopped at midfield, seemingly lost.  The PA gently and then more forcefully told them to get off the field.  They left, but would not be hurried, dragging out each step.

Second Half

I’d noticed the field cart moving on field in the first half.  It came back and delivered Katie to the Aggie bench.  She was now on crutches.  43’ Dmitri was right back into action.  She caught a roller off a throw-in and caught another shot from the wing.  Back at the other end, Sarah took a shot at the top of the box.  Erin fell on it.  39’ there was an Aggie corner, though Jody was confused as to which corner to take the shot from. 

35’ Roo Lindsay took a shot that hit the scoreboard as the Aggies were now defending the north end.  33’ there was a long shot on the scoreboard.  I tell you, opposing players can’t resist shooting at it.  32’ there was a Roo shot into the side of the Aggie net.  The Roo bench wanted a corner out of that.  With the wind speed and direction, Danny noted that Dmitri’s goal kicks were now flying to the other end of the field, instead of dying at midfield.  It was getting stiff. 

31’ Sarah was leveled at midfield and another card was issued.  30’ Sarah took a weak shot on goal that was caught.  24’ Andrea Ridgely came in.  Once again, I think I misidentified her as someone else last time.  I shouldn’t have mentioned players not in the uniform or on the roster no matter how attractive they looked.  In play, Eli accidently kicked the ball into the back of Lindsay’s head.  She didn’t even seem to notice. 

26’ Hannah caught Erin way out the goal, but only managed a wide shot.  24’ Sarah took a roller shot that was caught.  22’ Hannah was dramatically tripped.  The free kick by Jess went high over the Roo net.  The Aggies got a corner, but didn’t get a shot on goal off.  Danny had left by this point to get ready for volleyball later.  The wind was now cold and hard enough to make the last 20 minutes of Aggie home soccer this season miserable.  Danny also had a bit of a cold.  This was not the place from him to be.

17’ another Roo shot on the scoreboard.  15’ Eli took a header shot right in front of the Roo goal.  It was caught, but Sarah ran into Erin following up.  This got Sarah a yellow card.  Right back down to the Aggie end, Dmitri fell on a shot well away from the goal and lost it.  The net was only guarded by a defender.  Thankfully, the ball was kicked away. 

14’ Shea came into the game.  She’d been out for the second half.  13’ the Aggies got a corner.  Erin and another Roo collided, but the ball rolled out.  10’ the Roos had a corner, but there was no ball available.  I think some Aggie Baseball players had been recruited as ball boys.  They weren’t exactly sharp here.  7’ Jess came out.  There were some cheers in the crowd for her from some friends. 

6’ Corey took a long shot that went just wide.  This led to an Aggie corner, but no shot.  A little girl with pink hair at the foot of the grandstand jumped up and down as Emma Smith ran by.  She was shouting for her.  It was so cute.  3’ Emma took a quick free kick to Jody, who took a shot that was caught.  There were mass subs for the Roos right after for whatever reason.  My last game note was that the wind was now gusting.  2-0 Roos was the final.

I could not have been more happy for this game to have ended, probably along with this whole home season.  Emma and Lindsay had been going hard after a ball before the final horn with no one around them.  They slapped hands as play was stopped.  It was some nice sportsmanship.  The team came up to the stands for one more wave.  They were a bit melancholy.  Your final game stats were 8 to 5 in shots on goal for the Roos and 6 corners each.  With a goal and an assist, Lindsay Prokop was the player of the game.  She’s only a freshman, but with UMKC leaving the conference, this is probably the last I’ll see of her.                    

Like last year, I’m not doing a separate season recap for soccer.  It was another season to forget with about the same record.  They have one more game left.  I’m not sure if they’re still in contention to go to the conference tournament.  Maybe things could suddenly turn around.  I’ll write this out based on nothing really changing.  I’ll write something they do make the tournament.    

The team has improved on defense since last season.  That can be summed up quickly: Dmitri Fong played the whole season in goal.  If she didn’t exactly win games, at least she kept them in games where they would have otherwise been blown out.  (And she’s definitely marriage material 8-25-19.)  Offensively, Shea O’Connor was a good addition, but the attacks were still generally uncoordinated.  Simply, they decreased the number of opposing goals, but reduced their own as well.  There were so many times that they were close to scoring, but the ball just didn’t find the net.  Shea is a mismatched piece with the other offensive players.  Maybe Coach Baarts can fix this in recruiting.  He’ll probably be back, but next year may be his last year without significant improvement. 

Will I be back next year?  I’ve enjoyed some of the soccer, but mostly it’s been sitting out in uncomfortable conditions watching somebody else win (or worse, tie).  I’m still a bit broken-hearted over Aileen Galicia.  I shouldn’t have met her.  Apart from the Lobo game, attendance has declined, even for the UTEP game.  I somewhat wish I hadn’t taken time off for some of these games.  It wasn’t worth the extra effort when I got back to work the next day.  I’m going to consider this carefully before next season, but I’ll probably want to see Dmitri in her final season.  Once again, another downer ending to Aggie Soccer from me.  Well, no time for thoughtful consideration.  I was off to volleyball.         

Postscript: The team posted this the next day.  Ahh.  I think that’s Hannah there.