NM State Aggies vs Chicago State Cougars Volleyball 10-12-22

Katie didn't play, but I'd already put in the picture before the game.

Lia's highlight in this game was a dig.  Really.

Poor Chicago State.  I feel bad for them.  Their university almost went out of business.  They left the WAC.  The conference they were about to join, suddenly refused them.  Now they’re independent.  As a consequence, out of 24 matches this season, they only have three home games, which they’ve already played.  (They have a nice-looking venue, too.)   And, as Ron and the Roadrunner Revue band would say, “Chicago’s not a state!”

 

I also feel bad for the Aggies.  They were playing their third match in five days, two of which were on the road and both went five sets each.  They beat Sam Houston State behind Katie Birtcil’s 20 kills.  Our new freshman Setter, Rilen Garcia, led in assists with 27.  Against unbeaten in conference UTRGV, they lost in front of a big crowd.  Katie played hurt and wasn’t a huge factor, but Molly Johnson stepped up.  Looking at the stats, Coach Jordan emptied the bench looking for more firepower.  Even our one-girl cheering squad, Ashley Herman, came in and got two kills.  There were lots of service errors in both games.           

 

Tonight’s game got moved up a day to accommodate CS’s travel schedule.  They were supposed to play them twice this season, but WAC rescheduling forced one match to be canceled.  At least the Aggies have a week off after this.  I wouldn’t mind a week off.  Just taking Friday off, got me buried in paperwork when I got back on Tuesday.  Meanwhile, I would be solo tonight because Ron was gone for the week to an out-of-state funeral.  This also pretty much settles whether I was going to go to Aggie Football and Softball this weekend as well.  (Chance of rain anyway.)  So, this is my only live sports for the week. 

 

I’d hoped to watch the baseball playoffs this afternoon, but the game was rain delayed.  At least I had a good burger for lunch.  For dinner, I made the usual mistake of eating at the Pan-Am Center.  I got a stale pretzel caked in salt that mostly ended up in my lap.  So much for that.  A pretty decent crowd came out.  A bunch of girls teams came to the game.  I’d told my co-worker, Taylor, about the game.  He said he’d try to go with his girls, but I didn’t see him.  Then again, I didn’t see them last time. 

 

Bianca Perez, our injured Setter, has somehow gotten worse even while not playing.  She’s gone from having her wrist wrapped to now having her arm in a sling.  Meanwhile, Katie would be sitting out this game with some arm pain.  Adam Young on the radio broadcast said she could play, but the Coach wanted her resting.  Ryleigh Whitekettle would get the start in her place.  (I want her to develop.  She looks like she should be great.)

 

Chicago State’s roster is really international, like UTRGV.  There are girls from the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Peru, Turkey, and South Korea.  Their coach, Tony Trifonov, has really remade the program.  (They made me a believer last year playing for a WAC division championship.)  Were it not for their conference problems (or lack thereof), they’d be contending somewhere.

 

During player introductions, the players were tossing out souvenir balls.  One of the thrown balls got loose on the other side of the court.  One of the Cougar girls ran over and got it and handed it to kid on the sidelines.  A senior lady in the boosters section got one and came back and handed it to a kid right below me.  (I was seated behind the Aggie bench for a change.)  Meanwhile, I noticed team aide, Cat Kelly, talking to Pistol Pete on the sidelines.  Stay away from my girl, Pete!

 

Set 1

Rilen came into the game early to set.  In the pregame, the Coach had been amazed by her progress in this short amount of time.  She has a good-looking serve, but needs to work on consistency.  She also needs to work on avoiding Double Touch calls.  (Several DT calls were made on players during the match.  It really seems to depend on the refereeing crew.) 

 

CS was playing well to start and the Aggies weren’t.  There was a mis-dig that went into the Aggie reserves.  Libero Darian Marham looked sharp on her digs.  Her and Mari Sharp had a couple of great saves on a point, but it still went to the Cougars.  At 4-7 CS, the Aggies took a timeout.  After the break, Mia Peterson and Darian collided on a dig. 

 

5-9 Molly got an overpass kill to finally break an 8-point run.  Rilen made a good-looking back-set to Jayde Shelton.  Her swing was ruled out, but it looked in even from where I was seeing it.  Coach Jordan challenged call and got it overturned, 6-9.  Across the court, a team of girls started dancing to Whoomp! (There it is).  Since the Cheerleaders didn’t seem to be into it tonight, these girls provided the break entertainment.

 

8-12 Jayde made a slashing lefty kill that put a charge into the crowd.  6’4” Molly made two diving dig efforts on point 10-16.  She was going all-out.  15-19 Lia blocked a shot so hard, two Cougars fell to the court on the rebound.  (Not exaggerating.)  On the sidelines, Ashley was too fun to watch.  She was dancing, jumping, and bumping teammates on every winning point. 

 

17-21 Lia and Jayde combined on a block.  The rebound went up into the overhanging videoboard.  They both ducked and covered their heads.  18-21 the Aggie comeback continued.  Darian made a great pancake save.  Timeout CS.  19-21 Taylor Snow and Jayde combined on a block.  22-22 the CS Coach challenged a call, but didn’t get it.  23-22 Ryleigh gave the Aggies’ their first lead with a kill.  Timeout CS.  Mari got the block to get the Aggies to set point and then closed it out 25-22 on a DT call on CS.

 

Set 2: Aggies 1, Cougars 0

I suddenly noticed Xitlaly Hernandez (definitely), Gia Valenti, and Bianca Chacon (maybe on the other two) from Aggie Soccer walk by on the stairs.  I would have said, “Hi, thanks for a fun season,” but I didn’t recognize them quick enough.  (How did I miss Xitlaly with that great hair?  She had it elegantly pinned up.) 

 

On the Aggie sideline, Ashley did her usual routine before the start of a set.  She went to the coaches for fist bumps (they look like they’re about strangle her) and then high-fives and low-fives with the reserves.  She even high-fived Pistol Pete with the Cheerleaders (who were kind of standing around tonight, though they did some routines later).   

The Aggies got off to a quick 5-1 lead on several CS errors and a kill by Jayde.  Timeout CS.  6-2 Mari hit the backline for an ace.  7-1 the Aggies took the point after a long rally.  Cougar Setter, Jaclyn Inclan and another player went down in heap at the net.  Jaclyn stayed down and the Aggie trainer went out to her.  She eventually got up and stayed in to a round of applause.  Adam seemed to know her whole life story, which he gave while she was being treated.  I’d noticed her because she’s a rather fierce beauty.  

9-2 Laura Lizastigui cycled in for the Cougars.  Both Adam and PA Ed choked on trying to say her last name.  It’s pronounced just how it looks, fellas.  10-3 CS challenged a confused call by the up official, who seemed uncertain.  It was overturned.  11-3 Molly got a kill and Kaylee Peterson came in to serve.  The Coach said before the match that he was going to try and dip into the deep end of the bench.  

12-5 Lia had two blocks on this point, but Setter Rylee Fay fell over the center line to give it to CS.  14-6 Molly with another kill and Keke Holloway came into serve.  Keke and Lia did this little hand-play while waiting to cycle out.  Lia then twirled her in a pirouette.  18-7 Ryleigh slammed a kill.  CS was really looking disorganized now.  Timeout CS.  19-7 Rylee put in an ace.  Molly got a couple more kills along with Ryleigh getting one.  23-7 Kayleigh Thomas came in.  Yes, we finally get to see the redhead play!  She tripped coming on to the court, but got her first kill of the season on a tip on the next point.  Good for you, Kayleigh!  The Aggies closed it out 25-9.        

  

Set 3: Aggies 2, Cougars 0

I hopped to the bathroom after drinking most of my raspberry tea.  I came back and the video was showing a young team girl working it to Jump in the Line.  She also had a souvenir ball.  She earned it with that performance.  Ashley went down the line for fist bumps from the coaches.  Coach Hertel wasn’t there.  He had left to get something off court.  Ashley stopped and looked confused for a moment before continuing on.

 

1-1 the Aggies won the point after a long rally.  A CS player fired into the tape on the net so hard, she fell backward on to the court.  3-2 Mari caught big air as she flew in to drive one into the center of court.  4-2 Kaylee had come into serve and put in an ace here and got a nice save on the next point.  She’s very serious out on court and looks like a good player. 

 

7-5 Lia brought down the hammer here, but the match highlight came next.  Lia went back to serve.  The Coach was going with a different rotation pattern here.  I don’t remember the last time I’d seen Lia serve, other than earlier in warmups when she fired into the net.  She got it in and then played in the backcourt.  Gasp!  Our middle blocker star was playing in the backcourt and got a dig there.  The reserves went crazy and nearly stormed the court.        

 

9-5 this was the actual best point of the match.  It was a long, incredible rally that went forever.  Ryleigh ended it on block.  Some of crowd (including myself) gave both teams a standing ovation for the effort.  10-6 Rylee put in another ace.  13-6 CS took a timeout.  15-8 Mari with a flying kill.  16-8 Molly with an overpass kill.  She looked surprised.  The ball was nearly on a tee for her.

17-9 Lia dunked one.  18-9 CS timeout.  The ball girls practiced setting and bumping on court.  20-9 another first, Rylee got her first block ever with Lia.  The reserves went crazy again.  21-9 even up big, Mari made an incredible save here.  23-9 Anji Vishwanathan and . . . Ashley (!) came in.  24-9 set point, Las Cruces High School grad, Cameron Rodriguez, came in.  She got a big roar from the girls in the crowd.  25-9 Anji finished the set and match with a kill.  Ashley had a great save on the point.  Aggies sweep 3-0.    

 

The Aggies are now 20-0 versus the Cougars.  I was there when these two teams played for a division championship (as noted at the top), and another game where Coach Jordan almost put in the reserves to throw it when he thought the starters weren’t giving enough effort (11-14-19).  I want to see a win, but I don’t want to pity our opponents.  Hopefully, their school will get in a conference next year.  We’ve had enough trouble with our Football team here with that problem.    

 

Molly Johnson led the Aggies with 11 kills and 10 digs.  The Coach really praised her efforts this season in the postgame interview.  He’s pushed her into improving her game.  Mari Sharp had 11 kills and 9 digs.  Yanlis Feliz paced the Cougars with 11 digs.  I could see her putting in the effort on court.  Perhaps the key stat was the Aggies up 7 to 1 in blocks.  If only they could do that every match.

Kaylee signing

Mia signing a poster of herself.  Meta.

Jaclyn came into the stands to see her family.  She’s from Tucson, so they came out to see her.  She played with the kids in her family on court.  On the other side, the teams of girls came down to the court waving their posters of Mia for signing.  It was good to see.  I felt a little sad I was there by myself, but I’d had a good time.