NM State Aggies vs UT Arlington Mavericks Volleyball 10-27-22

Full disclosure, those last three posts (10-24-22, 10-25-22, 10-26-22) nearly broke me.  I didn’t finish the post about the Men’s Basketball Scrimmage until a half hour before I was set to post it, which was nearly four days after the event.  I just couldn’t write, not even something fairly simple.  Frankly, tonight’s match didn’t help.

 

Things didn’t go well right at the start.  I’d called Ron in the morning to ask about dinner before going to the match.  He had a late afternoon doctor’s appointment.  He could still go, but no dinner.  I did nothing with my day off other than ironing.  Ron came by to pick me up.  I asked if he wanted to go for dinner after the game.  After his trip to the doctor, suddenly Ron’s on a diet.  This could have dire future consequences for my eating.

 

There was also a cold wind blowing outside.  We saw a bus parked outside of the Pan-Am Center that Ron identified as being from Alamogordo.  Inside, there was a pile of sweatshirts at the courtesy table.  However, they were just for boosters.  What a cruel tease.  I reluctantly bought a hot dog at the Concessions.  They got my order wrong, but at least it cost less.  Unlike most times, the bun was reasonably fresh, so the hot dog was decent.  I chewed down that and a small popcorn before the match.

 

The Alamo girls were seated in a section below us.  I’m assuming they’re a high school volleyball team that was in town for a game.  Oh my, God!  It’s Dizzykitten!  My favorite Twitch steamer was with them.  I’m not worthy.  (Does my hair look okay?)  Wait, it seems unlikely she’s here given that she lives in Arkansas.  This must just be a girl that just happens to look like her.  Looking like a goddess, still makes you goddess.  Her and another girl seemed to be NMSU students that were chaperoning the girls.  (No, she wasn’t underage.)  In any case, this was one pleasant distraction for the match.

 

Being about a half hour before the match, the teams were warming up on court.  A loose ball got into the stands where the Alamo girls were.  Kayleigh Thomas ran over and got the ball from them and gave them a cheery smile.  I looked over the Aggies.  Injured Setter Bianca Perez had her thumb wrapped, but at least wasn’t in an arm sling.  Adam Young on the radio call said she might make it back before the end of the season.  Ryleigh Whitekettle’s right hand was in a brace, not good for a right-handed Outside Hitter, but she was still playing.  Alex Connatser, one of Ron’s favorites, was also in a brace, but she hasn’t played this year.  (One of my favorites, Cameron Rodriguez, is featured in the promo picture at the top.)  

 

Setter Rilen Garcia was also featured in a nice promo picture.  She looks cute, but very serious and determined.  She’s had a lot put on her shoulders.  Rilen also took a practice serve off her cheek that went into the net.  There was also the weirdness before the match with a guy dressed as a girl that was attached to the team.  He probably plays on the practice squad, but was dressed like one of the girls.  I'm mentioning this because it happened, but I'm trying to forget about it.  

 

Adam scouted the UT-Arlington Mavericks in the pregame.  They are one of the better teams in the WAC.  (UTRGV is still undefeated in conference.  I will still stand behind what myself and Coach Jordan said, the Vaqueros didn’t play that well when they beat the Aggies last month in Las Cruces.)  UTA is in the Top 20 in the nation in blocks.  Maverick Brianna Ford is the top scorer in the WAC. 

 

I thought it was an okay crowd, then I looked at the attendance afterward and it was over 900.  UTA was very energetic during the player introductions.  The Aggie starters were tossing souvenir balls.  Once again, some of these girls can’t throw.  Star Katie Birtcil attempted to throw one to the Alamo girls and it ended up across the court at the feet of the Mavericks players.  I’m not sure what happened to it, but the Alamo girls did get at least one.  I saw “Dizzy” looking over a ball later.  Ryleigh was in with the regular starters, Lia Mosher, Darian Markham, Taylor Snow, Molly Johnson, Rylee Fay, and Katie. 

 

Set 1

I really don’t want to write this.  I mean, I’m glad I went.  I enjoy watching volleyball and supporting the team, but this match wasn’t worth writing about from the Aggie side.  I'll definitely take this over the ESG sensitivity training struggle session at work that I missed by taking the day off though.

 

The Women's Basketball team came in at the start.  They were easy to spot.  I especially noticed their cute Japanese player, Moe Shida.  I think she'll get more playing time this year.  I'm pretty sure there were some more student-athletes in attendance, but I couldn't positively identify their teams.

 

Katie had a couple early kills, along with Lia and Jayde Shelton getting a block, but the team was also making attack errors.  Coach Jordan was close enough to Adam's mic to where you could hear him occasionally over the air, “That's three attack errors already!”  At 3-7 UTA, the Aggies took their first timeout.

 

It didn't get better.  Lia got the kill and tooled a block, but the team kept falling behind.  Ford racked up a couple of kills using different speeds on her hitting.  She even ran way off court to save a ball.  6-14, the Aggies won the point, but took their second timeout anyway.

 

Taylor and Mari Sharp combined for a block.  Taylor, Jayde, and Katie got kills.  Rilen made a beautiful connection to Lia for a kill.  Lia also got a kill off a bad set with a left-handed tip.  The Alamo girls started barking during the Mavericks' serves.  It was all for naught.  UTA took the first set 13-25.  The Aggies had 8 attacks errors and 4 service errors. 

 

Set 2: Mavericks 1, Aggies 0

Another high school girls team came in late.  They must have gotten the start time wrong.  During Flex Cam, one of the Alamo girls, put their souvenir ball under their sleeve to make a muscle to pose for the camera.  After the teams changed ends, Coach Jordan took his team well off court to talk to them.  Normally, he just talks to them in front of the bench. 

 

Mia Peterson came in to start.  Unfortunately, she had some stone hands on a couple of receptions early.  She'd come back with a kill off a block.  Molly also had a bad dig that the up official ended up catching as it went to her.  Katie dunked one for the first point of the set and got another kill.  Kaylee Peterson came in early to serve.  The reserves gave the freshman a cheer. 

 

This set was close.  7-7 Molly got a tip kill and Darian had a pancake dig.  The UTA coach challenged the dig and the point was reversed, 6-8.  Our favorite reserve, Ashley Herman, showed off her dancing skills during the break.  Katie talked to Kaylee on court, apparently about positioning. 

 

Molly got the next two Aggie kills to even the score to 10-10.  The Aggies were diving all over the court on that point.  11-10 Katie and Taylor blocked Ford.  Molly next served up an ace on a ball that hit the tape.  Katie and Taylor teamed up for another block.  Katie got a kill to bring us to the media timeout, 15-10 Aggies.

 

The Cheerleaders made a t-shirt toss into the crowd.  Moe was standing and jumping for one.  A shirt came her way, but ended up rebounding to an old man.  I was wishing I'd get a shirt, so that I'd have an excuse to go over and give it to her and meet her. 

 

UTA broke the Aggies 5-0 run, but Katie immediately came back with a kill and teamed up with Lia to block Ford.  UTA closed the gap to 18-16 and the Aggies took a timeout.  Out of the break, Lia got a kill hitting a free ball over that surprised the Mavericks.  20-18 Molly tooled a block.  21-18 UTA challenged a touch, but the call stood.  23-19 Kyleigh got a kill on a touch. 

 

24-19 Molly got the Aggies to set point.  UTA took a timeout.  There was a promo pic on the video screen promoting Women's Basketball featuring Moe.  Her teammates started razzing her.  A fan turned around and recognized her.  I think he took a pic with her, too.  Katie and Taylor finished off the set with a block, 25-19.

 

Set 3: Mavericks 1, Aggies 1

Women's Basketball took a group selfie in the stands.  One of the Mavericks girls danced for Dance Cam.  The Basketball girls mostly hid when the camera was on them.  Mari was in to start for this set.

 

Katie got two kills early, which added up to 10 for the game to that point.  Taylor slammed one.  4-3 Aggies, the UTA girls wanted their coach to challenge the call, but with only one available to him, he shook it off.  Darian had two great saves on the point.  Lia put down a slap for a kill.  Meanwhile, Pistol Pete came by the Alamo girls and they got a group picture.

 

UTA went up 5-8 and the Aggies took a timeout.  The Mavericks then had three straight errors and they took a timeout at 9-8 Aggies.  During another t-shirt toss, Moe ran down to the sidelines, but came up empty.  Ryleigh got a kill on a touch and Katie got a kill, but the Aggies fell behind 12-15.  Timeout Aggies.  I could hear the coach yelling at the team during the break over the radio.

 

Mari got the next three Aggie kills.  Molly tooled the block for a kill.  Rilen made a great save on that point.  Ryleigh and Taylor blocked Ford to tie the score at 18.  Timeout UTA.  The Alamo girls danced to YMCA with the PA music.  The Aggie girls came back on court smiling, even Rilen.  It was the first time in the match I'd seen them loose.

 

19-18 Ryleigh hit a massive overpass kill.  I can't wait to see her develop into a star player.  She's already got the physique.  On the next point, Molly hit a UTA player in the face with a swing.  The Mavericks still made a valiant attempt to get the ball back over.  Taylor was called for touching the net on the next point.  She said she hadn't and the coach challenged, but it was confirmed.  Molly and Katie had kills and Ford served out to tie the score at 23. 

 

The Aggies were called for a double touch.  Coach Jordan nearly charged the court on the call.  Mari had a kill to tie it at 24.  The Aggies had a set point at 25-24 on a UTA DT, but they couldn't finish it.  The Mavericks could and came back to take the set in extra points, 25-27.

 

Set 4: Mavericks 2, Aggies 1

The set started off 0-3 UTA.  The coach disagreed with a foul call on Taylor and even yelled across court at the up official.  Adam said that was her fourth or fifth net violation of the match.  Molly broke up the run with an overpass kill.  Moe and the Basketballers left.  Maybe I'll be able to get her autograph this season and meet her.

 

2-6 Katie killed another one.  Keke Holloway came in to serve.  I saw Coach Jordan get up and leave the court.  I thought he was going to talk to the reserves, but he kept going.  For a terrifying moment, I thought he was about to leave altogether, but he was just getting up for a cup of water.  Either way, he'd seemed to have lost interest in the match.  He finally called a timeout at 2-8 UTA.

 

Katie and Mari came back with kills.  Molly and Lia blocked out Ford.  6-11 Katie fired one into the net.  She looked tired.  She was carrying the team.  Molly got a kill and her and Ryleigh combined for a block.  Katie and Lia had kills, but UTA was still up big.  Syndey McIntosh came in.  11-19 Ron and I were pleased that Morgan Stewart came in as she's one of our favorites, but it also meant the coach was clearing the bench and getting them some work. 

 

Ryleigh got a kill and at 15-20, UTA took a timeout.  Katie got her second wind with a couple more kills.  Mari and Lia added kills.  After a long rally, Lia and Molly combined on a block to make it 22-24.  Timeout UTA.  The Alamo girls started doing the Macarena in unison on the first note.  Lia and Molly blocked out Ford again to make it 23-24.  However, Darian went over the center line on the next point and UTA won it 23-25 and 3-1.

 

“The whole match was a freaking mess,” said the coach in the post game.  He went on about the players lacking even basic skills.  “I got a 22 year-old senior that I have to sub out on serves.”  I'm guessing he was talking about Lia.  In another interview, he said, "We score our points and we score the other team's points.”  He wasn't happy.  It wasn't a lack of effort.  The girls were diving on every loose ball, including 6'4” Molly.  They haven't quit and were taking the match seriously, perhaps too seriously.  They weren't having fun for the most part.  The UTA girls were all smiles during the match. 

 

Katie Birtcil led everyone with 18 kills.  Molly Johnson had 11 and Lia Mosher had 8.  The Mavericks had three players in the double figures: Brooke Townsend 17, Brianna Ford 13, and Kortney Pucket 10.  The Aggies had 12 blocks.  Taylor Snow was in on 5 of them.  Yes, the Aggies did block out Ford a lot, but she still got 13 kills and the Mavericks had a good second option in Townsend.     

 

Alamo girls went down to the court for pictures and autographs.  “Dizzykitten” escorted the girls out.  I'm not counting on seeing her again, but I can hope.  Ron looked over and noted that I was on the last page of my little notebook.  If this had gone five sets, I would have written notes on my arm, Memento-style.  Outside, there was a freezing cold wind blowing.  I had a jacket on, but I'm sure a lot of departing fans could have used those giveaway sweatshirts.    

 

Out-of-Town Scores

Aggie Soccer won at GCU 2-1 Thursday night.  This broke the Lopes' five-game winning streak and the only goal the Aggies gave up was on a penalty kick.  They also won 2-1 over CBU on Saturday night.  Next stop for them is the WAC Tournament. 

 

Aggie Volleyball's slide continued at Stephen F. Austin Saturday morning as they lost in straight sets.  Two of the sets weren't even competitive.  I'm worried Taylor Snow might have been injured in the match as she only played in one set. 

 

On Saturday afternoon, I listened to Aggie Football play UMass and win 23-13.  That's the program's first road win since 2018.  Quarterback Gavin Frakes may have been injured in the first half.  Diego Pavia came in and started whipping the ball downfield and getting yards rushing to lead the Aggies to victory.

 

Lastly on Sunday afternoon while I was writing this, Ross Chastain pulled off this move at Martinsville to drive into NASCAR immortality.