Comics Review: Sabrina the Teenage Witch Complete Collection Vol. 1 Part 2

In Part 1, we looked at the nascent Sabrina character.  (And that’s only a quarter of this book and I didn’t cover everything.)  The character was still fairly sketchy in concept.  

The familiar classic Sabrina character suddenly came into sharp focus in 1969 in Archie’s T.V. Laugh-Out #1.  With the success of Filmation’s 1968 The Archie Show cartoon, a Sabrina cartoon would follow in 1970.  This comic book seemed to be testing out the cartoon concept.  (And the cartoon version of Sabrina is quite charming, by the way, and has a breathy Marilyn Monroe-like voice.)

 

This would be your standard look for Sabrina through the 70’s and 80’s.  Aunt Hilda and a new character, Cousin Ambrose, were her family.  Sabrina was totally integrated into the Archie Gang and she’s also having to keep her witch heritage a secret.   

    

In the same issue, Aunt Zelda is introduced, she’s not used a whole lot in these stories, and Harvey, Sabrina’s new regular boyfriend.  Harvey is mostly a foil for irritating Aunt Hilda, like Archie and Mr. Lodge.      

In the second issue, Salem, the other regular cartoon cast member, is introduced.  The cat was only in Sabrina’s first two comic book appearances and then dropped.  Salem is a girl in this and mostly teased Hot Dog in the cartoon show.

Old School Ethel has got issues, especially when you put her next to Sabrina. 

 

Great Archie artist, Harry Lucey, does a couple of stories in this volume.  I hadn’t seen this one before. 

 

Two Archie (The Archies band), Sabrina, and Josie and the Pussycats stories were in Laugh-Out #7.  This couldn’t happen in animation at the time, since Josie was being produced by Hanna-Barbera and the other two by Filmation.  The stories were a bit unwieldy, but it’s fun to see all of the main Archie characters together.     

Sabrina was (sort of) given her own title in the Archie Giant Series.  Two issues made an odd diversion into Gothic-like horror.  This only sort of works when Sabrina forgets she’s a witch and when her powers don’t work or can’t use them.  I think the modern day Sabrina Horror comic probably showcases this better, but that’s straight-up horror (and really uncomfortable to read).    

I feel like Sabrina works better in lingerie than the other Archie girls.  There are three cousins introduced in various stories.  (Not pictured.)  They’re basically all various shades of hippies.  I’m not sure if they were trying them out or just there to make a story.  Since they don’t show up again, I guess that answers the question. 

 

Sabrina is featured in a story in Archie’s Christmas Stocking in 1971.  In 1972, she’d have her own Christmas special with Sabrina’s Christmas Magic.  She goes off to find Santa Claus in one story.  Another has Aunt Hilda finding religion at Christmastime.      

Oooh, boy.  What did I say about Big Ethel earlier?  Here she falls for Hot Dog, who Sabrina has transformed into a groovy hippie.  Yeah, Ethel really got rimmed in these old comics.

 And here’s how Sabrina keeps her shapely figure over the holidays.

 

Almost needless to say, I recommend this book for any Sabrina fan.  It’s very entertaining and informative about the development of the character.  There’s no Volume 2 of this that I can see.  I don’t know if I’d want that one, because chronologically, Sabrina definitely enters a dry spell (pardon the pun) of creativity from the material I’ve seen from the rest of the 70’s and 80’s.   

 

Again, you can check my previous “comprehensive” post about the history of the character.  This book has been an education in the early days of the character.  My post pretty much picks up where this leaves off. 

 

From reading this, I ask the question, how much do we owe our conception of Sabrina to the 70’s cartoon?  I think Sabrina would have eventually been a character with her own title without it.  Sabrina had an instant appeal when introduced.  She might have had a more varied background, but probably would have ended up in about the same place.  Sabrina just got there quicker via the cartoon.  

Comics Review: Sabrina the Teenage Witch Complete Collection Vol. 1 Part 1

I mentioned picking this book up at Coas Books in August.  This is why you go to used bookstores: you never know what you might find.  And what a find this was!  500 pages of Sabrina!  (This was why it’s taken me so long to do this review.)  Even though it’s a comic book, it still took me a while to read.  Beyond the page count, this is a slightly larger than digest-sized book.  The pages are newsprint and it is in black and white.  The original price on the back was $9.99.  It was a bargain.            

 

The last time I’d written about Sabrina, it was about her Super Special.  (I also did a post on a recent trade paperback.)  I thought what I wrote at the time was a fairly comprehensive exploration of the character.  Then I got this volume.  I didn’t know the half of it.  It was not a straight line from Sabrina’s iconic first appearance and her 70’s Filmation cartoon version that more-or-less became the standard.

 

This volume covers Sabrina’s appearances from 1962 to 1972.  There’s Mad House and T.V. Laugh-Out stories, along with title appearances in Archie Giant Series, and a couple of Christmas specials.  There are even all of the cover appearances on various titles.  (I still think she was the host of a classic Archie Horror comic, but if she was, those stories aren’t reprinted here.)  For this review (spoilers: I’m recommending this), I’m going to be going over some highlights (and weird sidebars) from these early days of Sabrina.  

Here we have the panel that launched the franchise.  How totally irresistible.  Here we have the very pretty teen witch, who’s quite modern and hip compared to her elders.  We also meet her cat and familiar, Salem, and her also glamorous mentor, Head Witch Della.  In the story, Sabrina’s main thing is playing tricks on other teens, since witches are supposed to be bad.  It establishes that she’ll lose her powers if she ever falls in love.  “And that would be bad . . . I think?” 

 

Aunt Hilda makes her first appearance in this one-page gag (more-or-less) in Sabrina’s second appearance a year later.

In the same issue, Della has Sabrina hex the hockey team.  Sabrina becomes infatuated with a player, Donald, but can’t go out with him.  Meanwhile, Della makes out okay. 

 

Della then sicks Sabrina on another girl to break up her relationship with a boy.  She doesn’t tell Sabrina that this girl is also a witch.  This is one thing Sabrina hasn’t had much of in these classic stories: a recurring rival.  The good news for Sabrina is that she’s now allowed to date, which is a positive development for her character.  

 

In recent stories, Sabrina has had to deal with a teen rival and even a trio of rivals.  Actually, Sabrina hasn’t had much in the way of regular girlfriends either.  This may be an unstated intrinsic part of her personality.  Her status as a witch, especially having to hide it, makes having friends difficult.  Hiding it from a boyfriend is different though.  As the character seems to draw inspiration from I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched, it’s a great opportunity for comedy.  (Yes, Sabrina predates both shows, but probably borrowed from them later.)     

 

Now that she can date, the next two stories have Sabrina trying to get with a guy.  We are introduced to Greta, her fairy witch mother.  This character more-or-less gets repurposed into being Aunt Hilda later. 

As you can tell from all these stories, Dan DeCarlo really enjoyed drawing Sabrina.  As if Betty and Veronica weren’t glam enough, he created a sort teen Marilyn Monroe character.   

And here we start getting weird.  Without DeCarlo, Sabrina is just a recurring novelty character in Mad House.

Here’s Dan again on Sabrina.  What a panel!  Here we finally have Aunt Hilda being properly introduced.  

The next section was a bit startling.  Artist Bill Kresse takes over.  This is a very 60’s art style.  Interestingly in these stories, all of Sabrina’s friends seemed to know that she was a witch. 

 

She’s still going out with this Donald guy.  Like from That Girl?  (Again, his introduction predates that show.)  He knows that she has magical powers like in Jeannie and Bewitched.  

 

Then the weirdest thing: this nearly completely off-model Sabrina by Chic Stone.  There’s actually a couple of stories like this.

Here’s another first, its Aunt Zelda’s first appearance.  This does sort of establish that Sabrina’s two aunts are responsible for her, thus implying her parents aren’t around.  That’s another low-key essential part of the character. 

 

In Part 2, we get to a more recognizable Sabrina, but this part was really interesting, because I hadn’t seen most of this material before.  

NM State Aggies vs Middle TN Blue Raiders Soccer 9-24-23

Brooke Schultz had a good game tonight.

 

I was literally flat on back in bed or in the bathroom sick for all of Saturday.  Somehow on Sunday, I was at Aggie Soccer.  I’d missed Aggie Volleyball and team autographs, but I wasn’t going to miss another game if I could help it.  I was actually feeling fine, but a little fragile.  I would be doing no cheering for this game, just shaking my cowbell. 

 

While I was laid out, I didn’t watch or listen to anything and didn’t have the computer on.  I was too sick to even bother listening to Aggie Football versus Hawaii starting at 10:00pm.  I was awake the whole night, but didn’t want to be.  Just as well, the Aggies lost 20-17.  They had the lead going into halftime, but did not score in the second half.      

 

It was a beautiful night and a great crowd of 620 for the game.  (The Cowboys were losing badly late in their afternoon game, so no reason not to show up.)  I picked up a $1 hot dog and a tea for dinner.  They were not selling chips, though.  The Band was here.  Fan Tom was here, so me not cheering would not be missed.  (Tom yelling at the top of his lungs is not my fault.)  Fan Danny was also here, so I sat next to him.

 

First Half

The Aggies got an early corner with 42’ left in the half.  Ariana Leamons took a chip shot that was just high.  This describes much of the game: the Aggies having corners and taking shots that just miss.  40’ Middle Tennessee had a free kick on the wing that went out.  Hey, I didn’t just see MT?  I wonder if they were on the same flight as the Volleyball team.  37’ Aggie goalie Valerie Guha fell on a long pass into the Aggie box.

 

35’ Bianca Chacon had a good look on a shot, but it was caught by MT goalie, Hannah Suder.  34’ an Aggie corner resulted in an Aggie throw-in from the other side of the field, but the shot was caught.  32’ Ari made a nice defensive stop by stripping the ball from the attacker.  31’ the Aggies got two corners on the same possession, but came away with no shots.  A fan ball got loose on the field during the play.  An alert Blue Raider player kicked that ball off field quickly.

 

28’ off an Aggie free kick, the ball flew across the net, but nobody could deflect it before it went out.  Tom was shouting, “We want a goal!”  The Aggies had dominated the game up to this point.  The crowd agreed.  27’ an Aggie free kick at the top of the MT box and a player was knocked down before play started.  I wouldn’t call this a chippie game, though.  It was about the usual.  Ari had a follow up kick that flew high into the scoreboard.

 

26’ the Aggies had another good attack.  A couple of Aggies were right in front of the net, but Suder fell on the ball.  A kid sitting behind me asked his dad if he could keep the ball if it came into the stands.  The dad said, “No,” and got really grouchy about it.  These kind of exchanges would continue.  24’ MT got a shot off.  Val caught it. 

 

18’ a family came in late.  They stood directly in front of me deciding where to sit as an Aggie attack was going on.  They moved away as Meredith Scott took a shot that was caught.  The Aggies made some subs.  17’ Meredith had a midfield strip on defense.  Shila Rasoul, who just came in, took a great shot from the outside wing.  Suder had to handle the ball twice before corralling it.  14’ Mya Hammack, playing up field from defense to offensive, took a booming shot that hit the sidebar.

 

12’ Tati Jerman took a shot in front of the net.  Suder made a great save and then caught a follow up corner.  (She was making a difference here.)  9’ Mya took another shot.  It went wide.  7’ it’s another Mya, Mya Gonzales, recently inserted, took a great running shot that flew over the goalie into the net.  Finally.  1-0 Aggies.  Loma McNeese got the assist on the play.

 

There was little time to celebrate.  6’ the Blue Raiders got a corner and Sascha Nielson headed it right in.  1-1.  Tip your hat.  It was a good play more than an Aggie breakdown, though that was MT’s first corner and first Shot on Goal.  Jena Johanes then picked up a yellow card for grabbing a jersey.  Given that the player was on a breakaway and about to run into the Aggie box that was probably a good foul.  The free kick was kicked out.

 

3’ Mya G. made a great pass to Mya H. by the MT net.  The header shot went just high.  2’ it looked like Shila was tripped in the MT box, but there was no call.  The Aggies got a corner, but no shot.  1’ another Aggie yellow card for a shirt grab by Tati.  With under a minute left, Shila took a running shot that was blocked. 

 

Halftime

Danny took off.  I’m not sure if he wasn’t feeling well or was tired.  The Band played for the entertainment and I was seated right up front to watch.  Over at the Football stadium, there was a guy riding a motorized skateboard down the walkway at the top of the berm.  A bit dangerous-looking, but fun.  Your stats to this point are the Aggies up 8-1 in corners and 5-1 in shots on goal, but not up in the score.

 

Second Half

44’ right off the center kick, Megan Ormson took a hard shot out.  Right after, Shila took a shot off the wing and into the net off a pass from Brooke Schultz.  Suder had no chance on it.  2-1 Aggies.  43’ Mya H. took a hard dive into the turf on defense.  She did get the ball back for the Aggies, but was rubbing a skinned elbow for the rest of the game.  39’ off a long free kick, Jessica Oliveras headed it into the Aggie goal.  It was another great shot.  2-2.

 

Okay, now the dad is getting on to the kid for cheering too much at the game.  I’m not sure dad knows why we’re all here.  37’ a shot by Shila sent Suder flying for a save that went just wide.  35’ MT made a good attack on goal, but the ball was kicked out.  34’ Mya H. did a good job breaking up an attack.  (She was playing on the near side of the field now, so I could see what she was doing.) 

 

29’ Jena made a good header on defense in front of the net.  26’ Meredith took a shot that went wide, but before that shot, the crowd was yelling about what looked like an MT handball in the box.  24’ Bianca, the Aggie assist queen, put it on a tee for Brooke to head in.  Yes!  3-2 Aggies!

 

22’ Loma took a hard hip check.  She bent over, but stood up and kept playing hurt.  A couple of minutes later, the ref stopped play to have her taken out.  She’s tough.   20’ a ball came bouncing into the MT box.  Shila took a high kick that went over the net.  14’ Brooke took a free kick that was caught.  13’ MT had a free kick at the top of the Aggie box.  The Wall held on defense. 

 

12’ MT really had a good chance here with an odd-man rush.  Short-handed, the Aggie defense still broke it up without a shot.  9’ I wrote this at the time, “Val’s best save of the game.”  Off an MT free kick, Ari nearly headed it in, as she accidently hit it backward.  Val caught it. 

 

Under 10 minutes left, the angry dad and his family leave.  The kids wanted to stay, of course, knowing it was still close.  4’ great Aggie attack, Shila shot just high.  Under a minute, an MT free kick at midfield sailed out.  That was the last action of the game.  Aggies win 3-2!

 

There were three Aggie goal scorers in the game, but Brooke Schultz also had an assist to win Player of the Game.  Blue Raider Hannah Suder gets a nod for her goalkeeping.  This score should have been worse for them.  The Aggies were up 8-3 in SOG and 8-2 in corners.  I felt like MT’s goals were good and legit, but it once again looked bad that they came right after the Aggies got the lead. 

 

The happy Soccer girls came out and saluted the crowd.  They then went over and saluted the Band.  That was a nice touch.  There were no shots on the Band tonight, just a couple of soft ones into the grandstand.  Health-wise, I think I’m okay after going to the game.  I don’t think I made myself worse and if I did, I probably would have ended up the same, if I’d just stayed home.            

NM State Aggies vs Middle TN Blue Raiders Volleyball 9-22-23

 

I wasn’t feeling entirely well today.  I slept in like for three hours trying to sleep it off.  I probably would have gone to work today anyway if I didn’t have the day off, because I wasn’t technically sick.  I was just fighting it off.  I did go for lunch with dad next door at McAlisters.  At least I had a full belly.

 

On Twitter, the Aggie Volleyball girls were loose.  There were a couple pictures of stars Ryleigh Whitekettle and Starr Williams wearing PJ bottoms and giant bearclaw slippers to practice.  I’m sure there’s a story behind this.  For their part, Middle Tennessee was coming into Las Cruces having won 8-in-a-row, including beating #25 Auburn on the road.

 

Aggie Soccer was here tonight.  The team and Coach Baarts were guests of the team seated behind the bench.  Three of the girls worked the game as ball girls.  Assistant Coach Whitis chatted with them before the game.  Coach Jordan then came over and chewed them out.  The girls just stood there and nodded.  (Just kidding, he was friendly.) 

 

Before the match, there was a Moment of Silence for Thalia Chaverria, soccer’s fallen teammate.  Her cause of death has still not been disclosed.  The team was also honored during the match for their win last night in El Paso over UTEP, 2-0.  Goalie Valeria Guha made a highlight reel save in the game.           

 

This was the Volleyball team’s first Conference-USA match.  There was a nice conference poster available up front.  (I passed.  Nowhere to easily put it.)  The down ref for the match was very cute.  Where are all these good-looking refs suddenly coming from?  Team assistants Tatyana Battle and Molly Johnson were looking very stylish on the sidelines.  Our match cover girl and also featured first in the intro video, Morgan Stewart, was nowhere to be found.  Maybe she’s out sick.  Injured setter Peyton Castillo was sitting on the opposite sideline watching.  Her teammates high-fived her before the match.

 

Set 1

Sydney McIntosh got the first point of the match for the Aggies on a touch.  Ryleigh got her first kill at 2-1 Aggies.  She made a dive at the net for a ball on the next play.  No damage taken.  Starr got her first kill at 3-2 by burying one at a defender’s feet.  Setter Bianca Perez came out of the game with shoelace problems. 

 

5-3 Aggies, Kacia Brown dialed up an ace.  Next play, Starr got a kill, but libero Darian Markham got the applause for getting three digs on the play.  6-5 Rilen Garcia was setting.  She jumped for a ball to set it and was immediately called for a double touch.  Gotta stay on the ground for that.

 

7-5 Aggies, Mari Sharp got her first kill.  Next, Mari and Ashley Herman took a trip to Block City.  Get used to Aggie blocking for this match.  9-6 Ryleigh got a kill.  MT had two good saves on the play.  They went on a run, but Syd ended it with a kill, 11-8.  At 12-8, the Blue Raiders took a timeout.  There was a little girl behind me shouting, “Aggies!  You got this!”  There was a good crowd at over 1,000 and they were enthusiastic. 

 

13-9 Aggies, Syd split a pair of defenders for a kill.  Darian had a great dig on the play.  15-11 Mari finished the point with a kill.  Rilen almost ran headfirst into Starr for a dig.  That wouldn’t have gone well for her given the size difference.  MT took another timeout.  I was hit by a t-shirt tossed into the crowd by the Cheerleaders.  This surprised me, since everyone in front of me was standing.  I handed it to a girl behind me.  Hopefully, it fit her.

 

15-13 Aggies, the Blue Raiders took this point.  Ashley ran all around the court waving her arms on this play.  That one’s not going on the highlight reel.  Timeout Aggies.  MT came back from the break with an ace.  16-14 Aggies, Starr got a kill off a block.  Next point, Darian served up an ace, but then served into the net.  Mari sided out with a kill off a couple defenders.  19-15 Ry buried one.  On the next point, there was an Aggie block that landed by the line and called out.  Coach Jordan challenged, but was denied.  It wasn’t as close as it looked from the other end of the court when shown on replay.

 

The Aggies took a timeout with the Blue Raiders closing in at 19-18.  An old commercial played on the video board of the coach hanging out with a WAC Championship trophy to the tune of Best Friend.  Everybody got a laugh out of it.  20-18 Aggies, Ry broke the run with a kill.  MT made a nice dive save on the play.  But then, Mari served into the net. 

 

22-19 Aggies, Syd and Starr added kills.  MT was out of timeouts and instead made a questionable challenge that was denied.  The players on the court huddled with the coach.  The reserves and Ryleigh huddled together as well.  I wonder what they were talking about.  22-20 Dasia Smith got a big kill for the Blue Raiders.  She had the biggest arm on their team.  22-22 an Aggie block went wide. 

 

MT took the lead 22-23 on a block, but then Starr hammered a nail to re-tie it.  Kacia tied it at 24 on a touch call.  MT got to 24-25 with a kill on the line, but Starr was the big eraser and tied it at 25.  26-25 Aggies, Darian served up a big ace.  27-25 Aggies, MT was called for four touches.  Their coach challenged, but it was quickly denied.  Aggies take Set 1.

 

Set 2: Aggies 1, Blue Raiders 0

The Soccer girls acting as ballgirls talked briefly to the up official.  With the teams changing ends, I watched the MT huddle.  Dasia seemed like the leader and yelled encouragement to her teammates.  Off to the side, their coach talked to a couple of players.  He had his hands together like he was begging them.

 

MT’s libero Erin Eisenhart had a very dramatic serve.  She presented the ball as she walked to the service line like she was carrying a platter before she struck it.  Mari and Kacia had the first two Aggie kills.  2-3 MT, Ryleigh served into the net, but the Blue Raiders tied it by doing the same on the next point.  (Contagious.)  3-5 MT went up on an overpass kill.  Kacia made a flying kill next, but then served into the net.

 

5-6 MT, Aleka Darko got the kill.  From the other end of the court, I could hear her call Rilen for the ball.  6-6 Aleka and Mari on the block.  7-6 Aggies, Ry and Aleka on the block.  8-6 Aleka and Mari for another block.  After a swing into the net by MT, they took a timeout at 9-6 to disrupt the Aleka Show.

 

Out of the timeout, Darian, who had been on serve for the run, put one into the net.  “Damn!” yelled out a fan next to me.  You could see that one coming.  (Maybe they should practice delays in serving.)  Ryleigh was blocked twice on the next point and MT went back on a run.  11-11 “Boom!” PA Ed called it, as Ry came back with a big kill to break the run.  She followed that with another huge kill to give the Aggies the lead.  Mya Hammack (my favorite on the Soccer team) and a couple of girls on the team walked by.  I wasn’t on the aisle, but I tried to wave to them to congratulate them on the win, but couldn’t dare attempt to yell with my questionable throat. 

 

Meanwhile on court, Ryleigh was blocked out and the Aggie lead increased to 14-11.  Ashley got a big kill.  A cute video played of her dancing in a cowboy hat.  Kacia hit the backline with a kill.  Rilen then made a high, floating serve that didn’t clear the net.  17-15 Aggies, Kacia came back with a flying kill.  19-16 Darian aced again.  The Aggies were first to 20 with a put-back by Aleka.  Timeout MT.

 

Back to the block party, Ryleigh and Aleka teamed up to make it 21-16 Aggies.  MT took the next point, but Darian made a great save on a setter dump attempt.  At 22-19, the Aggies took a timeout.  Ashley broke the Blue Raiders’ run by tooling a block, 23-20, but MT wasn’t going away.  23-22 Aggies, timeout.  Never fear, Ashley is here, 24-22, on a kill.  Dasia had a kill to bring MT within a point again, but Kacia finished it on a tip, 25-23 Aggies.

 

Set 3: Aggies 2, Blue Raiders 0

The crowd was totally jacked by this point.  The teams changed ends again.  Freshman Maggie Lightheart (my Volleyball favorite) happily walked by on the sidelines.  Meanwhile, Bianca was still having trouble with her shoelaces, though it wasn’t affecting her play.  In the huddle, while they were waiting on the coach, the girls watched the fans on Dance Cam.  Maggie grooved along with the music.

 

Ashley started the set, so nobody was there to fist-bump everyone before play started.  (She needs to delegate somebody to take up that task when needed.)  The first four points were a Mari tip, a Ryleigh kill, a Ry and Kacia block, and an Ashley kill.  I had a good feeling about this set.  MT took a point, but Kacia went boom with a kill.  Maggie came in to serve.  (She’s going to get mentioned by me whenever she comes in.)  6-2 Aggies, MT had a net serve.  Next point, the Aggies had two monster saves before MT fired into the net for another point. 

 

8-3 Aggies, Starr slammed one.  Mari had a solo block.  MT was then called for a DT.  The coach complained, but didn’t challenge.  The run continued.  11-4 Ry and Aleka posted another block.  On the next point, the Blue Raiders may have been called for being out-of-rotation.  Their coach complained again and then called a timeout.  The Cheerleaders tossed Aggie Soccer scarves to the crowd.  A guy across the court put his on with the help of his friends wrapping him up.

 

The timeout was no help.  Mari put in two kills and crowd was becoming rabid.  15-6 Aggies, Kacia turned on an overpass.  Timeout MT.  Coach Baarts and his family walked by at some point.  He couldn’t get his attention either.  17-6 Ry stood and let a ball drop just wide of the sideline.  Nice.  18-6 Ash got a kill, but the MT coach used his last challenge and got it overturned, 17-7.  Next point, Kacia got a kill with Maggie sub serving.  19-8 here was a no doubt kill by Ash. 

 

MT took the next point, though Maggie made a good dig on the point.  20-9 Aggies, Kacia with another kill.  MT had no answer.  21-9 Mari nukes one from orbit!  23-11 an MT net serve.  They outright looked dejected.  Coach Jordan was losing it with his team anyway on any bad point.  Mari brought it to set point with a kill.  25-12 Aggies, MT fired out and the Aggies took the set and the match, 3-0.

 

This was an unexpected, but happily received result.  Middle Tennessee came in red hot, but the Aggies played tough when it was close and finished out well.  Your relevant stats are Aggies up 10-4 in blocks and 5-1 in aces.  The Aggies were 5 aces to 8 service errors.  The coach would probably take that.  Darian Markham had 4 of those aces and 14 digs.  Mari Sharp led everyone with 11 kills and 5 blocks.  Ryleigh Whitekettle had 10 with 5 blocks.  Kacia Brown had 10 blocks and Aleka Darko led with 6 blocks.  Nobody on the Blue Raiders had kills in double digits.   

 

The Aggies took a couple of happy team pictures on court.  I left immediately.  I felt fine (even better with the win), but thought I’d best get home quickly.  Due to the conference scheduling, these two teams would be going at it again the next day.  Hopefully, I’d wake up ready to go and feeling good. 

9-24-23

Yeah, that didn’t happen.  I was feeling okay when I wrote that, but when I went to bed, I immediately got sick and was laid out all Saturday.  The team would win a thrilling five-set match that afternoon.  The Aggies lost the first set badly, took the next two (including one in extra points), and lost the fourth.  In the fifth, they were down 8-4, but the Aggies brought the good serving today and with 3 aces won the set and match in extra points. 

 

The usual suspects were all good.  Aspen Aldous was the second setter for the match and had three aces.  The stat of the match was 12 aces to 8 service errors for the Aggies.  (The next day, I heard from Fan Danny that two of the line judges showed up late, so they used a couple of assistants, one from each team, to start the match.  I think he said Molly was the one from the Aggies.)   

 

Not only was the match great, but I also missed out on Autograph Day, the first in three years.  Darn.  This may have been the first time I’ve missed a home volleyball game in a while.  I’d be regretful about not being there, but that decision was taken out of my hands.  There was a great crowd for the game, so they didn’t need me.  The girls probably got wore out signing autographs.                   

NM State Aggies vs LA Tech Bulldogs Soccer 9-17-23

Lauren Machuca looking friendly.

I was making some sacrifices to go to today’s Aggie Soccer game against the LA Tech Bulldogs.  I walked out on watching a sportscar race, listening to the final El Paso Chihuahuas home game (they lost in extras), and Twitch streamer, Kiwhiskey, who I’m in love with.  Also, the Chiefs were playing I could have gone to watch them with my dad.  However, there were going to be autographs after the game, so that made this an easy choice.  I thought about taking a radio to listen to the Chihuahuas game, but decided I’d do better to just focus on one thing at a time for a change.

 

The ticket girls asked about Ron.  I told them he was out driving a truck.  I also haven’t heard from him for several weeks.  At the courtesy table, they were offering Aggie Soccer scarves.  Since I already had one (and had given one away), I declined.  (I felt bad.  The girl had a box of these things to dispense.)  It looked like a new design. 

 

I talked to Marketing Director Nicole Sack there.  During the Football game last night, Coach Kill was reported to have been out sick during the week.  (Which would explain why he wasn’t there for the Tuesday radio show.)  Little detail was given, but he was at the game.  I asked about him.  She surprised me.  She thought I was talking about him getting injured on sidelines during the game, which I didn’t know about.  The Coach Kill is apparently willing to die for the team. 

 

As usual, I’ll recap some other Aggies Sports.  Last night, Aggie Football played the Lobos in Albuquerque.  Unlike last year when this game was played in Las Cruces, there was no riot in the stands, but there was controversy.  The Aggie Pride of New Mexico Band was charged $20 a seat to attend this game!  Words fail me.  Really.  A few big donors would fork out the $5,400 extortion fee.  Regardless, the Aggies showed their motivation and delivered a stirring 27-17 victory.  Serves the Lobos right to have to watch the Aggie Band celebrate in their stadium.

 

Aggie Volleyball won three-in-a-row at a tournament in Illinois.  Ryleigh Whitekettle scored in double digits in each game.  Starr Williams had 23 kills in one game.  Then in a tournament in Tucson, they took the first match against Alabama State with Kacia Brown leading the way.  They lost the nightcap to host Arizona, but did take a set from them.  Ryleigh, Starr, and Kacia scored in double digits.  Bianca Perez had 31 assists.

 

The Aggies also lost to Long Beach State the next day, 3-1.  Ryleigh, Starr, and Mari Sharp had double digit kills.  All three setters had double digit assists.  The final set went to 35-33, a nail-biting monster.  Freshman Maggie Lightheart (and my favorite on the team) served up an ace in extra points.  Coach Jordan was actually happy with the team afterward.    

 

As for Aggie Soccer, since the home game loss against UNLV, the Aggies lost 3-1 to UNM and 3-0 to USC on the road.  The loss to the Lobos was disappointing.  The loss to the Trojans was slightly encouraging as it wasn’t a more terrible loss.  Karolanne Lafortune started in goal for both games. 

 

Back to today’s game, it was sunny, but with some clouds in the area.  There was a light breeze keeping things cool.  (And I got sunburned where I missed putting on sunblock.)  Fan Danny was here today.  I sat down with him.  The LAT girls warmed up in front of us.  There was a light crowd today at just over 300.  The Band wasn’t here today.  (They couldn’t afford the seats.)  I didn’t see any kids teams out, but there were some kids.

 

Karolanne did start in goal of the Aggies.  She was wearing crimson with the team in white.  The LAT goalie, Laerke Holst, was in baby blue with her team in bright blue.  Usually, the goalie is in totally different colors.  I noticed Sydnee Johnson wasn’t suited up to play, but was on the sidelines.  Lastly, the PA introduced LAT as the “Lady Bulldogs.”  Their website says, “Bulldogs.”  I remembered that the last time I wrote about LA Tech was in 2018, when their Women’s Basketball team played UTEP.  Then, they were the Lady Techsters.   

 

First Half

43’ left in the half, LAT took the first shot.  It was a weak shot on goal that was easily scooped up (and wasn’t counted as a shot on goal).  They followed that up with a free kick over the Aggie goal.  40’ the Aggies made their first attack with some good passing downfield, but it didn’t result in a shot. 

 

On field, I noticed LAT was fielding a 5’3” player, Tal Faingezicht from Israel, and Tomoyo Kuroyanagi, a player from Japan.  Mya Hammack, my favorite on the Aggies, was now playing midfield.  Playing near the stands, I could hear her talking a lot to her teammates with instructions.  Xitlaly Hernandez was now back on defense. 

 

37’ Meredith Scott was on the attack with only one defender on her.  She took a shot across the goal, but there was no one on the other side.  30’ a ball flew into the stands and bounced off an umbrella.  I think my fingers just barely stopped hurting from my last encounter with such a ball. 

 

Right after that, Gia Valenti took a chip shot at the top of the LAT box that went right over the goalie.  1-0 Aggies!  Beautiful shot!  27’ Bianca Chacon took a free kick that went over the goal.  25’ Bianca got another free kick, but a little closer to the goal.  Holst caught the shot.  24’ the Aggies had a corner kick.  Brooke Schultz and Madita Ehrig (from Germany, a bit less than half of their roster is international) went down together in the box.  The play was whistled dead and the players took a hydration break.  Ehrig got the worst of the encounter.  It looked like a shot to the head.  28’ LAT came back on offense and took a shot that stuck into an advertising sign to the right of the goal. 

 

18’ Meredith and Tal had a hard collision on the near sideline.  The crowd could hear Meredith taking the worst of the hit.  She popped back up and pleaded with ref Jonathan Stone.  Stone sounded and looked like a right proper English soccer hooligan.  “Here now!  You two were giving it to each other!  Play on!”  I admit.  I was loving this guy every time I heard him.  I was actually kind of glad and band wasn’t there and there wasn’t a big crowd so I could.  Unfortunately, a couple of minutes later, Meredith took an elbow in the back from Tal.

 

12’ Shila Rasoul got a one-on-one against Holst.  They got tangled together at the top of the box before Shila could take a shot.  9’ LAT had a free kick outside of the Aggie box.  The shot went over the net.  A couple of minutes later, they got a corner.  That shot went out.  That was the last major action of the half.

 

Halftime

A couple of guys behind us were talking about scheduling and C-USA.  (This was Soccer’s first conference game.)  Danny and I had been discussing this earlier as well.  We were a well-informed group of fans.  Danny went out and got a hot dog, which were being sold for a $1.  I wish I’d known that earlier.  I’d mostly skipped breakfast and lunch and was waiting to get back home to eat.        

 

There were two contestants for dizzy goal-shooting.  They didn’t seem dizzy running to the goals after spinning, but they both missed all three shots badly.  Valerie Guha spent halftime warming up on field.  She’d start in goal for the second half.  Before the half started, a dozen t-shirts were tossed to the crowd.  It was a pretty generous day for giveaways.  Shila was dancing to the PA music in front of us before the second half started. 

 

Second Half

44’ Meredith and a LAT player (maybe Tal) were really going at it on the far side of the field right off the bat.  The ref broke them up.  43’ LAT had a free kick.  Val made an easy catch on it.  42’ after a long kick downfield, Meredith passed to Loma McNeese in front of the goal for an easy tap in.  2-0 Aggies!  That looked pretty easy.  During the play, Danny had offered me some of his M&M’s and missed the play.  “See if I offer you anything again.”

 

40’ LAT came right back.  Xitlaly and Jena Johanes took out Lauren Egbuloniu in the Aggie box and fouled her.  (Jena took the yellow card.)  Lauren took the penalty kick and made it 2-1 Aggies.  39’ the Bulldogs had a breakaway.  Val dove to stop the first shot, but a follow up shot was buried by Avery Kyle.  We were tied at 2-2.  That was three goals in five minutes.

 

Valerie was vocal for the whole half.  Right after the second goal, everyone could hear her shouting to her teammates, “Bring the pain!”  32’ Tati Jerman was in.  She had a good look on goal, but her shot went high.  27’ back to the other end, Val came out and blocked a shot.  26’ Val half tackled a player in the box to make a stop. 

 

23’ the Aggies got a corner.  Mya took a shot that went high and wide.  21’ an Aggie free kick outside the LAT box.  Mya and ref argued briefly before it.  She didn’t win.  Mya took the kick and Loma made a header pass from the left side of the goal.  Ariana Leamons took the pass and made a header in front of the net for the score.  Aggies back up 3-2!  Loma was shaken up on the play and came out.  She would come back in later.

 

18’ great downfield pass to Bianca near the LAT goal, but the play was broken up.  16’ Xitlaly was given a yellow card just outside the box.  She pushed down a player on a rush.  On the shot, Val fell on a roller.  13’ Shila was on a breakaway.  Holst came way out to stop her.  Shila went down hard like she’d been slapped into the ground.

 

9’ the Aggies got a free kick, which led to a corner.  Loma, back in a couple of minutes before, took a header shot that went out.  5’ Bianca took a hard shot that hit the LAT crossbar.  The ball went straight down.  Shila caught it on the rebound and headed it in.  Aggies up 4-2!

 

Don’t get comfortable.  The players on both sides were talking to each other.  Unlike previously in the game, now it was all general encouragement.  The teams were telling themselves to be tough.  3’ LAT got another penalty kick.  There was no argument on it.  I think it was a handball.  Carmen Suarez cashed it in to make it 4-3.  Two more yellow cards were issued as the clock ran down.  2’ Xitlaly got one for going over the back of a Bulldog.  The free kick was caught.  An LAT player went down in the Aggie box, but there was no call. 

 

1’ the ball went into the stands again.  A fan promptly returned it to the field to a Bulldog player, who thanked him.  Fans around the guy booed him.  Under a minute left, there was an all-out scrum in the Aggie box involving nearly everyone on the field.  No fouls were called.  Val fell on a literal last-second shot.  She stayed on the ground, hugging the ball, for a full minute after the final whistle.  The Aggies squeak it out, 4-3!

 

Mya went over and made friends with the Stone the ref after the match.  Well, that was what it looked like.  LA Tech had the advantage, 6 to 5, in shots on goal.  The Aggies had the corners 3 to 1.  Loma McNeese looked good with a goal and an assist.  The Aggies had four well-executed goals and gave up one good goal.  Unfortunately giving up those two penalty kicks was nearly a disaster.  I’m sure Coach Baarts will be telling the team that they have to be smarter on defense.  

The 2023 Autograph signature card

Autographs

I was gratified that I wasn’t the only adult in line.  (Actually, the adults in line were parents of the kids.)  The girls had a long huddle on the other side of the field.  That broke up and they went to go do some stretching.  A marketing assistant ran over to remind them of the autograph session.  Honestly, I was hotter standing in line than I had been sitting in the stands and was sweating.  I kinda wanted to do this quick.  (Quick note: I see Bella Garcia in the team picture as a trainer.  Darn, I wish I could have seen her play some more.)  

Josie Studer looks nicer with her hair down.  She plays with it up.

Less enthusiastic were the Bulldogs.  They had to walk through the line to get to their bus.  Mostly, they kept their heads down and ignored everyone.  Awkward.  The player that had thanked the fan for getting the ball back to her quickly, later identified as Josie Studer, I think their captain, was more dignified.  She smiled and nodded.  I smiled and tipped my hat to her.  It’s all about making friends.

 

Xitlaly Hernandez was all smiles and first up.  She’s good with the kids.  She has the best hair and best signature.  I saw Sydnee Johnson limping over to the table wearing a boot.  She was all smiles and said it was a bone bruise, but she’d be fine.  (Getting her back playing would be nice.)  I congratulated Gia Valenti on her goal.  (With four goals, I had trouble remembering who all had scored without my notes with me.)  I kind of wanted to say something else and ask how she was doing with Thalia Chaverria’s death, but she all bubbles and I didn’t want to be a drag.        

 

Brooke Schultz and Mya Hammack were sitting together.  I got to tell Brooke that I heard their podcast.  I got spend more time with Mya than I thought I would, but not in the way I was hoping.  I asked Mya if she made friends with the ref after the game.  She immediately began re-litigating what had happened on the field.  (She’d been pushed first, but her shove back had gotten the ref’s attention.)  I didn’t get to tell her she was my favorite and that I admire her iron legs in playing all those minutes.  Not to mention, her and Valerie definitely won picture day.  (Mya looked really cute.)

 

As I moved along, a player shouted to her teammates, “You guys have to pick up the pace!”  There was a pretty long line behind me.  I made the mistake to commenting to Loma McNeese about the cut she’d gotten on her nose during a previous game.  She said, “Yeah, it’s a scar now.”  “You earned those scars,” I told her.  Down the line, “Oh, it’s another Mya,” I said to Mya Gonzales.  “I’m the ‘other’ Mya.  That’s why they call me ‘Gonzo.’”  She seemed a little resigned to her fate.  Valerie Guha was near the end.  She was ebullient.  I said I was surprised she had any voice left.  “I’ve had a lot practice yelling,” she said.        

 

I’m sure the girls were absolutely gassed, but were probably willing to delay stretching and showering to get a little fan adulation.  (Actually there was quite a bit.  It’s looked like there were more people in line than were in the crowd for the game.)  I’m so glad they won and it was a great game, since otherwise I’d be questioning skipping out on watching stuff at home.  Nah, I wanted to meet the girls.  It would have been okay if they hadn’t won.  Maybe I’ll get to run into Mya at another game and can tell her she’s my favorite.  I went straight home.  I had leftover pizza waiting and hadn’t even had a meal yet today.