Thursday, September 7, 2023

NM State Aggies vs ASU Sundevils Volleyball 9-3-23 Part 2

What a sweet group pic.
 

Continued from Part 1.

Set 2: Aggies 1, Sundevils 0

The Aggies and Sundevils switched ends.  ASU’s Claire Jeter took charge in the players’ huddle.  They looked serious and angry.  The teen girls got up and posed for Flex Cam.  By the way, where was the Football team?  Were they at the Soccer game?  I thought I saw them there in a picture.

 

Ryleigh Whitekettle had a solo block to tie the score at 1.  Sydney McIntosh got another kill for a 2-1 lead.  ASU had a great dive save on the point.  ASU took a 3-2 lead, though the Aggies had a great save on the point.  Syd tied it at 3 for her seventh kill.  The score tied at 4 as both teams traded service errors.  ASU aced for a two-point lead.  Alex Connatser came in and got a kill with a full swing.  ASU aced again.  Ry put a swing into the net and the Aggies took a timeout down 11-6. 

 

A buff young man who was likely on an Aggie Sports team worked it to Walk Like an Egyptian for Dance Cam.  Mari Sharp got a kill.  Bella Garcia came in to receive on the point.  Ry was blocked on a double team.  ASU was focused on her.  They weren’t focused on Syd, as she racked up three more kills.  Darian Markham aced and Syd and Kacia Brown teamed up for a block to make it 15-12 ASU.  Timeout ASU.

 

Out of the break, Sydney got her eleventh kill with 0 attack errors.  Starr Williams fired a kill directly into libero, Mary Shroll’s chest.  Kacia and Alex teamed up for a block to make it 17-15 ASU.  And then Marta Lavinska went on a serving run and the Aggies called a timeout down 20-15.  Mari finally broke it up a point later.  Ryleigh got a kill, but ASU got an ace to get to set point.  The Sundevils took the set, 25-17, as Ry fired out.

 

Set 3: Aggies 1, Sundevils 1

A couple of Volleyball alumni were recognized on court.  For Dance Cam, the teen girl middle school volleyball team sitting in front of us had a whole routine worked out for it.  A pair of service errors started the set.  What a great way to start.  ASU aced up 3-1, but then had another service error.  They then aced again.  Down 7-2, the Aggies called a timeout.  The team looked obviously tired.  That’ll show up in serve receive really quick.  The coach talked to Mari, as both aces were off of her.

 

Out of the break, there was an argument with the official about the rotation.  Starr made a couple of kills, Rilen Garcia served an ace (and then had an error), Kacia had a tip kill, Mari took flight for a kill and got another kill, but the Aggies still trailed 12-9.  Sydney had her first attack error a couple of points later and then was blocked on another swing.  15-9 ASU.  Timeout Aggies.  The coach talked to Syd. 

 

Ryleigh racked up a couple more kills, though Darian served out for the team’s seventh service error, 17-11 ASU.  More seriously, Starr dove for a dig and came right out.  (What have I said about “Bigs” going for digs?  Oh yeah, don’t.)  Ashley Herman came in for her.  19-11 ASU, Lavinska spiked a kill directly into Darian’s face.  Thankfully, she was fine. 

 

I got to see Maggie Lightheart come into the game.  I was happy for that, but it kind of meant the coach was throwing.  Ashley got her first kill, eventually.  The officials disagreed with each other on the call.  Coach Jordan finally had to challenge to overturn the call to get it.  Aspen Aldous, the third setter, also got on court.  Experience for the reserves aside, it was an ASU wipeout, 25-12.

 

Set 4: Sundevils 2, Aggies 1

Dad was getting either bored or uncomfortable from the seat or both.  Pistol Pete was here and was going around getting pictures with fans.  The teen girls were taking selfies all during the match, but did stop to do a well-coordinated dance routine to Blinding Lights while singing along.  I was impressed. 

 

Ashley started the set.  I was happy for her to finally get playing time, but then figured out it was because Starr was either injured or hurt and the coach didn’t want to risk her getting injured.  The set started with a long rally, which Ryleigh finished with a kill off a block.  Bianca Perez then served up an ace.  The Aggies went up 3-1 with another Ry kill.  ASU challenged, but was denied.  In the break, the teen girls danced to that song where the guy is giving dance instructions.  (Obviously, I don’t know what it’s called.) 

 

Sydney added another kill to make it 5-2.  Ash took a couple of shots and missed one and was blocked on another.  ASU tied it at 5 as the Aggies were called for being out of rotation.  ASU aced to take the lead.  Syd hit the net and by 8-5 ASU, Coach Jordan called a timeout.  They were on a 6-point run.  The coach looked calm in the huddle though.

 

The Sundevil roll continued.  Lavinska got her tenth kill.  The Aggies finally broke the run on a challenge, 9-6 ASU.  The teen girls were singing along with Baby, Baby in the break over the PA.  Anji Vishwanathan and Aspen came in.  10-8 ASU fired directly into the court on their side of the net for an Aggie point.  Aspen had a great one-handed save on the play.  Anji got a kill and along with Ryleigh.  14-12 ASU, Ashley got a kill.  Mari served an ace.  Ry tied it at 14 on an overpass kill.  ASU challenged, but was denied.    

 

That was as close as it got.  16-14 ASU, it was a near Aggie kill, but great save put the ball back in play for a Sundevil kill.  Ash got two kills to get the score within 1.  One kill was off a couple of players.  The other hit the corner.  Syd made a kill down the line.  ASU tried to challenge, but PA Ed announced that they were out of challenges to the cheers of the crowd.  Adam thought ASU was out before the last challenge and after writing this out, I agree, unless rules have changed.  The lesson for the refs is don’t mess up early, because all your calls will then be questioned for the rest of the match.

 

ASU aced to be the first to 20.  The Aggies took a timeout at 21-17 ASU.  The teens sang along to I Don’t Care.  They know all the songs.  Mari had a kill.  I noticed Aspen had taken over as the second setter from Rilen.  Maybe the coach wanted more height at the net.  23-19 ASU, after Ry got stuffed twice on swings, Aspen made a backset and nobody was there on the other side.  Oops.  Aspen did get a kill off a dig on a set point.  The Aggies were called for a net violation on the final point.  Coach Jordan made a half-hearted challenge, just to give the match one more final delay, but it was denied.  ASU took the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.

 

Darian and Starr sub in and out

Here’s your stats.  For the Aggies, Ryleigh Whitekettle had 14 kills.  (Unreasonably, we now expect double digit kills for every match.)  Sydney McIntosh had a career game with 13.  Bianca Perez had 27 assists.  Darian Markham led everyone with 19 digs.  I was impressed with Ashley Herman.  She learned quickly out on court, which was great to see.  Whatever her injury was, she did not seem to be affected by it. 

 

For the Sundevils, Marta Levinska led with 14 kills, Geli (Jelly, cool name) Cyr had 13, and Roberta Rabelo had 10.  Setter Shannon Shields had 40 assists.  ASU was up 9 to 4 in aces.  The teams were equal in service errors at 7.  The Aggie gotta work on the serving, as usual.   

 

Coach Jordan blamed service pressure for the problems after the first set.  He also felt they weren’t blocking well.  He didn’t say anything about Starr’s condition.  About Sydney’s performance, the coach said they were taking advantage of a mismatch in the ASU lineup.  That’s good scouting.                                                      

I enjoyed the match, even if it did turn out about how I thought it would.  ASU is still undefeated, though they did drop a set to all three teams in the Invitational.  I would have really been disappointed if the Aggies didn’t take a set.  If Starr hadn’t gone out, maybe they could have done better.    

 

Dad said he enjoyed the game.  I’m not sure if he really did.  He didn’t want to get any diner afterward, so I took him home.  (Oddly, dad asked me to drive him, though the university is only five minutes away from us and he drives somewhere almost every day.)  I had to go to grocery store right after and picked up a pepperoni calzone from Albertson’s.  It was pretty tasty and even with the spicy meat, I did not have a repeat of the McDonald’s experience.  We’ll hope the team bounces right back from this game.

No comments:

Post a Comment