Tuesday, November 7, 2023

NM State Volleyball vs Sam Houston Bearkats Volleyball 11-4-23 Part 1

Kaitlyn Espiritu #22 finally gets into a lineup.

You can’t lose on Senior Day.  It’s like a rule.  If you do, you get kicked out of the conference or demoted to Division II.  It’s serious.  Do not lose on Senior Day.  Aggie Volleyball had everything on the line today with this match against the Sam Houston Bearkats.

 

Actually, this match was dramatic enough without any false buildup, but I'm watching the NASCAR championship right now, so I'm giving into the hype.  I took the “back” entrance to the Pan-Am Center and didn't have any trouble getting in.  After I parked, I saw that the whole next door Football parking lot was filled in for their game later. 

 

Inside, I saw that alumni beautiful Megan Hart and lovely Annie Acosta were back for today’s game.  There weren't any Cheerleaders, but Pistol Pete put in an appearance.  (They're all working the football game.)  Team Ops Director Tatyana Battle brought today's ballgirls over to meet the officials for instructions.  We'll all get to hear more from the officials later.  Coach Jordan had a talk with the PA before the match.  I think he was making an addition to the player lineup introductions, maybe.

 

The girls were loose and happy.  Maggie Lightheart, Ashley Herman, and Ryleigh Whitekettle were dancing during warmups.  Coach Jordan gave Aspen Aldous a playful tap on the shoulder while he was passing by.  Our playing senior, Darian Markham, was wearing the pink top today.  The crowd was a bit more than a 1,000.  I don't know why they don’t promote these events a little better to all the football fans tailgating outside. 

 

For player introductions, the PA (not Ed, who'd be at the football game) missed McKenzie Morvant's last name.  She’d played so well for the Bearkats yesterday.  I hoped she wasn't offended and motivated to play harder.  (He didn't have any trouble with the complicated Polish name next.)  I think I missed this yesterday, but the PA emphasized it today.  The Sam Houston head coach, Brenda Gray, has been there for 40 years!

 

For the Aggies, local girl and senior Kaitlin Espiritu was finally in uniform and got an introduction.  I'd never seen her play in her four years because of injuries.  I kind of hoped she'd be in for point, but this was just ceremonial.  Her and Darian got big cheers from the crowd.  Kaitlin got to huddle with the team on court before returning to the bench.  The reserves huddled up off court.  I noticed that Morgan Stewart seemed to be leading the pep talk.

 

Set 1

The Aggies took an early lead with kills by Ashley and Aleka Darko.  SH tied it at 6.  Starr Williams had two good swings on the point, but Bearkats saved them.  They followed that up with an ace and then a service error.  Ryleigh tied up the score at 8 and 9 with kills.

 

Across the court, an arena staff member went down a row with a mop for a cleanup.  It must have been pretty bad to have merited a cleanup during the game.  Ash put the Aggies up 10-9 with a kill.  Two Bearkats nearly dove headfirst into each other trying to dig it.  SH aced and then service errored right after again.  The Bearkats took the lead with a block, but then service errored again. 

 

SH got another block to lead 12-14.  The Aggies were mistiming their jumps at the net in this set.  The Media timeout came at 12-15 SH.  Uncharacteristically in the break, the starters were seated at the bench and got a lecture from Coach Jordan, while the reserves looked on.  SH came back with an overpass kill, which is always demoralizing, but then they had another service error to break their run. 

 

Morgan and Maggie came in with Maggie serving.  Ry was blocked at 15-19 SH, but tooled a block on the next point.  Ashley got a kill on the next point.  Darian and Morgan had tremendous saves on the point.  Ry would get another kill, but would also get blocked.  A blocking error by Ry and an attack error by Ashley finished the set, 18-25 SH.

 

Set 2: Bearkats 1, Aggies 0

I was sort of looking forward to lunch and was hoping for a quick match.  I saw Tatyana talk to the team huddle briefly.  That's our future coach.  Coach Jordan only had a couple of quick words for the team.  Alex Connatser started. 

 

Rilen Garcia started off the set with a service error.  She was obviously frustrated afterward.  Kacia Brown came back with a block and teamed up with Starr for a block.  Starr and Ryleigh were on court together.  The two “bigs” aren't usually in together.  Ry and Kacia teamed up for a block at 3-1 Aggies.

 

Morgan, usually a steady server, errored at 3-2 Aggies.  Starr put down a kill, but then Kacia had a service error.  Ryleigh fired out on the next point.  I saw a touch and so did the crowd and Coach Jordan, who challenged the call.  The SH girls danced to Blondie's Call Me in the break.  The Aggies were just standing still.  The call was overturned to make it 5-3 Aggies. 

 

Aspen came in to set and serve, but had a service error.  7-4 Aggies, Alex had block.  The next point, Starr had a service error.  SH followed that with one of their own.  Everyone gets one today!  Mari shot out.  Coach Jordan challenged again and got it reversed, 9-6 Aggies.  This time he was angry. 

 

During the break, Rilen and Bianca Perez were talking while Aspen was still setting and they were on the sidelines.  Meanwhile, Maggie was dancing seductively to the music or maybe I was hallucinating.  The down official noticed the reserves also and told them to move away from the court during play.   

 

11-6 Aggies, Rilen put in an ace.  SH made an heroic attempt at a dig over the press table on it.  Kacia followed with a kill.  Next, SH made a back set to . . . no one . . . and the ball dropped to the court.  There was immediate confusion after the point with the team.  Rilen was back in and setting and gave Kacia a nice low set for a kill, 14-6.  Then Rilen had another service error.  I checked the stats later.  Yep, I was dinged with a service error as well and I was only in the stands.  It just wasn't a good day for serving.

 

Kacia had another kill to make it 15-7 Aggies.  From here, the Bearkats started making a comeback.  15-10 had a SH kill.  Rilen had a brave save over the press table on the point.  After the Media timeout, Morgan had a couple of bad digs and was taken out.  15-13 SH took the point, but Rilen and Mari each had a dive dig on the play.  Then the Bearkats had service error.  Starr had a kill at 17-13 before Kacia had service error.  Both teams seemed to be trying to give it away.

 

18-14 Aggies, Ry hit out apparently, but the up and down officials disagreed on the call.  There was a standoff for a moment, before settling on the out call.  There wasn't a challenge this time.  18-17 SH got an overpass kill and hit Alex in the face.  No!  Not her beautiful face!  She was okay, but was rubbing her nose during the Aggie timeout. 

 

The Bearkats tied it at 18 on a kill, though the officials may have missed the Aggies having four touches before the kill.  (The SH reserves were jumping up and down calling it.)  The teams tied at 20.  SH had another service error and Ashley had a kill to make it 22-20 Aggies.  Timeout Bearkats. 

 

Ashley got the kill on the next point.  SH hit over three free balls on the point.  Darian had a service error.  After two Aggie errors and an SH ace, it was tied at 24.  The crowd was getting loud.  Bianca got into the net to put SH on set point.  Kacia got a kill to tie it at 25.  SH took the next point.  Coach Jordan was yelling at the up official over a call on a pancake dig.  Mari tied it at 26 with a kill.  26-27 SH, the Bearkats fired a kill through three defenders at the net.  Another kill finished the set, 26-28 Sam Houston.

 

Continued in Part 2.

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