Ah, our first look at the Aggie Volleyball team this year. We all look forward to this. I’d told dad about the Scrimmage and he had initially wanted to go. Unfortunately by Saturday, he’d talked himself out of it. On my side, I was listening to a tight Pirates/Mariners game on the radio. I wasn’t going to be able to stay for the end and doubted I’d be able to pick up signal inside the Pan-Am Center on a portable radio. Former Aggie star, Nick Gonzales, wasn’t in the game for the Pirates, though. I was wondering where he was.
At the courtesy table in the Pan-Am Center, there was no
Volleyball poster yet, just the card above.
I picked up a couple more Wave
the Wonder Dog Football posters
for some other people. I chatted with a
couple there about Aggie Soccer and
their tie on Thursday. They knew
the result, but not how dramatically close it was.
Thankfully, Volleyball had better warm up music than
Soccer, so that was easier to sit through.
It didn’t feel like the lights were all the way on for the match. The A/C was and that was a God-send given how
hot it was outside. The crowd was a bit
light. I’d told several people about the
scrimmage, including a check out girl that was wearing a high school volleyball
shirt.
I saw broadcaster Adam
Young across the court with his new little producer. He looks like such an adorable lad. I wished I was sitting closer to Adam. I would have asked him about Nick and if one
of the new girls on the volleyball team, Mia
Abalos, was the younger sister of former star player, Jordan Abalos. There were
probably a couple of football players there.
I thought I saw Rachel Haan,
freshman on the Soccer team, there, but didn’t recognize anyone with her. I recognized her because the team had posted
a couple of pictures of her on her birthday and she is a stately beauty.
I looked over the team roster. There was one notable subtraction, Alex Connatser. She was eye-catching being tall, thin, and
beautiful and also showing some real potential in flashes of play last year. Anji
Vishwanathan was also not on the team.
At least PA announcer, Ed Carnathan,
won’t have to worry about stumbling over her name anymore.
Also on the roster, I noticed five setters. Coach
Jordan was not going to be caught short-handed this season at that
position. I almost didn’t recognize Aspen Aldous. She’s almost remade her body into a very slim
and toned form. Unfortunately, she still
wasn’t playing, at least in this scrimmage.
I saw her standing with the reserves tapping her foot most of the
time. Peyton Castillo was available to play. Her knee was in a heavy brace. However, she didn’t get much playing time
either.
Tatyana
Battle has been promoted to Assistant Coach. Coach Jordan must really be high on her
coaching abilities given her relative youth.
Lia Mosher was back as
Graduate Assistant. She worked as the
net official for the scrimmage. (They
probably should have used a couple of injured players as line officials, as
well. There were some
disagreements.)
On court during player introductions, I could see lots of
returners and plenty of new faces. Ryleigh Whitekettle was thankfully
still with us as our 6’5” skyscraper, along with Starr Williams. Newcomers, Nicole Briggs and Mia Fox also looked pretty impressive. Yasso
Amin was another front line player and she was our only international
player being from Cairo, Egypt. Rilen Garcia was introduced last and
probably got the biggest hand. How do
you not root for the 5’7” setter who was pressed into service two years ago and
has made the most of it since?
Set 1
I have over three pages of play-by-play notes. Why did I do this? I’m gonna try to condense this. It’s not about the teams here; it’s about the
players and the teamwork. So, these are
just some impressions and plays I noticed in the match.
Ashley
Herman was making kills early.
Ryleigh and Kacia Brown looked
good teaming up for blocks. Newcomers
Yasso and Nicole teamed up on block.
Yasso was loud directing traffic and talking to her teammates. Between her and Darian Markham, I don’t know if the other players will be heard on
court. I was sitting behind Coach Whitis’ squad. He was chewing out his reserves, even when
his team won the point. He’d also make
fun of himself and get his girls laughing.
Maggie
Lightheart (our sweetheart), Kacia, and Nicole had aces. (There would also be plenty of bad serves
during the match. Lia called a foul at
the net at one point. Nobody yelled at
her, so I guess the players agreed.
Yasso got a hard kill.
She hits very hard. You can hear
it. She always uses a Brazilian-style
jump serve. Rilen made a couple of
impressive digs on hard hit balls. 25-18 Maggie tooled a block to win it
for the White squad. Nobody was even
aware that it was set point. Announcing
fell asleep there.
Set 2
Ashley was in the huddle between sets, but dancing to
Sade’s Smooth Operator. She’s determined to have fun out there on
court. Morgan Stewart tripped on court early in the set. She came up laughing. Coach Jordan was sitting right behind her and
asked if she was okay. Mia A. (there are
two Mia’s on the team) came in to serve for her first action. It was a good one.
3-2 Kacia delivered a facial to Darian. I hope they’re still friends. 5-5 Maggie stuffed Yasso on a block. 8-6 Ryleigh finished the point with a kill
after an insane rally. Freshman Makayla Martinez really hustled with
three saves and a dig.
Yasso aced. She has
skills. I noticed Mari Sharp using a huge toss on serve. I hadn’t seen that before. I wonder if Yasso taught her. Ashley got a tip and then a kill. Claudia
Rossi made a couple of nice backsets in the set.
Mia A. had a couple of nice digs. Ashley added a couple of more kills. 24-13 Yasso tooled Ryleigh for the kill. I panicked during the point, as Maggie went
flying into the scorer’s table twice for saves. 25-13
White again. Mia A. had shanked a couple
of digs in the set, but had a good save on this point.
Set 3
The assistant coaches changed ends, so I got watch
Taty. She spent most of the time seated
and talking to individual players. She’s
going to have to work on her showmanship.
Taty needs to be able to stomp around, rant, and yell at the players.
Aspen gave Mia A. a big hug in the huddle. Mia changed shirts and was the libero for the
Crimson team. Yasso started off with a
kill off a block and then teaming up with Kacia on a block. Aleka
Darko had an overpass kill and teamed up for a couple of blocks. Nicole had a kill and made a good save on a ball
at the net.
A bunch of players had kills in the set, but Yasso stood
out with 5 (by my count), including one that saved a set point. This set was heavily contested and went into
extra points. Mia Fox had a hammer kill for the Crimson. Mia A. dodged a shot that went out that
brought the Crimson to set point, which they finally took, 28-26.
Set 4
I looked around the crowd and had the revelation that
nobody was eating or drinking. I guess
the concessions weren’t open. I hadn’t
noticed coming in.
There was some confusion on an early point. Lia lost control as the ref, as the teams
argued. Finally, Darian announced,
“We’re serving!” and that was that.
Aleka looked good early with a kill and a block. Bella
Castro served an ace off Maggie defending.
The Coach shouted some instructions to her while she was on court. Maggie came back with a tip kill a couple of
points later. Coach Jordan was shouting
out some more instructions on court than he had before.
10-11 Ash made a hard kill. Rilen deflected it high into the stands. The team trainer was looking at Ashley’s hand
afterward, but she came back in to play more.
Ryleigh and Kacia had another block.
They are working well together up front.
Yasso and Aleka both had a couple of kills halfway through
the set. PA Ed was now having fun
annunciating Yasso’s name. In spite of
the lack of concessions, a couple of ladies behind appeared to become somewhat
inebriated by the end of the match. They
were heckling Ed and only cheering on one of the teams.
Ash and Kacia each had a couple of kills late. Yasso tooled Ryleigh again off a block to
bring the White team to set point, which they won 25-22. The team huddled up
after the match. As the fans were
leaving, Yasso stepped out of the group and yelled, “Thank you so much for
coming!”
Okay, I’m making no attempt at adding up kills and blocks
and there aren’t any official stats available, of course. Just right off with the newcomers, I’m really
liking Yasso Amin. She hits very hard and blocks well and is
nice to the fans. Nicole Briggs also looked good.
Freshmen Claudia Rossi, Mia Fox, Mia Abalos, and Makayla
Martinez flashed some potential. The
team is loaded with returners, so their playing time maybe very limited.
I was very impressed with Ryleigh Whiteketle and Kacia
Brown blocking at the net. Ashley Herman may be set to break out
this year. She learned more than dancing
and cheerleading in those two years in the reserves. Starr
Williams and Aleka Darko were
looking potent. Maggie Lightheart should see playing time and I think she’ll be a
star next year. The setter positions may
be up in the air. Darian Markham is certainly still the libero. I don’t know about the other defensive
players. Lots of talent and potential
here. It’s just a question of getting
them to work as a unit.
I took off to Chik-fil-a for lunch. It was good, but were really busy and understaffed. I’d had two people recommend their milkshakes, but their machine was down. (Insert McDonald’s/Sonic joke here.) The Las Cruces Comic Con was this weekend. I’d planned on going, but was not going before this match was scheduled. I was not wanting to go after spending the afternoon at a game and wouldn’t have enough time tomorrow with soccer. Shoot. Oh, well. It was a fun afternoon, anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment