How about this new poster?
I have to say Yasso Amin on
the lower right cleans up nice and has a great smile. After the Crimson
and White Scrimmage last week, the Aggies would tune up some more with
an exhibition with the Western New
Mexico Mustangs today. I’m still a
bit drained from last night’s soccer game, so this recap will be a bit
low-key.
Both squads of Cheerleaders (and Pistol Pete) were working
the game for their tune up before Football next weekend. There was a team of high school girl players
sitting where I usually sit, so I was glad I came in a bit late. Another team would come in and sit at the
other end. Once again, Volleyball had
better warm up music than Soccer. A
good, enthusiastic crowd was on hand.
Several Aggie players were not suited up to play,
including Sydney McIntosh, Peyton Castillo, Mia Abalos (that was disappointing), Jaqueline Corcoran, local girl Tess
Fuqua, and Ryleigh Whitekettle. Okay, that last one is upsetting, since
Ryleigh is our star player. She wasn’t
bandaged up or anything, so hopefully this was just a precautionary move. [Pre-Post Edit: Cancel the season. Coach Jordan said in an interview that Ry is
having back surgery. No offense to her excellent
teammates, but this is a major blow to the team.] I didn’t recognize Mari Sharp again. Unlike her
poster picture (top right), her long hair was now curly and below her waist
(and completely unlike her poster last year with shoulder-length curly
hair).
Western New Mexico had some confusion which direction to
face for the Anthem. They didn’t know
where the Flag was. For their player
introductions, the rest of the team stepped back, while the player being
introduced stepped forward. (Love that
one player name, Logan Dodge.) They have a very international roster with
players from New Zealand, Columbia, France, and Brazil (and even Las
Cruces). They also brought a pretty good
cheering section.
The Aggie new intro video was produced to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck. It was cool.
It really exercised the Pan-Am’s
sound system. Newcomers Nelle Reese (setter) and Nicole Briggs (middle blocker) started
Set #1. Oddly, two liberos were
introduced for each team. I won’t know
until watching another game if this is a rules change. Kaylee
Peterson was the other libero. (Darian Markham was the primary, of
course.) Unfortunately, she didn’t see
action today.
Set 1
Again, this is an exhibition. There’s no official stats and it doesn’t
count, so I’ll lightly recap this match.
The Aggies took an early lead.
Yasso put in several kills and Starr
Williams had a block. At 7-2 Aggies,
setter, Claudia Rossi, came in to
set and serve and got an assist to Aleka
Darko for a kill. 9-4 Darian saved a
setter dump shot. A couple of points
later, Claudia successfully dropped one in.
At 12-5 Aggies, WNM took a timeout. The crowd went crazy for the t-shirt toss
from the Cheerleaders. Mari had a flying
kill and followed it up with an ace. A
group of little girls started chanting, “Hit the ball, Aggies!” After a couple of Aggie attack errors, Coach Jordan got up for some
commentary. After a Mustang ace made it
16-11 for a four-point run, the Aggies took a timeout.
Starr put up a couple of kills out of the break, including
a dig that nearly rebounded into the scoreboard unit. Yasso had another kill at 19-13. She came out and took an offered seat between
Coach Whitis and Coach Battle (Tatyana Battle, of course), who both spoke
to her. Freshman Makayla Martinez came in to serve.
23-15 Ashley Herman
tooled a block. She came out with
Claudia and they both got additional instruction from the assistant
coaches. Starr finished up the set with
a couple of kills, 25-18 Aggies. The final point was the longest rally of the
set. WNM libero Lilouann Bechec dove into the sideline tables going for that last
swing.
Set 2
The teams changed ends.
Wow! The WNM assistant coach, Jen Whetten, was like a silver blonde
Barbie. I hesitate to imagine what she
looked like as a player. Aggie Soccer came in and sat down across
the court. Ariana Leamons had some trouble negotiating the stairs with her leg
in the cast. The Crimson group of
cheerleaders sat down and the White group took over.
Maggie was in and put in a kill. Nelle put in an ace. (I hope I was identifying the right setter in
this. Newcomers, Nelle and Claudia, bear
a passing resemblance to each other.) It
was close early. Mustang Jayden Hughes made a solo block and
then had an overpass kill to tie it at 4.
Starr tooled a block to break the run, but Mustang Carley Deck put in a kill between two blockers to make it 6-5
Aggies.
That staff photographer who was bothering the Volleyball
girls last night, was now bothering the Soccer girls. He was all over one of them. I couldn’t quite identify who, otherwise I
might be more jealous. You know, this
might have also been the guy who was all over Peyton when she was injured on
the bench last season. (I’m really
trying too hard to interject a little more drama in this exhibition.)
On the next two points, Maggie had a touch kill and Starr
followed it up with the thunder, 8-7 Aggies.
Bianca Perez came in to set
and served up Ash for a kill. 10-7
Aggies. Timeout WNM. Yasso had touched an out serve on the
previous point, but came back with a kill off a block on the next point. After a block by Kacia and another Ashley
kill, Maggie put in a kill. 17-12
Aggies. Timeout WNM.
Maggie and Nicole teamed up for a block. Starr made back-to-back kills. Nicole made a couple of bear paw slaps for
kills from the middle blocker position.
Grad Assistant, Lia Mosher,
must be working with her. That was her
signature move. Maggie finished the set
off with an ace. 25-13 Aggies.
Set 3
There was a guy doing an ear-splitting whistle behind me
during the match. He’d done it often
enough at the end of the last set that I was being deafened in one ear. I should have moved, but I was a little
hemmed in. I hope I avoid this person
next time, otherwise Volleyball is going to be intolerable. (Little wonder I didn’t want to write this.)
Mia
Fox
came in for Set 3. I saw her dancing
before the set. (Like the new setters, the
new middle blockers, Mia and Nicole, have some resemblance. I’ll figure it out by the end of the season.) The
Soccer girls were on Bongo Cam having fun.
Jack Nixon came in and sat at
the press table. He was in shorts and a
loose shirt. It was Casual Day for him
with no broadcasting duties.
Starr had a couple of kills at the start of the set, along
with a block with Aleka. WNM was staying
right with the Aggies. 5-5 Rilen Garcia came in to serve. She got a big cheer from the crowd after her
first dig. Mia and Ash teamed up for a
block, but Mustang Eimaya Medina put
WNM up with an ace. A blocking error then
put WNM up, 6-8. Mari scolded the team
in the huddle.
7-8 WNM, Yasso had a kill on a touch. The call was challenged, but upheld. The Aggies came back and retook the
lead. 13-10 Aggies, Starr had a tip
kill. Darian and Eimaya both had pancake
saves on the point. Starr pounded in two
more kills and WNM took a timeout, 15-11 Aggies. Coach Jordan talked to all six setters. Coach Whitis wasn’t watching the game. He was having an involved conversation with a
couple of boosters sitting behind him.
There was an announcement of a fourth set during the
break. That was a good idea. Yasso made a couple of more kills. 20-17 Aggies, Ash had the kill, but WNM had
saves at the net on two overpass kill attempts.
Mia slapped a kill. Makayla saved
the point on a dig when two players fell down.
Ash and Mia combined for a block.
23-17 Makayla aced. Ashley
finished the set by stuffing it into two blockers, 25-18 Aggies.
Set 4
Some of the crowd left, but not before they went berserk
for a New Mexico flag toss. (I got mine
last night.) The lucky fans unfurled
them in the stands. The Cheerleaders
packed up and left. Thankfully, the
Whistler left, as well. Nicole, Maggie,
and Bianca started with Makayla in as the libero.
Mari had a flying kill on the first point, but Makayla and
Yasso almost took each other out going for a dig. At 1-3 WNM, the Coach was up again. Maggie made a kill on a quick set and then aced
to put the Aggies up 4-3.
Eimaya aced to put WNM back up, 4-5. There seemed to be some confusion on the
coverage. Makayla put an ace on the line
to put the Aggies back up, 7-5. The call
was challenged, but upheld. Mustang Jazmyne Walker aced to tie it at
7. WNM retook the lead, 9-10, on a
blocking error. The Coach was giving
instruction to Maggie on court from the sideline after the play.
Claudia was in to set.
She connected with Ashley for a kill to tie it at 10. Still, WNM was up at the media break,
13-15. The Aggies huddled, but none of
the coaches talked to the group. I don’t
even know how to interpret that. Kacia
tied it at 15 on a touch kill. Claudia
aced to put the Aggies up 17-16. WNM
fought back to the lead. Mari went into
the sideline tables trying to save the point, but took the next point with a
kill to tie it at 18.
Ash and Maggie kills put the Aggies back up, along with a
block by Kacia. 23-19 Aggies, Maggie had
an overpass kill. WNM made a great dive
out-of-bounds for a save on the point. 25-20 Aggies take the set, as Maggie
finished it off with a kill. The Aggies
took all four sets, not that we’re counting.
First off, Starr
Williams had 14 kills (by my questionable count). I think she’s healthy and going to do well
this year. Yasso Amin had 9 kills, Ashley
Herman had 8, and Maggie Lightheart
and Mari Sharp each had 7. This is great. The Aggies have a bunch of killing machines
and Ryleigh Whitekettle wasn’t even
playing. (I don’t know how the Coach is
going to find playing time for all of these players.)
I counted 9 blocks by seven players or combinations
thereof. I’m liking this. I wrote down aces, but not errors, so I can’t
judge the effectiveness of the serving. (Forget
about counting assists.) Sorry to WNM,
but it was enough trouble to track one team’s stats. I think they put up a very good fight this
afternoon, but were overmatched in the end.
They didn’t beat themselves or look bad.
I feel like there are a lot of good players for the Aggies. It’s just a question of putting the right
pieces together.
Coach Jordan immediately went over to talk to Jack after
the match. They’ve both been here
forever. Did Jack used to call
Volleyball games? I’ve never heard him
do it, so it’s been awhile.
I’d planned on trying out a recommendation for dinner, but
I’d gone out with dad yesterday to Arby’s
and got stuffed. I wasn’t interested in
another big meal this weekend. Also, I
thought this match was going to be over quicker, so I just went home. I’m sure I’ll get my appetite back in a
couple weeks when I go to my next Aggie sporting event. Hopefully, I’ll recover some enthusiasm, as
well.
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