NM State Aggies vs FIU Panthers Volleyball 10-18-24

 

I’ve been off for three days and going to tonight’s volleyball game between the NM State Aggies and FIU Panthers is the first thing I’ve done over that time.  I’ve actually been here at night sort of wanting to be back at work (except that the reason I took off the extra time was to miss an all-hands meeting, no regrets).  I did finally get a haircut today and a chili cheese dog from Legend Burger, so I did something worthwhile.  Fall also suddenly began two days ago.  It’s gotten colder with a stiff breeze.

 

I should do some Aggie Sports recapping first.  Aggie Football won a thriller on Tuesday night.  They had tied the score with LA Tech with under two minutes left in the game.  The Bulldogs went right back down the field, but the Aggies blocked what would have been the winning chip shot field goal.  The Aggies won it, 33-30, in double overtime.  (I’m sure the fans appreciated getting the win for staying there late on a weeknight.)  That was their second win of the season and Shiyazh Pete was back in playing.  (Coincidence?) 

 

I was so bored in my time off; I also listened to UTEP Football get their first win and heard the Broncos win the next night.   It’s like football every day of the week now.  (UTEP fans are chomping at the bit to play NMSU to save their season right now.  Of course, Aggie fans probably thinking the same.)

 

The Aggies Coaches Show this week didn’t mention Aggie Volleyball.  It’s been a rough week.  In a mid-week matchup (that I forgot about), they were easily beaten in El Paso by the Miners in two matches.  With their two losses to UNM, the season is now officially a disaster.  UTEP has a great record this season, even better than conference top dog, WKU.  (However, WKU played a much tougher out-of-conference schedule.)  Over the weekend, the Aggies convincingly beat Sam Houston in their first match, but were swept in the second.  I have no idea what happened, but I did notice that Yasso Amin had a bad game in that second match.

 

 

I wasn't wearing pink, but I was wearing my new shirt.

A large group of little girls were outside the Pan-Am Center and many were dressed in pink.  It was another pink game with a t-shirt giveaway.  (I missed it again.  I’m still okay with that.)  The team was wearing their pink uniforms.  I have to admit that they looked good in them.  Coach Jordan was dressed up in a natty sweater vest.  Grad Assistant Lia Mosher was in a bright pink dress shirt and black slacks with her long blonde hair down.  She was like a life-sized Barbie doll in a hot business outfit.

 

However, looking over the team, there were a couple of issues.  Claudia Rossi was on the bench.  To review, the Aggies started the season with six setters on the team and they are now down to two.  With the rotation the Aggies run, they can’t afford to lose any more.  (It would go badly if they went down to one setter.)  Also missing was Assistant Coach Whitis.  He’s no longer on the roster.  I didn’t mention this about the match with the Lobos, but I noticed him and Coach Jordan weren’t speaking to each other.  I have no idea what the blow up was.  Well, I guess this means Assistant Coach Battle has moved up.

 

Anyway, surviving setter, Nellie Reese, changed her hairstyle.  Why didn’t she do this earlier to differentiate herself from Claudia?  There was a couple in the next section that pointedly didn’t stand for the Anthem.  I think they may have been Makayla Martinez parents.  (What’s up with that?)  Makayla was also starting tonight over Yasso.  (That’s even more baffling.)  Tess Fuqua made it into the team intro video with her cheering on the sidelines.  (I wanna see her play.)  One of the starters for FIU was named, “Travel Morris.”  There’s a unique name.  There was a great crowd of 986 on hand with a whole bunch of enthusiastic little girl volleyball players.  Let’s go!

 

Set 1

The Aggies started off dominating.  Starr Williams and Mari Sharp led off with kills.  Makayla had a great dig.  5-2 Aggies, Mari and Kacia Brown teamed up for a block.  Rilen Garcia rotated in and served up an ace hitting the backline.  Ashley Herman and Kacia added kills.  9-4 Aggies, Nicole Briggs and Ash had a block and FIU called a timeout.  The Aggie reserves started barking with that block.

 

I noticed Shiyazh and some guys from the Football team were here.  Later, Pistol Pete, wearing a pink dress shirt, went up and chatted with them.  Yasso came into the game.  She didn’t seem injured on the sidelines, so I was interested to watch her play.  9-7 Aggies, the Aggies won the point after a long rally.  The FIU coach questioned something after the point, but didn’t throw a challenge.  11-7 Aggies, Nellie served up an ace.  Starr put in another kill and then the teams traded service errors (every time).  14-9 Aggies, Starr finished another long point.  The Coach was up and ready to yell if they hadn’t won the point. 

 

The Aggies pulled away.  Mari had a block, Starr had a kill, and Mari had a kill.  I was getting some heavy pickle smells behind me.  I don’t like pickles.  Ashley had a block.  19-11 Aggies, FIU was called for a lift.  20-12, Mari had a flying kill from the backcourt.  Rilen, who’d set her, was pumped.  Nicole and Ash had another block and Starr finished off the set with a pair of kills.  Aggies win 25-15.    

 

Set 2: Aggies 1, FIU 0

We had our first souvenir toss and there was the predictable “Squee!” from the little girls for it.  With the teams changing ends, I got a good look at the Panthers.  They were generally tall, well-built, and nice-looking.  They’ve got their names on the back of their jerseys.  From the stats on the program, they’ve got four main scorers.  Their reserves would go “Yee Haw!” on kills.  I’m not sure why this team is so bad (2-17 record).  Yasso played for them last season (and UTEP before that).    

 

I did notice an injured Panther player on their bench.  She was very pretty and had her blonde hair pinned up like a princess.  (The shiny diamond earrings helped the look.)  She was scoring the game on the bench.  Ryleigh Whitekettle was doing that earlier in the season, but now she’s standing up with the reserves (but still unavailable).  Peyton Castillo was currently scoring for the Aggies.

 

Makayla aced on the backline to the start the set off well for the Aggies.  The Aggies took the next point.  It might have been a roof call.  The FIU coach questioned it, but didn’t challenge.  4-1 Aggies, Starr had a kill.  Mandi Morioka, the FIU libero, dove into the press table for it.  The Aggies took the next point on a net violation. 

 

Starr had a kill and Kacia had a solo block, before FIU had a three-point run.  8-5 Aggies, Mari had a kill to break the run.  Yasso had a joust at the net.  The Aggies won it on an FIU double touch.  FIU took the next point on an Aggie DT.  Mari had a nice save on the point.  Next, Rilen made an awkward backset and nobody was behind her.  Oops.  Yasso stuffed two attacks on next point.  She then had a kill and another kill that rebounded into the up official.  You know what?  I think she’s okay.  15-7 Aggies and a Media timeout.  We had a hat toss into the crowd.  “Squeeee!”

 

Yasso dunked one out of the break.  Ash followed with a kill.  FIU served an ace at 17-9 Aggies.  Ash and Yasso had kills.  Now I was smelling pizza behind me.  Where did somebody get pizza here?  20-12 Aggies, Starr was blocked on a swing.  That was FIU’s last highlight in this set.  Nicole had a kill at 20-12 and FIU took a timeout.

 

Mia Fox came in.  After an FIU foul, Maggie Lightheart (our sweetheart) came in.  Her parents were sitting below me.  They had no reaction.  24-13 Aggies, PA Ed called, “Boom!” on a big kill by Maggie.  This got a reaction from her folks.  There was a do-over on the next point.  The crowd got really loud.  The Aggie serve might have gone off before the whistle.  I’m not sure.  The up official yelled at one of the ball girls, who hustled a ball off the court.  Starr and Kacia had a block to finish the set, 25-13 Aggies.  As the teams changed ends, Starr came back and was actually laughing.  Is she loosening up finally?

 

Set 3: Aggies 2, FIU 0

Dance Cam was activated in the break!  The little girls were dancing the Macarena, though they weren’t playing that song.  Libero Darian Markham got the kill on the first point.  There was a missed set to another player and she was right there and slapped it over.  Darian came away grinning. 

 

Kacia had a block and Mari had a kill before a long rally at 4-2 Aggies.  Kacia had saved the point early before the Aggies took it.  The FIU coach challenged and there was a long review.  A couple of toddler girls were play-fighting below me.  It wasn’t much entertainment.  The call stood for the Aggies.  From there, Kacia, Ash, and Mari had kills.  7-2 Aggies and timeout FIU. 

 

Bantam Weight Volleyball was recognized and most of the little girls in the crowd cheered.  There was a NM State flag toss into the crowd.  Flags were unfurled around the crowd.  Out of the break, Rilen served up another ace.  What a serving run!  Mari had another kill, but the Coach was getting mad, even on points they were winning. 

 

12-3 Aggies, Ash talked the Coach into calling for a challenge on the point.  He didn’t seem sure (and it’s not like the set was close).  Little girls sang along to California Gurls by Katy Perry in the break.  Tess and Peyton grooved on the bench together.  The call stood.  Ash got back into the Coach’s good graces with a kill on a backset by Rilen.  Yasso and Kacia had a block and Yasso had a tip kill.  17-3 Aggies and FIU took a timeout to take suggestions for dinner.

 

Yasso had a kill and Ash had an overpass kill.  20-3 Aggies, Mari made a flying kill and the crowd went nuts.  Mia came in and Aleka Darko came in on the next point.  Mia stayed in to serve.  23-4 Aggies, Mia, a middle blocker, was working in the backcourt.  She ducked her 6’2” frame under an FIU swing and it sailed out.  Bella Castro came in to the serve.  24-4 Aggies was an absurd rally with Rilen and Bella making saves on the Aggie point.  Kaylee Peterson came in to serve, as the little girls started chanting, “Let’s go Aggies!”  Finally, Ash ended it with a kill.  Aggies win 25-5 and 3-0.       

 

The Aggie reserves charged the court.  I wonder if there was some pent up frustration after last week.  Coach Jordan gave the team a quick talk, which seemed upbeat from the way they reacted.  The little girls then swarmed the court to meet the team.  

 

The Aggies never trailed in this one, so it wasn’t entirely competitive.  Ashley Herman led the scoring with 10 kills.  Starr Williams and Mari Sharp each had 8.  Kacia Brown had 7 blocks.  Yasso Amin seemed fine in play.  I’m not sure what happened to her or why she wasn’t starting.  The team stats are almost gaudy:   .315% to -.088% hitting percentage, 38 to 16 kills, and 12 to 4 blocks. 

 

It was sprinkling outside, which surprised everyone.  Thankfully, it didn’t rain more than that.  That darn pizza smell made me hungry, which I had to rectify once I got home (with soup, which wasn’t the same thing).  We’ll see if Aggie Volleyball can keep it up tomorrow and if the weather cooperates for Aggie Soccer for the day/night double header.