In contrast to yesterday, today was beautiful. The sky was completely clear with only a slight chill in the air. I walked over to McAlister’s and could see the valley in sharp detail. I got the Choose Two option for the first time. My choices were the BLT+A (half a sandwich) and the Chicken Pot Pie soup. It all tasted fine, but ended being a lot less food than just getting a normal sandwich, which would have cost less. Live and learn.
The first thing I saw on the Pan-Am Center court was Ryleigh Whitekettle running a sprint against a teammate. Unfortunately from the way she was dressed, it was obvious that she wasn’t going to be playing. (Such a tease.) That was the other thing I noticed. Ry, the other injured players, the assistant coaches, and the staff were all wearing sweater vests and khakis. The girls looked darling. Coach Jordan, dressed similarly as usual, seemed amused and everybody got their picture taken before the match.
Well, enough sugar-coating, Aggie Volleyball played WKU, who is unbeaten in conference, last week and was swept out in two matches with them. All six sets were fairly close, but the Aggies lost all of them. Starr Williams did play well there. After getting swept by the Lobos and the Miners earlier, this season is a disaster by NMSU Volleyball standards. The C-USA Tournament will be in El Paso in two weeks. It’s looking like WKU and UTEP for the championship in front of a big Miner crowd, unless the Aggies can spoil the party.
More bad news, Aggie Soccer played this afternoon in their tournament. They played Liberty in the semi-finals and lost, 1-0. Shots were 13 to 1 with 5 shots on goal to 0 all in favor of Liberty. Goalie Valerie Guha got peppered, but did well to keep the team in it. From yesterday’s promo at Women’s Basketball, I found out Loma McNeese’s nickname is “The Queen of Las Cruces.” I concur. In any case, the girls had a great season with their tie of nationally-ranked USC and their win over Oregon. Of course my personal highlight was meeting Mya Hammack (my favorite). They should still be great next year.
There were no TV cameras at today’s game and nobody was there to call the game either. I guess AggieVision was setting up for Football tomorrow afternoon. It’d be the same for tomorrow’s Volleyball game. There were also problems with scoreboard operations tonight and the sound system was muted. The odd side effect of no TV coverage was that there weren’t any Media timeouts, so the match went quick.
Some Softball players were acting as ballgirls tonight. I couldn’t identify them. Coach Jordan had an involved chat on the bench with a teen girl from the stands. I wonder if he’s recruiting her. (I have no idea. Can anybody just go down there and talk to the Coach?) Morgan Stewart was not with the girls tonight, though she’s still on the program. If she’s left, Ron would be devastated. Maybe she’s out sick.
It was a decent crowd (attendance 545). Two of the suites were full. We had a live Anthem performance. The girls were having fun. Some of the girls on the bench had paddles with the faces of senior girls on them that they’d put up over their own faces. Kacia Brown was especially giddy. In player introductions, she attempted to lift Makayla Martinez like a Cheerleader. (Leave that to the pros, Kacia.) Then she did a little dance for her intro.
Set 1
Now we come to some good news and some bad news. I made the mistake of looking at the program and couldn’t help but notice that today’s opponent, the Jax State Gamecocks, is 1-13 in conference. I try not look, but it happens. Well, you can guess what happens next. I could recap this match in one sentence: the Aggies walked over the Gamecocks.
But why waste my notes? Mari Sharp started the match with a kill. Makayla was hustling with a couple of dives two points later. Yasso Amin rotated in and rattled off a couple of kills. Mari hustled with an off-the-court save. Kacia then got a kill and went on serve. Yasso came up with a block and Kacia aced. 11-3 Aggies and JS took a timeout. Tess Fuqua in the Reserves was super excited in the huddle.
Back out of the break, Yasso had a block and Kacia aced . . . again! A good kill by Gamecocker Katelyn Crofts broke the five-point run. (Should I have used that word, “Gamecocker?”) Yasso made a heady play and ducked under a long serve to get it back. (It might have hit the line, but there wasn’t a challenge.) 16-5 Aggies, Starr thumped it for a kill. Her and Nicole Briggs teamed up for a block on the next play. Sanni Rantanen, tallest player on JS, broke the run with a good kill.
20-6 Aggies, Mari fired a kill through two blockers. The Aggies lost the next point, but they had some nice digs on the point to keep it going. Mari had a touch kill. Kacia added another kill and Ashley Herman got her first kill. Bella Garcia came in to serve. Yasso did her signature no-look kill move to finish the set, 25-11 Aggies.
Set 2: Aggies 1, Gamecocks 0
The teams changed ends. I got a good look at Sanni, from Finland. She’s pretty glamorous. Aleka Darko was in to start for the Aggies. Mari began the set with a solo block on Sanni. Makayla aced at 3-0 Aggies. The JS player tried to duck under it, but the ball hit the backline. The Aggies went to 4-0 on a JS foul and the Reserves went crazy. Mia Fox lifted Rilen Garcia. (Okay, you girls trying to be Cheerleaders better not hurt your backs doing this. Ask Ryleigh Whitekettle about it, or me for that matter.)
Next point, Mari’s swing went out, but the team all called for a review on a touch. The called was reversed. Mari tooled a block on the next point and walked away smiling. Gamecock Hana Alana broke the run with a kill, 8-3 Aggies. (“Gamecock” sounds better.) Kacia came back with a kill. Ashley was double stuffed on the next point. Her swing took a little too long to develop. Yasso had a tip kill. JS had two attack errors in a row and their coach took a timeout at 12-4 Aggies.
Out of the break, Kacia hit the corner with an ace. Aleka had an overpass kill and Yasso had a touch kill. JS challenged the touch on the next point and had it reversed, 16-7 Aggies. Yasso and Aleka teamed up for a block next. After a double touch call on the Aggies, Aleka had another block. The Reserves woofed in approval. Makayla made an overpass next that sailed over the net and dropped into the middle of the court untouched. That’s when you know everything’s going your way.
Mia subbed in. Rilen put in an ace at 22-9 Aggies. Kaylee Peterson and Maggie Lightheart (our sweetheart) came in. 24-9 Aggies, Rilen stuck in another ace, this one was untouched. Rilen would make a great one-handed dig on the next point. Maggie was hustling and had a diving dig next. Finally, Maggie finished the set, 25-11, with a touch kill. JS had been aiming at her on serve.
Set 3: Aggies 2, Gamecocks 0
The teams changed ends again. Yasso was sitting on the bench by herself, while the rest of the team was huddled together chatting. Jaqueline Corcoran, a freshman who’s been injured all season, came over and dragged her over to the rest of the girls. (Jaq also had a friendly-looking conversation with one of the refs before the match. I guess she’s a friendly person.) Dance Cam was active in the break. A row of fans were swaying together to Jump in the Line.
Nicole and Starr teamed up for a block on the first point of the set. The Reserves jumped and cheered. However, Nicole was immediately taken out for Aleka. After a DT call on JS, Mari had a pair of kills and Yasso and Aleka had a block, 8-2 Aggies.
A lift was called on Rilen, who was trying to save an overpass from going over the net. 9-4 Aggies, Mari had her first flying kill from the backcourt. It’s not an Aggie game without one of those. Kacia and Starr put in kills. 13-7 Aggies, was the longest rally of the match with lots of saves on both sides of the net. Mari ended it with a touch kill.
Darian Markham put in back-to-back aces. The Reserves shouted, “Ole!” Bella slid out on the court and Maggie dragged her back to the rest of the girls. I think Morgan sort of started that celebration. Aleka had a kill and then teamed with Kacia for a huge crowd-pleasing block, 17-8 Aggies. Mari added a touch kill.
19-9 Aggies, possibly the biggest cheer from the crowd for the match, Yasso made a dig from her knees. Darian then free balled it just over the net and it dropped in for a kill. Kacia had a kill and Aleka had a block, leading to a JS timeout at 22-9 Aggies. We had a near drop of a Cheerleader in the break. Oops.
Mia and Bella subbed in, which caused some confusion. I think this put 5’7” Rilen at the net, along with 6’+ Mia and Nicole as middle blockers beside her. Oops. JS took the next three points. (I think have to put this one on the Coach.) Aleka got a kill and Nicole finished it with a kill, 25-14 and 3-0 Aggies.
We have several key stats. Hitting was .013% to .460%, aces were 9 to 0, and blocks were 10 to 3, all in favor of the Aggies. Kayla Williams led Gamecocks with 9 kills. Mari Sharp paced the Aggies with 11. Kacia Brown had 3 aces. Yasso Amin and Nicole Briggs had 5 blocks each. Rilen Garcia had 17 assists.
After that final play, I think I found out I was sitting next to Nicole’s family. They were cheering for her. If that was her mom, I see where she gets her height from. That all felt quick. I checked the time and it was at an hour and 15 minutes. Like I said at the beginning, it’s good this was a win, but it was a wipeout. With seven seniors to be recognized for tomorrow’s Senior Day, let’s hope we get another quick match then.
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