I got this e-mail recently from Aggie Volleyball. They were advertising an auction to help fund the program. Here’s an excerpt.
Items up for auction:
Team Autographed Warm-up Jersey
Be a Coach for a Game
Dinner and Tequila Tasting for Four (4) with Head Coach Mike Jordan
Travel with the team to an away game of your choice
DATE WITH THE VOLLEYBALL GIRL OF YOUR CHOICE!!!!!!
Yes! Finally! I’m busting my piggy bank open for #5. I can’t wait for this!
Okay, #5 might be a wishful insert by myself, but you know that had to have been brought up in discussion for the auction items. Actually, I can’t believe #3 is real. I can see where this one might go after a few drinks with some rabid volleyball fans. “And here’s another thing you need to start doing with the team! Are you listening?”
In the last Aggie Coaches Show, Coach Jordan finally shed some light on why there wasn’t a home tournament this season. A couple of invited teams had backed out late and he wasn’t able to finagle replacements, so it was canceled. I still wonder if there weren’t some funding issues. We’ll see next year.
The Aggies went over 4-2 over their road trip to officially start their season. Unfortunately over that stretch, promising freshman, Jaelynn Kohli acquired a thumb injury. Converted setter, Bianca Perez, was filling in for her, while Ashley Herman is still injured. He felt Jaelynn and Ashley may be back soon. Libero Makayla Martinez was also hurt in play by friendly fire. Bella Castro came in for her and the Coach was pleased with her performance.
The Coach was also happy with middle blocker Kate Sinclair and with Maggie Lightheart, who I think leads the team in kills. Overall about the team, he was somewhat pleased and said, “I don’t have to coach their effort.” From looking at the stats for the matches, Tess Fuqua, Zoe Ziegler, and Mia Fox are also scoring well. (They do need Jae back, though.)
Friday, I had this bright idea for lunch. I needed to go to the mall anyway to get something. I liked the burgers at Legend Burger, but I liked the fries better at Deputy Dawgs. Wanting to help both local businesses, I ordered their best from each. Unfortunately, Legend Burger got my order wrong and gave me the combo with fries, so I ended up with two orders of fries. Lucky I discovered the secret of reheating fries, so I had a nice side for lunch on Saturday.
Dad and Lamae would not be joining me tonight for the game versus the New Haven Chargers. Dad had just gotten a new sofa and chair. He called me in the morning and I went over and saw them. They’re very nice. He was going to a dinner theater tonight. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much of a game having heard that NH was new to D1 Volleyball. Their record coming in was 1-4.
Coach had put in a plea for the fans to come out. It was a decent crowd at 847. I found Trey and Robin Reese, Nellie Reese’s parents, and sat with them. I haven’t worn out my welcome yet. I got filled in on some of the girls’ injuries. Makayla accidently got knocked out in practice. She still had some concussion symptoms and was wearing sunglasses. Bella would be taking over libero for now. Ashley was getting surgery next week, so she’s not going to be able to go for the rest of the season. The Reese family, meanwhile, had had an encounter with a rattlesnake this morning. It ended badly for the snake, but Trey wasn’t celebrating the victory.
Set 1
Let’s get right to it. Nellie started the match off with an ace. The Aggies then quickly went down 1-4 and were looking disorganized. The Aggies sided out and had Maggie up to serve. She began with an ace. Over her 11-point run, Maggie had 6 aces! She was peppering them around the court, even hitting the backline. When they switched sides on the next set, I could see that she has tremendous deception on her serve. Over the run, Kate had a kill and Tess tooled a block.
Tess made a couple more kills to make it, 14-5 Aggies. The Aggies had trouble handling success and made a couple of bad plays. The Coach was rubbing his bald head and started yelling. On the other side, NH was celebrating every time they won a point. This match was a big deal for them. Bianca Perez, our converted setter, came in to hit, but made a couple of errors and was taken out for Katie Funk.
17-12 Aggies, Tess served up an ace, and Maggie tooled a block to make it, 19-15. NH closed it to 19-17 as they saved a kill and then won the point. Zoe hit one out and it was 21-20. Timeout Aggies. I asked Trey about the hand signs I noticed the Reserves making. They had individual signs for each player when serving. For example, they gave Maggie Lightheart a heart symbol. For Tess, they make a “T.” Clever.
Tess dropped the hammer to make it, 22-20, but NH came back with two points and tied it. Tess made a tip kill to put the Aggies back in front. Bianca was back in. She made a solo block to bring it to set point. On the next point, she made a tip kill to win it, 25-22. Bianca was sandbagging earlier.
Set 2: Aggies 1, Chargers 0
Kate started the second set with a kill. The Coach had said he wanted her to get set more. Tess came in flying with a jackhammer kill to make it, 4-2 Aggies. Tess had another kill at 9-4, but it was challenged. During the delay, Wave the Wonder Dog came in. Him and his agent sat down in the section next me. I’m so glad I wore my Wave hat. Meanwhile, the call was reversed and it was 8-5 Aggies.
On the next point, Tess came back and smashed one way out. I could hear the Coach on the other end of the court yelling at her. The girls heard him. Maggie made another kill, Tess hit an ace, and Mia made a tip kill to make it, 11-7 Aggies. The next point was a long rally. NH made a pancake save on the point, but Maggie finished it with a kill. NH was still playing hard. Their libero Payton Malinoski went off court for a save and they took the point, 13-8 Aggies.
Wave came over to me and licked me. Maybe he remembered me. (We’ve seen each other plenty this season.) I’d been restraining myself from going over to him. What a dog! A ball came up into the stands. I went over and got it and tossed it to a pretty ball girl. Trey said I should have tossed it overhand to impress her. I doubt I’d impress anybody doing that and usually the ball girls are under-aged, anyway. Not under-aged, I noticed Assistant Coach Lia Mosher was looking casually gorgeous tonight. Okay, I win the bid on the dinner with Coach Jordan, but then bribe him to give me Lia instead as a date. Sounds like a plan.
15-10 Aggies, Maggie with another kill. Oooh, then the most embarrassing moment of the match. Claudia Rossi made a great dig on a hard shot. The ball popped up in front of her while her teammates stood and watched. Nobody came over to pass it. Claudia had to let it fall at her feet. I’m pretty sure the Coach will be replaying that point for the team in review.
That play aside, the Aggies rallied. Maggie and Zoe had kills. 18-12 Aggies, Maggie aced off a serve that hit the tape and fell over. She put her hand to her mouth. Ooops. 21-15 Aggies, there was confusion over who won the point. The refs weren’t sure and had to go back to the video. They gave the point to NH, but the Coach then challenged and won, 22-14.
Claudia aced to make it, 23-14. NH took the next point after a long rally and an off-court save. They celebrated. The Chargers were indefatigable in having fun. Tess had a kill to take it to set point. Maggie finished it with an overpass kill, 25-15 Aggies.
Set 3: Aggies 2, Chargers 0
Wave was on Dance Cam with Pistol Pete. I said “Hi” to Pete and got in some more petting with the dog. A girl with a camera came by to see him several times during the match. NH jumped out to an early lead in Set 3. 1-2 NH, Tess and Maggie both attempted one-handed saves trying to keep the point going. Zoe got a kill to tie it. On the next point, Maggie dove off-court going for a dig. The Coach got pissed at Bella and yelled at her for not getting that ball.
Coach Jordan didn’t get any happier with a touch call at 5-6 NH and challenged it. The refs reversed it to, 6-5 Aggies. He then exploded when Katie missed rotating in. He let the Reserves have it for not paying attention. Jacqueline Corcoran had been coming in and out during the match. She got her first kill at 8-6 Aggies. (On that matter, setter Rilen Garcia never came in to the match, nor newcomer, Ezgi Duzgezne.)
I was pleased with Nellie on the next point. She made a crowd-pleasing set from her knees. Unfortunately, the Aggies didn’t get that point. Kate came back with a kill at 9-8. Bella made an off-court save next, but NH took the point and tied it at 9. Bella dodged NH’s next serve and got the lead back on the service error. Zoe made a kill to tie it at 11. Tess dunked one to put the Aggies up, 12-11.
NH then pulled ahead. They had an ace at 12-14. The Media timeout came at 12-15 NH. The girl with the camera came by with the Aggie cow bucket hat that I missed at Soccer (9-4-25). I’d even mentioned it to Trey. Wave modeled the hat for a promo. They’re going to offer the hat again for an upcoming Volleyball game. Wave gave it to a little girl he’d befriended earlier. Again, what a dog!
Mia had a kill, but the Aggies were falling further behind. At 13-18, the Aggies took a timeout. The Reserves were looking grim like Dickensian Volleyball players. (My officially weirdest analogy.) Out of the break, the Aggies started a comeback. Mia tooled a block. Kaylee Peterson came in to serve and aced. Maggie and Tess got kills. However, the Aggies were still behind, 18-21, and took a timeout.
Tess made a kill out of the break. Bella served up an ace to make it, 20-21. NH took a timeout. Charger Lauren MacKellar then hit a big fastball kill to make it 20-22 NH. Zoe responded with a kill and Tess followed up with another kill to tie it. Maggie painted the corner on a kill to give the Aggies a match point. Tess finished it with a serve that fell short just over the net. It was another ace. Aggies take the set, 25-23, and the match, 3-0.
That was a workout. The Chargers played like they belong in D1. NH out-hit the Aggies slightly, but neither team hit well. The Aggies were up 35 to 29 in kills. There were two shocking stats in the match. The Aggies were up 14 to 4 in aces. The Aggies only had 2 service errors for the match. On the other hand, the Chargers were up 8 to 2 in blocks. The Aggies were the taller team, but it wasn’t my imagination that they weren’t blocking well.
Lauren MacKellar led the Chargers with 13 kills. Easy Aggie Gameballs for Tess Fuqua (11 kills, 11 digs, and 3 aces) and Maggie Lightheart (9 kills, 13 digs, and 7 aces). I’m sure Maggie and Tess figured on being starters this season, but I don’t know if they anticipated carrying the team this season. The tall girls weren’t a big factor in this match blocking, but Zoe Ziegler had 7 kills.
I said my goodbyes to the Reese family. (Nellie came up from the court and brother Cooper was there.) When I was driving in, I noticed it was raining hard to the west. I’d brought my jacket, just in case. I’d wondered if it rained during the match. Outside there were big puddles and lightning up in the sky. That answered that question and ruined my baseball listening when I got home, as the Chihuahuas were rained out. We’ll hopefully be back tomorrow evening for more Volleyball.
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