This week’s Aggie Coaches Show had an interesting divulgence from Coach Sanchez of the Aggie Football team. Their next game is going to be against the Lobos. He said the team was made well aware that their funding had been cut in favor of UNM. (Given that the Lobos beat UCLA last Friday in football that might have been a good investment.)
If this is true, this is part of the fallout from firing Mario Moccia as the Athletic Director. Mario knew everybody in Santa Fe and lobbied hard for NMSU Athletic funding. Without him, they had to start from scratch and legislators were easily swayed to giving the funding to nearby Albuquerque. The next time the university needs to hire a new coach, or, heaven help us, needs to find a new conference, that’ll complete Mario’s revenge since he also seemed to know everyone in college sports.
Granted, you might not notice a funding cut considering Football, Men and Women’s Basketball, Softball, and Baseball aren’t doing that well. However, Soccer and Volleyball were competitive in conference. Aggie Soccer has completely fallen off a cliff (1-9 record). Their strength of schedule to this point has been brutal. Maybe they’ll do better in the conference part of their schedule, but it’s hard to imagine. We don’t yet know how good Volleyball is or isn’t, since they didn’t host a tournament this season.
Does this all point to funding issues? The best players expect to be paid with NIL money. It’s hard to recruit top talent without it. As for the tournament, smaller university teams expect to be paid to come here, and bigger universities expect a challenge that won’t lower their rating. Of course, facilities at NMSU need upgrading, repair, and replacement to help recruiting. This is mostly happening now because of very generous donations from donors, not state funding.
As is, NMSU’s best hope in conference may be hoping that the best teams leave. (I know UTEP is leaving, certainly not their best. I think other teams are going too, but I’m not sure who.) Of course, the conference may go away if it starts coming apart. This has almost happened before, which is how NMSU ended up in it. They were desperate for new members.
Aggie Volleyball’s first real test was scheduled for this week with a pair against the Lobos. Last year, after a couple years of not playing, the Lobos embarrassed the Aggies in their two matches (9-19-24). The Aggies played in Albuquerque yesterday and lost in five sets. They lost the first set, took the next two, but dropped the last two. Encouragingly, they were all pretty close.
From looking back, I was surprised that attendance at UNM was well off of last year going from 1300 to 900. The Lobos out-hit the Aggies, .290 to .219, but the Aggies were up in kills, blocks, and aces. Jaelynn Kohli was back and paced the Aggies 15 kills. That’s awesome. Maggie Lightheart had 14 kills, Mia Fox had 11, Tess Fuqua had 10, and Kate Sinclair had 6 blocks. Addison France led the Lobos with 20 kills.
I was plenty busy on my day off before tonight’s evening game. I ended up getting tired and taking a nap. Dad was invited out to another café rehearsal performance, so he wouldn’t be attending. Glad I took the nap because it was going to be a long night.
I was once again sitting with the Reese family. Trey and Robin had missed the game in Albuquerque, so I wasn’t able to get a report on the match. I asked about an upcoming Aggie Baseball game/fundraiser and if they were going. (I may be going. Fan Michael offered me a ticket.) Not only were they, they were in a competition with the other parents to sell tickets. The winners would have their kids starting. Their son Cooper Reese will get to pitch an inning thanks to their efforts.
I did mention what I wrote above about funding issues to them. Robin actually asked me what happened to the Soccer program. I’m not any sort of expert, but it seemed like they didn’t reload with great transfers or have more players ready to step up and replace departing players. This season’s schedule wasn’t meant for a team going through rebuilding. In that sense, Volleyball has been amazingly fortunate. They didn’t get any big university transfers, but Coach Jordan nailed it with a couple of great freshmen recruits and a JC transfer. Also, they had players who’d been in program for a while, ready to come up and start.
There was a great crowd tonight at 1,413. It was bolstered with several girl’s teams. I saw the bus for Hot Springs (T or C) outside. Tom was there. I hadn’t seen him in a while. I could hear him yelling occasionally during the match. The grill was open on the concourse. I should have thought of that. I might have made different dinner plans.
As for the team, Jaelynn was still wearing thumb guard, but ready to play. Makayla Martinez was off the injured list and also ready. Peyton Castillo was suited up to play. She’d been in sweats the last time. I was worried about Zoe Ziegler. She was on the bench and getting a massive tape job on her ankle, but she’d be playing. Ashley Herman was riding around on a scooter. She’d just had her surgery, as I’d been told. Lia Mosher was gone. She was going to be playing over in Europe. The pretty trainer on the team was wearing a mini-skirt with cowboy boots. It was a bold fashion choice.
The Lobos’ uniform had styling on it that looked like a collar. That was kind of clever. I got a look at France. She is a powerfully built young woman. There seemed to be a few Lobo fans in the crowd, but they didn’t bring a section full of supporters, like they’ve done in the past for Women’s Basketball.
Set 1
Kate scored the first two points. The Lobos straight whiffed on a set to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead. Jaelynn scored the next two kills, one on a touch and the next one was buried into a defender. 6-4 Aggies, Mia was blocked. The Lobos took the next point with a pancake save and a block. Mia wouldn’t be denied and got her first kill at 7-5 Aggies.
Kids were still coming in. The parking lot was full when I came in, but the crowd didn’t fill the seats until right before the match started. 8-6 Aggies, Maggie got her first kill by painting the line. Zoe got her first kill at 9-7. One of the Lobo players went into the Press Table going for the ball and almost fell into PA Ed. Jae added another kill and then combined with Kate on a block. 12-9 Tess had a kill and then followed it up with another that rebounded high and way out-of-bounds.
On the next point, the Aggies looked completely confused on court. Coach Jordan still seemed fairly calm. 14-11 Aggies, Mia tipped the ball out, but it was touched for another kill. 15-11 Maggie made a solo block to take us to the Media timeout. Out the break, the Lobos took the next point. Robin was yelling on a missed block. No problem. Maggie got another block and then a kill. 18-13 Aggies, Nellie Reese aced and the Lobos took a timeout.
The Cheerleaders tossed t-shirts into the crowd in the break and predictably hundreds of little girls started screaming for them. Wave the Wonder Dog and his entourage came down the aisle. He wasn’t near me, so I didn’t get to pet him, but I was comforted knowing he was here. The Lobos came back after an Aggie service error and an attack error by Maggie. Jae fired out at 18-16 Aggies. Coach Jordan took a timeout. A few people were at the new “lounge” area. I’d later see that the suites behind us were filled. This was a big game.
The Lobos got within a point as Tess had a double touch foul. The Aggies recovered. Kate had a kill, Maggie aced, and Jae had a block. 21-17 Aggies and timeout Lobos. On the next point, the Aggies made several blocks, which the crowd loved. Jae finished it with a kill. Tess had a kill and then tooled a block to get it to set point. The Lobos made an off-court save on the point.
Lobo Naomi Chankoumi finally sided out Maggie’s five-point run with a kill. The crowd was loud enough that I almost think it startled the Aggies. Naomi thumped a huge swing on the next point, but Nellie incredibly dug it out. Jaelynn finished the point and the set with a kill. 25-18 Aggies.
Set 2: Aggies 1, Lobos 0
Right to it, Maggie was blocked on the first point, but Jae came back to tie it at 1 with her own block. Maggie aced on the next point with that extreme slice on her serve. The next serve, it was a little too extreme and went out. 3-2 Aggies, Tess tooled a block. Makayla made a tremendous dig on the next point. Tess finished it with a kill through the blockers.
Lobo Madison Blanco aced off the tape to make it 5-4 Aggies. Tess made an “ole” swing for a kill and followed it with another kill, her eighth, 7-5. The Lobos tied it at 7 as Maggie fired wide, and they took the lead when the Lobos blocked her on the next point. Mia stopped the run with a kill, 8 all. Zoe used her height advantage to paint the far corner to tie it at 9. 9-10 the Lobos took the lead. Makayla had another great dig on the point. Maggie attempted to hit that corner, but just missed it for a 9-11 Lobo lead. Jae fired through the blockers to make it a one-point lead.
The next point was nearly the turning point of the match. Nearly. The point was suddenly blown dead in play. Jaelynn was sitting on the court. The ball was being played on the other end of the net, so I didn’t see it. Even on the initial replay, the camera missed it, but the opposite angle showed Jae rolling her ankle 90-degrees and going down. The crowd gasped. She was helped off and I think every Aggie fan’s heart sank. Bianca Perez came in and the point was replayed.
11-12 Lobos, Nellie dropped in a sneaky setter dump for the point. Tess was blocked as the Lobos went up to an 11-14 lead, but Tess followed that with a kill. The Lobos took a 12-15 lead into the Media timeout. I could barely believe what I was seeing in the Reserves. Jaelynn was up and walking. Credit to the training staff. They must have taped the heck out of her ankle. Could she play?
12-16 the Lobos were pulling away, but the Aggies were playing hard. Claudia Rossi made an amazingly brave dive all the way across the court for a save. 14-16 Lobos, Maggie got the kill, but there was comedy behind her with Zoe and Claudia taking each other out blocking. No harm done. Lobo libero Camila Canedo got in a dump shot at 14-17. I noticed her in match because she was pretty and tall for a libero. I was getting a great rearview when she was serving. Camila is Brazilian on a fairly international UNM team. She’d also always cross herself when she came on court.
16-18 Lobos, Zoe got a touch kill. Even better, Jae was back in and got a round of applause. She mishit on a swing on the next point, but was moving around okay. The crowd got the better of Camila serving next. A group of little girls suddenly screamed as she served and put it into the net. The girls started doing on most of the Lobo serves after this. 18-20 Lobos, after a long, scary rally, Jae put it away with a kill. Yeah, she could still play. 18-22 Nellie made a set from her knees, but the Lobos painted the corner for the point. Timeout Aggies.
I noticed some Football players sitting up by the concourse. Trey mentioned a group of Baseball players, including his son, were here. The Lobos increased their lead. 19-23 Lobos, Mia made a tip with a walk away added to it. It looks cool, but it’s such a bad idea given how many sure kills got saved in this match. Zoe muscled one to make it, 20-23. The Lobos called a timeout.
Out of the break, Claudia fired a true ace that fell untouched. The Lobos did get it to set point, 21-24. Makayla made a great save during the point. Tess was subbed out. 22-24 a Lobo serve went long. It might have been the little girls screaming again. The Aggies got the call for an attack error by the Lobos. At first, the Lobo coach seemed to be challenging that there was a touch, but it was a timeout. After the timeout, then he challenged, but the call was upheld. This took like 10 minutes. Finally, Mia and Zoe blocked two shots before a third tooled them for the winning point. Lobos take Set 2, 23-25.
Continued in Part 2
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