NM State Aggies vs Northwestern Wildcats Volleyball 9-3-21 Part 1

A happy fanboy.

Where to begin?  I’m out of practice on this and have too much to report.  I don’t even know if I want to do this given some bad news, but there’s also some very good things to report.  I started off yesterday by posting what I was going to put at the end of my upcoming Labor Day Sports report.  Thankfully, I rethought that and put it in chronological order.  (The Labor Day report is going to be well out-of-date anyway, as I started that in July.)

 

Aggie Volleyball started off on the wrong foot for the fans last Saturday.  The team next went to Arizona for a tournament.  They came back from two sets down to beat UC San Diego, but were beat in straight sets that night by host Arizona.  The girls then swept out a small eastern college, Marist.  On the Aggie Coaches Show, Coach Jordan was rather low key about the upcoming Springhill Suites Invitational.  He did hand out some interesting technical knowledge like, “If you want to watch the ball, sit in the stands.  If you want to play on the court, you have to watch the players.” 

 

The tournament was on and fans were invited.  The Aggies had two games scheduled on Friday, one in the morning and one in the evening.  Since I didn’t find out for sure that they were going to play until Wednesday evening (and my boss was out sick), I decided not to take the day off and just went to the morning game.  Ron was unavailable for that one, but would go to the night game.  I didn’t bother asking dad after he bit my head off last time.

 

There was more bad footing for this game.  My little radio had a meltdown when I got in my truck to go and I had to run back inside and get my larger, heavier radio that I can’t clip on.  At the ticket office, the price of the game was $7.  Hopefully that’s just a $2 increase for this tournament.  I asked if the next game scheduled game between UTEP and Arizona was included.  I was told that would be $14 and if I wanted the full day pass for the night game, it’d be more.  I think they’re just trying to soak visiting UTEP and AZ fans.  (The Ticketmaster website had earlier said it was $5 for each Aggie game.)  I mentally checked out on staying for the next game. 

 

Inside the Pan-Am Center, I grabbed the two new volleyball posters and went to the bathroom.  (I mention this for a reason.)  The solution that the university decided on for the water-damaged new floor was to put in a “sport court.”  Unfortunately, I came in late on the pregame show on the radio, which probably explained everything.  I guess it’s an overlay on the court.  I didn’t notice any difference in play from the regular floor, but I’m not a player.  Adam Young, on the radio call, made a big deal that the team only got to practice on it once.  (And congrats on your wedding.  Adam got a heck of a catch.)

On the court, I missed most of the warm up.  I tried to identify the players I knew.  Cat Kelly was back, which I was pleased about.  There were some girls I’d only seen on video during the spring season.  A new freshman stood out that the coach had mentioned, Alana Embry.  I’d noticed her very cute dimpled picture on the roster.  She was one of the setters.  Alana was really slight-looking, especially compared to most of the other girls, and adorable, but mostly only had a very serious expression on her face.  The coach has put a lot on her shoulders.  She was the only girl on the team Ron specifically mentioned as being cute after seeing them that night. 

My glasses immediately fogged up from having to wear a mask indoors.  Thankfully that passed.  The new board over the court was up.  It looked bright and clear, but unfortunately had a lot less information on it than the old one.  It didn’t list the players on the court and their stats.  Maybe they’re still trying to figure out how to use it.  Coach Ben Wallace of UTEP was there watching.  He’d come down later during the game to say “Hi,” to Adam and watch a little from behind the bench.  Finally, I got the name of the gorgeous platinum blonde who works on the staff from the team Twitter.  She’s Chelsea Rose, Director of Player Development.  She was pregnant a couple of years ago and has now lost all the weight from that and looks better than ever.  Oh, on that note, beautiful Megan Hart has left the staff and gotten on with her life.  I never got to see her coaching as a graduate assistant. 

 

Right before the Anthem, I suddenly realized I had left my posters in the bathroom.  I ran back to get them.  I stood in the aisle during the Anthem and annoyingly noticed that a couple of the Northwestern girls were taking a knee.  This will somewhat explain why none of their players will be named in this report.  The new Aggie team video played.  Unfortunately, all they could show for game footage was the game in the practice facility against Texas Tech.  The girls looked a bit awkward for some reason in the player-focused scenes.  (Fire the director.)  I think some of these scenes were supposed to be shown whenever a player made a great play.  A couple of them came up randomly during the match. 

Player introductions were the highlight of the match for me.  The girls were probably quite giddy to restart the tradition of tossing little autographed volleyballs to the crowd.  Libero Darian Markham got a bit too excited and spiked hers into the floor.  She was all smiles afterward and throughout the match.  Hitter Shaney Lipscomb was introduced.  She looked in my direction (I was wearing my super cool Aggie Empire t-shirt) and threw her ball near me.  I can maybe thank the somewhat light morning crowd (289) that I had no trouble retrieving it.  With that, I had achieved the ultimate fan experience at Aggie Sports.  I thought catching foul ball at a baseball game was great (I can’t find that post to link to it, sorry), but this beats that by a mile. 

     

Let’s talk a little bit about my new all-time favorite Aggie Volleyball player.  In my very brief spring season summary (3-23-21), I’d mentioned Shaney’s 14 kills on 14 swings game that left the coach speechless.  I won’t be speechless in the describing her looks.  Yikes!  She a gorgeous tall, statuesque blonde with sexy blue eyes.  Until I saw her in person, I didn’t really realize what truly heroic proportions she’s built to.  Shaney is also the team’s cheerleader.  She worked over her teammates with her winning smile and constant encouragement during the match.  I really hope there’s an autograph day, so I can thank her for the ball and also because she didn’t sign it.  I need to correct that. 

 

Maybe I’ll give her this sketch, too.  I’ll probably do another one (and also one for Alana) later.                

 

Set 1

I’d say it’s pretty anticlimactic to describe the match after that life-changing event, but the match was pretty darn good too, so let’s finally get on with it.  The first thing that happened was that I just about forgot how to do this, even though I’d reviewed a couple of old posts beforehand.  I sat and watched several points before finally taking some notes.  At that point, it started coming out like literary diarrhea.         

 

Katie Birtcil was the first standout for the Aggies in the match.  At 4-5 with NW up (the Aggie score will be listed first here with the Wildcats second), Birty got her first kill.  She immediately followed that up with another.  Alana was feeding her throughout the match with a series of backsets.  Birty tied the score at 6-6 with an overpass kill.  Darian, who I’m going to I’m going to nickname DM, kept the point going with a great dig.  Timeout Northwestern. 

DM came back on serve.  She has an uncanny ability to skim the top of the net.  9-8 Lia Mosher got her first kill on a touch set by Alana.  Lia served once in the set and had an error.  For most of her serves for the rest of the match, Keke Holloway came in for her.  It was an odd sight, seeing the tallest player on the team replaced by one of the shortest.  Keke was a pretty sure shot at the line, so it was good sub.  10-10 Mari Sharp put in a tip kill.  11-11 Lia dunked one to tie the score.  12-11 Victoria Barrett, the outstanding freshman from the spring season, drove in her first kill.  The Aggies went up 14-11 as Northwestern’s big hitter, #12, fired a big miss.  Timeout NW again.  

 

By this point, UTEP players had come in and were watching.  15-12 Shaney fired a crosscourt kill.  However, a series of errors gave the Wildcats back the lead, 15-16.  Timeout Aggies.  NW #12 was on serve (nope, still not naming anyone on the other side).  She had a high toss Brazil-style serve that was thunderous with her big swing . . . when it landed in.  It was also likely to miss.  16-16 she hit the net and nearly took it down.  17-17 DM made a great dig on a swing by #12.  Shaney won the point on a tip kill.  21-17 Lia and Birty combined on block.  That fired up the crowd.  23-18 Lia hammered one home.  Shaney finished off the set with a pair of kills.  25-19 Aggies take Set 1.

 

Set 2: Aggies 1, Wildcats 0

Oh, one of the NW girls is the daughter of NFL quarterback, Elvis Grbac.  Who cares?  They also have a 6’3” setter.  Adam was going on about her.  She’d be useful for blocking, but I don’t know that height is a big advantage for setting.  Between sets, Aggie Kalli Schoening was singing and dancing to the Buttercup song.  I appreciate the spirit, but might have to take points off for the lack of taste.  Her and Victoria took a second to scream at each other before play to get fired up. 

 

1-0 Shaney and Lia teamed up for a block.  Basically every time #12 took a pass, there were two Aggies jumping at the net.  Setter Carly Aigner-Swesey (which is fun to say, but annoying to write) served up an ace.  A video clip of her holding up an ace poker card played on the new video board.  4-1 #12 tried a tip kill and failed.  5-1 she then hit a line judge on an out swing.  9-5 Victoria served up an ace off a pair of stone hands on the other side.  However, the Wildcats came back and tied it at 10.  Timeout Aggies.

        

Coach Jordan was strangely calm in talking to the team during the break.  Okay, now I’m worried there’s something wrong with him.  11-14 the Aggies finally sided out, but NW went on another run.  11-17 timeout Aggies.  They were flat on a couple of serves that went for aces.  12-17 the Aggies break the run after a long rally.  Victoria went down the middle for a winner.  13-18 Lia and Shaney combined on another block. 

 

14-21 the coach may have written this set off and sent in Cat.  It was weird seeing her out there without her wing mate, Savannah Davison.  The two worked so well together as a pair, I wonder if the coach is reluctant to use her by herself.  18-24 NW was forced to take a timeout, as the Aggies had staved off several set points.  They finished it at 19-25 Wildcats.

 

Continued in Part 2.

Labor Day Sports Report: Aggie Volleyball Pre-Season

(This report is to set up to their first match that I attended on Friday 9-3-21.)

8-21-21

I had some trepidation about going to Aggie Volleyball’s first game of the season.  It was an exhibition against Texas Tech.  There was a re-masking order that just began that day.  Dad and his friend, Joe, almost went with me until that happened.  Dad even got angry with me about it, as if I had anything to do with it.  I said I’d go anyway, and he told me to “not suffocate.” 

 

At the Pan-Am Center that morning, I noticed someone with the university talking to a group of fans.  This person had the job of telling arrivals that the game wasn’t cancelled, but the fans couldn’t watch.  I didn’t hear the whole speech, but here’s the gist: NMSU’s brand new hardwood floor had warped from water damage, humidity, and high temperature inside.  I’d checked the team’s Twitter the night before and they were still inviting fans to come, so this had just happened overnight.     

 

Crap!  The game went ahead in the Aggies’ practice facility.  (Texas Tech took three of the five sets, but there were pre-conditions to the match, like playing five sets.  Still, the Aggies were competitive.)  Annoyingly, pictures from the event did show some fans there, presumably parents.  I’d have paid to stand and watch (as long as I could have hung out with the girls in the reserves on the sidelines).  I went into the ticket office anyway, but there weren’t even any new Volleyball schedule posters available. 

 

I’d actually had something else to do that morning, namely watching Quinn McKay wrestle on the latest episode of Ring of Honor wrestling, but I couldn’t be angry.  This problem wasn’t on purpose.  I made the best of it and went directly to lunch, which was a hamburger at the Santa Fe Grill in the Pic Quick.  It was about as good a burger as a burrito place could make.  It was huge and only $5.  (The curly fries were $3 though.) 

 

Now here’s the strange part.  For some reason, what happened to the floor appeared to something of a secret all week.  There weren’t any newspaper reports, nothing on the website and the weekly Aggie radio show didn’t mention it.  The official story was that fans weren’t allowed in “Out of an abundance of caution for player safety.”  Huh?  Coach Jordan, on the radio show, was sorry that the fans were turned away.  “It was one of those things.  We just had to adapt.”  That was the only explanation. 

 

It wasn’t until the next Saturday that there was finally a confirmation in the paper.  It was tacked on to the end of an interview with AD Mario Moccia.  The article seemed like they’d reported on the story before, which my dad said they hadn’t.  (He did miss this article though.  I’d found it.)  Mario was trying to figure out what the university’s options were as they were scheduled to be hosting a Volleyball tournament this coming Friday.  They were looking at a temporary floor, a replacement, or even another facility.  Putting in that new floor was not a small operation, not to mention, the new scoreboard was supposed to go in next week.  At least the team will be playing on the road for nearly month after this, so they’ll have plenty of time to do something permanent later.

 

I guess I may as well give the rest of my volleyball news.  Savannah Davison has graduated and moved on to Oklahoma.  I was stunned, but I shouldn’t have been; she’s been at the university for four years.  She does still have two years of eligibility left and is likely going for a graduate degree.  We’ll miss her.  Long time setter, Natalie Mikels, also graduated.  She’ll be missed too, especially by the coach.  He was skeptical about his remaining inexperienced setters.      

 

In his interview, Coach Jordan was actually seething over his schedule.  Auburn, whom they’d beat in 2019 on their court, declined the return engagement here.  The coach called them, “Chicken . . .”  UCLA and Notre Dame had pulled out of coming here for a tournament and NMSU had to cancel the whole thing.  They were fortunate to find an opening at somebody else’s tournament on the east coast.  Even the UNM Lobos canceled on them for a rivalry game and that was scheduled to be in Albuquerque.  The season is not off to a good start.

Sketch Dump: The PO Notebook 15: Various Pernille Girls

Here's the last of my sketches from Pernille's art book.  

This first one is from something called Yoga Hosers.  I don't know anything about it.

 

This was an ambitious sketch.  Like many of my full body sketches, I tend to run out of room on the page.  So, this one is badly out of proportion.  

I like this one.  I keep noticing my reluctance to ink the sketches that I like.

Oooh, these are f***ed up.  The one on the left isn't supposed to be a midget.  That's Buffy on the right, but very poorly.  The worst of it is how much time I spent on it.  Those tiger stripes took forever to ink and color.

 

I think that's Alicia Silverstone from Clueless.  I like it.  I did a decent job on the plaid jacket.  

Sketch Dump: The PO Notebook 14: Mermaids

In spite of certain predilections of mine, I'm not the biggest mermaid fan.  Pernille sure is.  There's a whole chapter of them in her art book.

Given Pernille's love of Disney, I was surprised there was only one painting that looked like the Little Mermaid.

These two group shots were a bunch of effort.  

I didn't even think about inking this one.  It was too complex at the time for me.  I could maybe do it now.

Sketch Dump: The PO Notebook 13: More Pernille Girls

More Pernille art book sketches.

Here's the first of many Pernille mermaids.  This one came out reasonable.  What is that on the right?  A Medusa?  A witch?  Not too bad, but I like drawing pretty and cute girls.  

Ah, Grace Kelly.  There's pretty for you.  Unfortunately, I messed up the right arm.  I didn't realize the mistake until I'd inked it.  I probably should have tried the white out on it, though that might have made a worse mess.

  

This is a reasonable pencil sketch that I didn't destroy inking.  She's supposed to be black.  I draw black about as well as I draw Asian . . . unfortunately.  It's not intentional.

Pernille didn't identify the character here, but she may be Kida from Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire.  She also reminds me of Nadia from the anime Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water.  I'm not the first person to draw that comparison.  Anyway, I like this one.  

Sketch Dump: The PO Notebook 12: Pernille Girls

 These are various sketches from the Pernille Orum art book.

The one to right came out nice.  The head is too big on the one to the left.

The one on the right is Tippi Hedren from The Birds.

Crap head construction on the left.

Not the best long-haired Afro on the left.

Sketch Dump: The PO Notebook 11: Nagel, Freckles, and a Beaver

The one on the left is another sketch I like of a Pernille painting.  On the left is a sketch of a Patrick Nagel painting.  There's another artist that features clean designs and a distinctive style.  I love his stuff.  

On the left is maybe a Cyberpunk 2077 sketch.  She's supposed to be Asian, but I've never figured out how to make a girl look Asian.  (Even today I was doing a drawing of a Chinese girl, you'd never know it looking at it.)  In the original, she was bathed in a greenish light.  Needless to say, I shouldn't have gone with that in my sketch.  I like the Pernille one on the right.  It turned out pretty well.  I dig freckles.

Anatomically incorrect, but stylish.

Okay, here's the beaver sketch.  I wish I knew what the story was behind Pernille's painting.

The sketch on the left is from a Korean art wallpaper.