NM State Aggies vs UNM Lobos Soccer 9-20-19

This match started badly as I was listening to Aggie Volleyball losing a five-set match at the same time.  Fudge.  At least the weather wasn’t too bad.  It was warm and sunny, but there were occasional breezes blowing.  There was a good crowd developing at the Soccer Complex grandstands.  A good contingent of New Mexico Lobo fans came, but for the first time this season, the Aggie fans definitely outnumbered the opposing fans.  (Previously, it had been even at best.) 

The Lobos team showed quite a bit of personality during the introductions.  There were plenty of kids at this match, so there would be ballkids shagging balls.  The Sports Marketing staff breathed a sigh of relief.  Speaking of that, Emerson and the Softball PA guy (I need to get his name) tossed t-shirts into the crowd before the start of the match.

 

First Half

And we started with some comedy relief.  The two teams had to exchange ends before starting play.  Apparently there was a brain lapse by everyone on the field, except the refs.  So here’s the recap, Dmitri Fong made a bunch of saves, but the Lobos got one in and won.  The End.  Soccer is so easy to write about.

One day, I’m gonna do it.  That’ll be an entire recap and I’ll post it.  That will likely be my last recap too.  Seriously, there will be recurring theme about Dmitri’s amazing goaltending that will probably become tedious. 

I’ll go ahead and mention to start that I met a nice fellow, David, and his dad, who sat by me.  David asked me a couple of questions about the team and the opponent.  He saw me writing and was worried he was interrupting me working.  He also asked if I was a student.  God bless you, sir.  I asked about his and his dad’s sharp-looking Trump hats.  He didn’t go to the rally in Rio Rancho last week, but was a supporter.  We had a short political discussion, but thankfully kept to talking about the game.  (There’s no need to make everything political.) 

Right off the bat, 44’ left in the half, the Lobos made their first attack and shot it over the net.  This unfortunately describes a lot of the first half.  43’ Dmitri made her first save catching a shot.  The fan call of the day was, “Turn!” rather than, “Shoot it!”  41’ another high Lobo shot in front of the Aggie goal.  (While this was fairly dramatic to watch in-person, this is already getting onerous to write about.) 

The Lobo goalie, Malia Vanisi, who is going to be underworked in this game, was very vocal.  Obviously, she needed to shout to be heard by her team at the other end of the field.  Dmitri wasn’t as vocal as usual.  She needed to save her breath, because she was getting a workout.  39’ Dmitri deflected a shot wide.  38’ a Lobo corner didn’t produce a shot.  However, Aggie Hannah Leitner got the ball and ran it all the way back down the field by herself.  She had two defenders on her, but took a wide shot on goal.  It was a brave effort.  It resulted in an Aggie corner, but no other shots.

37’ another Lobo attack.  You could tell Dmitri was starting to get angry.  35’ Dmitri smothered the ball on an attack.  33’ an Aggie player was injured across the field.  I couldn’t identify her, but she stayed in.  32’ the Aggies made an attack.  Malia had to fall on the ball.  30’ another Lobo corner, but the attack died in front of the net.  29’ Dmitri was caught in a one-on-one with an attacker, but stopped the shot.  28’ Dmitri came out to forcefully stop an attacker.  The Lobos and their fans wanted a foul in the box. 

27’ Jody Hernandez was starting today for the Aggies.  Her and a Lobo player violently tangled at midfield.  The Lobo fans wanted a yellow card for Jody, but only got a free kick, which went way out.  25’ Dmitri stopped a roller.  20’ an Aggie went down in the box.  I wasn’t able to identify her.  19’ Dmitri caught a corner kick.  18’ Dmitri fell on a roller.  Eli Gonzalez made an immediate counterattack and took a shot.  David made the observation that the Aggies were, “Getting killed in the midfield.”  Maybe somebody who knows something about soccer should be writing this.

14’ Dmitri stopped a soft liner and a follow-up roller.  11’ Xitlaly Hernandez made a steal at midfield.  She must heard David.  Xitlaly passed it to Eli, who made a rush at the net.  The attack resulted in a corner, but it fizzled.  Xitlaly got a foul for knocking down a taller player in the exchange.  10’ Dmitri made another stop.  9’ I’d noticed Lobo sub Kate Browning out on field.  She’s a pretty blonde (kind of reminds me of a co-worker), but looked way too thin to be out playing.  Kate proved me wrong by taking the ball into the Aggie box and completely faking out a defender.  She took an shot that missed.

5’ Katie Martinez, one of the taller Aggies, ran over a Lobo at the top of the Aggie box.  There was a header shot off the free kick that missed.  A troop of little girls came in.  One of them had an Aggie logo face-painted on her cheek.  There’s a real fan.  1’ a long Lobo pass into the Aggie box resulted in a header that went high.  That was the last attack for the half.  Dmitri took a long sigh of relief.  Nil-nil at the half.  So far, the Lobos had 5 corners and 6 shots on goal.  All the Aggies had was a single corner.             

Halftime

The halftime show was a contest between two guys running downfield with a ball and shooting it into the net.  Ron arrived just before the half ended.  This wasn’t totally unexpected; he said he might come by.  I told him he didn’t miss anything.  In terms of the scoreboard that was correct.  In terms of watching Dmitri being magnificent, he’d missed a lot, but would have plenty of opportunity to see more of her in action. 

I introduced Ron to David, while I went to the bathroom and for some water.  When I came back, Ron was telling David that AD Moccia had recently asked the legislature for lights at the soccer field.  David said that when the team was first established, they played in Aggie Memorial, the football field.  When they moved to this soccer field, the facilities had no grandstand and no seats at all.

 

Second Half

44’ right off, Emma Smith had to break up an attack in the box.  Out at midfield, Jess McDow, another tall girl on the team, high-kicked over a Lobo player’s head.  43’ Dmitri tipped one out after a Lobo corner that momentarily left the Aggie net wide open.  This led to another corner that ended in a bouncer going over the Aggie net.  41’ Dmitri stopped roller.  Away from the net, Kelly Burton smacked a Lobo player down hard enough to hear it across the field.  39’ Dmitri caught a high bouncer.  (I should set up a macro just to spell out her name.  It’d be quicker.)

38’ the Aggies got a corner.  There was a big kick in the Lobo box and a foul was called on the Aggies.  The game seemed to be getting rougher and it was.  36’ Xitlaly went down after taking a knee from a Lobo player.  Play stopped as the trainers and Coach Baarts came out for her.  She had to be helped off.  David’s dad (I missed his name) said that she was the Aggies’ best player.  (I’m sure he meant “best player not playing goalie.”)  Once again, the least qualified person is writing this soccer recap. 

33’ Hannah made a breakaway attempt.  32’ but it went right back to Aggie end.  Dmitri deflected a good shot into the scoreboard behind the north goal.  31’ off a Lobo corner, Dmitri made a high catch.  29’ the Aggies got a shot off and I missed the player number.  28’ Hannah made a hard tackle of an attacker.  Dmitri took out another at point blank range.  27’ another Lobo corner.  That shot went wide. 

25’ here were the pivotal moments of the match.  The Aggies finally made an attack with multiple players.  They seemed unprepared for it, as Hannah and Shea O’Connor nearly took each other out going for the ball, but the ball did get passed to Alexa Barerra by the net.  She just missed as Lobo goalie Malia fell on the ball.  Malia got the ball right back out.  Ron pointed out that the scoreboard clock was stopped.  I don’t know why they would have stopped the clock.  I don’t know if the Aggies got confused or not, but the Lobos charged downfield and the defenders were in disarray.  Dmitri got caught with two attackers rushing the net.  Maysa Walters put the ball in.  1-0 Lobos.

23’ the Lobo attacks continued with a header over the Aggie net.  22’ Hannah made another charge.  He got off a pass to Shea, who kicked it over the Lobo net.  16’ a Lobo shot high and hit the scoreboard post.  14’ Dmitri stopped a roller.  13’ Alexa took a free kick outside the Lobo box and just missed the top shelf.  12’ Katie banged heads with a Lobo and was leveled.  It was ruled Lobo ball, which angered the crowd.  8’ a Lobo high kick sailed over the Aggie net. 

From there, the Lobos made some stalling efforts to end the game.  (Given the Aggie offense, I’m not sure what they were afraid of.)  I could hear a little girl crying behind me.  Her dad carried her out briefly, but brought her back before the end.  She was wearing the most incredible pout as she stomped in beside him.  Soon enough, she was crying again.  I felt like joining her.  1-0 Lobos was your crushing final.    

Is it wrong to admit that I was at least glad the match didn’t go to double overtime again?  It’s questionable to call a loss encouraging, but judging by my own feelings and the mood of the crowd there for autographs, this was.  While last year this team needed offense and defense, at least now, they just need more offense.  It’s a work in progress.  But for one lapse, they really seemed to come together in this game.  I could see them stealing a few games in conference play and being tough to beat in any case.

Autographs

I wasn’t sure about getting autographs, but I wanted to personally give Dmitri and the team some praise.  There were a lot of kids in line as usual.  That’s okay, but it’s just been embarrassing at times being the only adult in line getting autographs with a bunch of 9-year old girls.  This time though, there were a bunch of adults too.  I didn’t feel weird at all for a change.  There were even some younger guys with their girlfriends.  I guess who’s in the line depends on who’s in the crowd when you’re doing autograph days.   

It was a pretty good line, even though I’d gone back to my car to drop off my seat first.  The fans seemed in pretty good spirits.  They were all encouraging to the girls.  A couple of the fans brought in other things to sign.  One had an Aggie commemorative mug that he got autographs on. 

First up when I got to the tables was a pretty blonde not in uniform.  I’d noticed her on field in the warm-ups with her long flowing hair.  She’s not listed on the current roster, but I think it was Kaitlyn May.  Our hero, Dmitri Fong was right next to her.  She was exhausted and probably somewhat exasperated about the loss, but she was charming and pleasant to everyone in line.  She reached out with a bandaged hand as I told her she’d done a great job.  “The Lobos will be coming by to get your autograph later,” I said.  That got a genuine laugh out of her.  I’m glad I came now.    

During the match, I was trying to identify all the players by name and I looked over the program again while in line.  I was able to congratulate at least some of the girls by name when I had the chance.  Boy, did Hannah Leitner look gassed.  She’d done a lot of hard running in the second half.  Shea O’Connor was near the end of the tables.  I thanked her for coming here to play.  She seemed kind of touched.  Eli Gonzalez was the last player.  I’d seen her a bunch on the near sideline.  She’s cute.  (I didn’t say that to her.) 

I looked back down the line and asked the girls about #25, since I wasn’t sure about pronouncing her name, Xitlaly Hernandez.  I concerned about her.  They said she was back at the bench getting treatment.  That’s not a good sign.  The girls apologized that Xitlaly wasn’t there for autographs, which was polite, but kind of silly given her injury.

After leaving, I learned an important lesson: not all Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwiches are the same.  For dinner, I dithered about whether I should just go home or if I should go out and get what I wanted, either Raising Canes or What-a-burger.  I did the wrong thing and compromised.  I had a Subway coupon and it was on the way home.  They even had a CBR sandwich that I’d never tried before.  This was a great idea . . . until I ate it. 

I have maintained that the best sub sandwich in town is the Chicken Bacon Ranch at Dominos of all places (8-23-19).  (The Special at the Metro Deli is #2.)  The melted cheese, toasted bun, and the savory, robust flavor make it irresistible.  The one at Subway, basically had none of these qualities.  What it did have was the typical Subway stale bread (hard to believe, but this chain became popular because of their very fresh bread) and suspect bacon.  Worse, it had no taste to it.  I suppose I could have added some more toppings, but I thought the ranch sauce, cheese, and chicken would be enough. 

I meant to save half of it for the next day, but half left me hungry, and I questioned the quality of the meat and it remaining fresh in the fridge overnight.  So, all I got was indigestion.  At least the relative tastelessness kept my stomach from burning.  On top of that, I got a Frozen Tornado at PQ Treats.  Even that was kind of ruined by the sandwich, but it helped with my bellyache.  (Those things are actually the best stomachache cure I’ve found.  The sweet taste is a bonus.)

This happened because I broke my own rule at Subway.  Just order the Cold Cut.  It’s nothing special, but, with the right toppings, it’s fine.  If you’re feeling suicidal after an Aggie loss, get the Meatball.  It tastes pretty good before it kills you.  Their meatball used to be so good.  Of course, my past adulation for Subway’s offerings refers back to the 90’s.  They haven’t been good for a long time.  The service tonight was, at least, exceedingly pleasant.

There was nothing on TV tonight.  I didn’t even turn it on.  I instead listened to another disappointing Aggie Volleyball loss on the radio.  I didn’t have the heart (or stomach) to write up anything.  What was this post about again?  Oh yeah, soccer.  We’ll get back to it on Sunday, and I promise, I’ll get something better to eat. 

Aggie Volleyball at the Wildcat Classic Invitational 9-21 to 22-19

Lovely Ashley Anselmo

The Aggies took to the road after a sobering Springhill Suites Invitational.  The girls would be playing three matches in under 24 hours.  One of the matches would be against host, Arizona, who had been ranked in the top 25 earlier this season.  Listening would also be a challenge.  The Aggies’ first game was early Friday afternoon and would conflict with the Aggie Soccer match I’d be going to. 

Their next game was at night, but I missed what was probably a colorful pregame while I was on the phone talking about the soccer match.  As much as I’d liked to have slept in Saturday morning, I had to get up promptly to hear their final match.  The good news was that I wasn’t driving back-and-forth to the Pan-Am Center and watching games between teams I didn’t really care about. 

Some more Ash couldn't hurt

9-21-19 NM State Aggies vs Sacramento State Hornets

I don’t know anything about the Hornets, other than they were going to be playing back-to-back games.  That seems kind of rude of the event organizers.  The Aggies would be playing twice today too, but much later in the evening.  There was a light crowd, but several Aggie fans were there. 

Set 1

The Aggies got off to a good start at 5-0 and forcing a Sac timeout.  Beautiful Megan Hart had a couple of kills and Ashley Anselmo had three.  Krysten Garrison was already having a rough game with a couple of errors.  The Challenge System was in place here.  The first challenge went the Aggies’ way.  Our comedy relief came when a Cat Kelly swing bounced off a Sac player and rebounded over the net for a kill.  I remember Savannah Davison being on the receiving end of something like that in Albuquerque (9-1-18). Freshman Katie Birtcil, who’s from Tucson, came in at the end of the set, which the Aggies took 25-19.     

Set 2: Aggies 1, Hornets 0

Aggie service and attack errors caused them to go down early.  Megan was keeping them in it with some kills, though she got blocked on one point, a rare occurrence.  She did get a kill on the next point.  Cat tied it at 8.  The Hornets got the lead back on the Aggies’ sixth service error.  I could hear Coach Jordan yelling over Adam Young’s microphone.  He was not pleased and started calling out the number of service errors with each one.  The coach took both his timeouts when the Aggies were down by 3, but the Hornets pulled away after that.  They lost it, 25-19, on their eighth service error.

Set 3: Aggies 1, Hornets 1

There was only a two-minute intermission, not a five-minute one.  Event organizers wanted to move this one along.  (That never works.)  The Aggies got off to a 4-0 start.  Sac St came back, mostly thanks to their star Sarah Davis (pictured left).  The Hornets tied it at 6, blocking Julianna Salanoa.  Sac St then went up by 2 with a lift called on Krysten.  The Hornets had their ninth service error at 14-11.  Katie got a kill at 17-14.  Krysten and Sav both made serve errors that got the coach screaming.  Natalie Mikels got an ace at 23-22 to close to within 1 point.  Sac St net served on their first set point, but took it in extra points, 26-24.

Set 4: Hornets 2, Aggies 1

This one was close to start.  Sac St went up 7-6 on another bad serve by Krysten.  Megan got her tenth kill at 8-8.  Nat put the Aggies up, 10-9, on another ace.  11-11, a net violation on Sac St ended a long rally.  This got a big cheer out of the Aggies.  They pulled ahead on a lift call on the Hornets.  Sac St challenged another call, but it went the Aggies’ way again.  16-15 Aggies, after the fourteenth Sac St serve error, Krysten committed her sixth.  Both teams traded service errors late.  Jordan George came in and had two good serves and a dig to help the Aggies force a fifth set.  25-20 Aggies.

Set 5: Hornets 2, Aggies 2

I was glad that the Aggies were still fighting, however this ran right into me leaving for Aggie Soccer against the Lobos.  Jordan G served early, but hit one out for Aggie serve error #17.   The Hornets kept up and had their seventeenth service error at 3-2 Aggies.  Adam thought the scoreboard was wrong on a later point.  He was later assured that it was correct, but not convinced.  The Aggies made their first challenge on a disagreement between the line judge and the up official.  They were denied.

I was still listening to the game on my portable radio after that, but I was in transit and walking into the soccer complex.  I couldn’t take any notes until I sat down, and I was doing it from memory.  The Aggies went ahead.  The Hornets’ Sarah Davis ran into the scorer’s table and was shaken up.  She came out of it getting 2 kills to tie it at 10.  From there, it went to extra points.  The Hornets took it on the third match point, 17-15 for the set and, 3-2 for the match,. 

The postgame interview with Coach Jordan was memorable.  After 19 service errors, he called the team, “Mentally weak.”  (Sac St had 17.  I’m sure their coach wasn’t happy either.)  Coach said he only had two reliable servers and wasn’t entirely sure about them.  I’m not sure which two players he was talking about.  I know which ones he’s not talking about being reliable.  Adam asked about tonight’s game against the Wildcats.  “We’re going to get crushed,” answered the coach.  In addition to some scoreboard issues, the AZ staff also screwed up the player stats.  Adam could only report that Megan Hart and Savannah Davison had double-digit kills. 

Ever Effervescent Brigette Lowe 

9-21-19 NM State Aggies vs Arizona Wildcats

I’d already had two disappointments today (the last game and Aggie Soccer’s loss).  Why not make it three?  I wish I could have heard the pregame.  Coach Jordan hopefully worked up a optimism for this match.  There was a good crowd of over 2000 there.  The Wildcat band was there.  They played rimshots whenever the Aggies had a service error.

Set 1

Freshman and Tucson native, Katie Birtcil, started, I think in Cat Kelly’s place.  Perhaps the coach wanted to give her a start in her hometown.  She got a block early, but did shank a couple of serve receives.  Senior Analyssa Acosta came in to serve early.  She got a surprise kill in the set on an overpass.  The Aggies kept it close and had their blocking working.  Beautiful Megan Hart had a kill to tie it at 16 as part of a 4-point run.  Cat Kelly came in late after Katie had made a couple of errors.  AZ went on a 5-point run to win it, 25-19.

Set 2: Wildcats 1, Aggies 0

AZ took an early lead again.  Coach Jordan won a challenge to get within a point.  The Aggies then tied it at 8 on a block.  9-9, Natalie Mikels had an out-serve.  That was the third team service error.  The Wildcats went up big again, but the Aggies closed back to within 3.  AZ surged again and were up by 6.  Cat made a solo block and then got a kill, but that was pretty much it for runs.  20-16, Arizona took this point on a net violation when Lia Mosher’s ponytail hit it.  The Wildcats took Set 2, 25-19.  They won it on a solo block of a Savannah Davison swing.

Set 3: Wildcats 2, Aggies 0

Analyssa was now in at libero.  I’m not sure if the coach was mad at Halle Razo, or just wanted to try Annie.  Brigette Lowe also came in to start.  Arizona was getting lucky on top of being good, as they got a kill on a freeball with a 3-2 lead.  The Aggies took the lead on Julianna Salanoa’s turn serving, after several AZ attack errors.  The score was then tied at 7 on Krysten Garrison’s second service error.  Katie came in and got her first kill at 10-8 Aggies. 

AZ tied it again at 12.  15-14 Aggies, Jordan George made a service error after being forced to re-serve when a ball rolled out on court.  That was the second time in the game for that.  The Aggies continued to hold the lead with some good blocking and a tip by Jules.  16-15 Aggies, Meg had a rare block of her swing.  17-15 Aggies, the coach won his second challenge on a pancake dig that actually hit the court.  Unfortunately this led to some confusion over who should be serving next.  After a couple of minutes, it was settled, and Krysten made her ninth service error of the day.  Freshman Autumn Gentry came in as the setter for her.  Arizona then went ahead, and the Aggies committed their tenth service error of the game.  The Wildcats won the set, 25-22, and match, 3-0.

Coach Jordan was almost conceding in the third set by playing reserves and freshmen, but they played pretty well.  He seemed a lot calmer than after this morning’s loss.  He called for more practice, especially serving practice on the girl’s part outside of team practice.  As Aggie Football Coach Doug Martin said the other day, “You don’t play better than you practice.”  One bright spot, Analyssa Acosta had a team-high 11 digs.  The coach was not surprised by the senior’s good play.

Sultry Analyssa Acosta?

I haven't seen that look on her before

9-22-19 NM State Aggies vs Alabama State Lady Hornets

Didn’t we just play the Hornets yesterday?  Actually, it’s worse than that.  When I first glanced at the schedule, I thought they were playing Arizona State.  Who would schedule a rivalry game for an invitational?  The AS head coach, Penny Lucas-White, has an impressive resume as a player.  She’s a former All-American and a US National team member.  The Lady Hornets are the best team in the SWAC.  However, that’s where Grambling plays, so take that with a grain of salt.

There was a small crowd there for the game, but it was mostly for the Aggies.  The Hornets players did seem louder though.  Adam Young seemed to be dreading this game for its early start time.  So was I.  I didn’t want to wake up early for it either.  The things I do for the volleyball girls.  Coach Jordan was doing this as a favor to Alabama State so they could make an early flight.  This was also the Aggies third game in less than 24 hours following two losses.

Set 1

Morgan Freedman was playing for the Lady Hornets.  Really.  It’s too early to care about making dumb jokes though.  Senior Analyssa Acosta was starting at libero.  This was her first start.  I’m happy for her.  I don’t know if Coach was sending a message to Halle Razo.  I don’t think she’s been the problem on the floor or serving. 

Krysten Garrison served out on her first serve.  I’m not sure why she’s still allowed to serve.  The Aggies went up early.  Cat Kelly, Lia Mosher, and beautiful Megan Hart combined on a block on Hornet’s all-time kill leader.  Savannah Davison made an out-serve.  Subbing for her on serve wouldn’t be the worst idea, but leave her out on the floor, she’s pretty much always the Aggie kill leader.  The Hornets blocked Julianna Salanoa to tie it at 9.   

The Aggies retook the lead.  The Hornets made another run, but the Aggies countered with one of their own.  Natalie Mikels had an ace at 13-9.  Ashley Anselmo followed that with a pair of kills.  Then Nat netted a serve.  Jordan Pleasants came in and out-served, but the Aggies continued to stay in the lead.  Ash had a solo block as Jules went on a 4-point serving run.  Ashley picked up her fifth kill.  She was on fire.  Krysten came back up to serve and aced to get it to set point.  Lia got her first kill to end it, 25-13.

Set 2: Aggies 1, Lady Hornets 0

The Hornets took a quick 6-1 lead and were attacking well.  Nat broke that up with a dump kill.  Meg got two kills and a solo block to help close the score.  Sav had a net serve, but Megan got another kill, and Annie went on a serving run that included an ace, which got the Aggies the lead. 

15-14 Aggies, Halle came in to serve and went on a run that included Ash getting her sixth kill.  She got her seventh right after a sideout.  Jordan P served and got an ace that hit the tape and fell over.  Late, Krysten came up to serve again.  Adam jinxed her saying she’d worked out her serving issues, just as she out-served.  She was setting well.  Sav, meanwhile, served one under the net.  The Hornets saved two set points, but the Aggies won it, 25-20.  Cat had a pancake dig on that last point.

Set 3: Aggies 2, Lady Hornets 0

The Hornets took a small early lead.  4-3 Hornets, Ash got her eighth kill.  The Aggies went on a 6-point run.  Ash and Meg combined on a block, and Megan got another kill after that.  With the Aggies in the lead, Sav had another net serve.  I’d say it’s mental.  Nat picked it up with an ace at 13-9.  14-10 Aggies, Cat’s kill hit a Hornets player in mouth.  The girl had to come out, probably with a fat lip. 

Megan was all over it.  She had a kill, a tip, and a block with Cat.  Brigette Lowe came in and got a kill late.  21-15 Aggies, there was a bad line call.  Coach Jordan didn’t challenge it and regretted it, as the Hornets went on a 4-point run.  22-18 Aggies, they took a long rally, as a Hornet player ran into her coach on the sidelines trying to save the last shot.  23-18, Nat got her third ace and made a great save another long rally on the next point.  The Hornets saved three match points with their reserves screaming the whole time.  They challenged a touch on the final point, but lost it.  Aggies took the set, 25-23, and the match 3-0.

In the postgame interview, Coach Jordan was pleased with the win, but unhappy.  The team went 9 to 6 in service errors to aces.  He called the team “lazy,” for not practicing serving enough on their own.  “They think they’re good at it,” he said.  The coach singled out Savannah Davison’s bad serving, but her and Cat Kelly both led with 11 kills.  Ashley Anselmo had 8, and Megan Hart had 7. 

Given the team’s mental and physical condition going into this invitational, it was going to be uphill regardless of the competition.  I wasn’t expecting too much.  I think they were definitely better physically.  They were also more coordinated like they were able to do some good full-team practices.  (Of course, this is what I was hearing on the radio.  I didn’t actually see the matches.) 

Mentally, I agree with the coach, there are some issues.  The coach felt that their early season success spoiled them.  The Aggies definitely beat themselves in the first game against Sac State.  They were pretty much overpowered in the second one against Arizona, but still had personal issues.  I think Coach Jordan kind of threw in the towel in the third set there.  The team came together reasonably well in the last game.  I’m not sure how good their opponent was though.  The serving issues continued. 

If a good team has a bad game, it’s on them.  If they keep having bad games, I think that’s on the coach.  This serving issue started against the Lobos a couple of weeks ago (9-7-19), and should have been properly addressed then.  He’s got to get them right on fundamentals.  I know there’s a lot to work on in practice, but you can’t leave some of this stuff up to “homework” for the girls’ off-time.  The good news is that there’s a whole lot of talent on this team.  It really shouldn’t be that hard to get them moving in the right direction. 

Springhill Suites Invitational NMSU vs Lamar Volleyball 9-14-19

Adorable Halle Razo

Here’s where I finally question going to 12 volleyball matches and two soccer matches over two weeks with the intention of recapping all of them.  I’m bushed and all I did was watch and type.   

It was darkly cloudy outside, but hadn’t rained more than sprinkles all day.  Still, it was nice and cool.  I hoped that attendance for Aggie Football wouldn’t be diminished for the weather.  Of course, the cross-scheduling with Aggie Volleyball in the last match of this weekend’s invitational probably didn’t help either sport.  Ron picked me up for one more trip to the Pan-Am Center this weekend. 

It was sprinkling a little when we pulled into the parking lot, which was full.  I noticed the lot where I’d parked earlier was full.  This was good news for Aggie Football.  They’d heavily promoted this game with San Diego State.  Of course, this pretty much took away from Aggie Volleyball’s match.  It’s hard to say by how much, but there were a few less people inside tonight (attendance 746) than last night.    

Right after Ron and I got settled and were talking to Mike, a ball from warm-ups suddenly bounded up towards me.  I just missed fielding it or it hitting me.  Take your pick.  Balls were shooting up into the stands all over the place.  The Aggies and the Lamar Cardinals were amped up and firing.  Julianna Salanoa was happy and bouncy on the floor, as I suspect she usually is away from the court.  She sang along with I Love it (I Don’t Care) and That’s Not My Name.  Halle Razo was back in the libero shirt, so she’d be playing tonight.  She seemed a bit apprehensive on the court.      

Coach Jordan was at one end of the court talking to the opposing coach, Michelle Kuester.  Once again, he would be facing a former Aggie, this time one of his old players.  This has to be the dream of any Aggie player who wants a career in volleyball: being back at the Pan-Am and coaching against Coach Jordan.  She’d get a special introduction for the crowd, who gave her a big hand.  Jordan gave her a big hug afterward.  He must be proud of her. 

OMG!  OMG!  Dizzykitten, my favorite streamer from Twitch came in sat down in front of me!  She came all the way from Arkansas to see this match.  She was wearing a lovely, fun dress like she does when she streams.  I can’t believe this!  (How’s my hair look?)  What are you doing, Ron?  He sent her away.  He told the group that she was with that the front row is usually a crossing area for fans.  That is correct, when there are more fans here, not now.  They left to sit in lower seats by Danny and Mike.  Couldn’t you have at least directed her to sit by me? 

Hmmm . . . Looking twice, Dizzy looks a bit older in person and the guy she’s with seems like a husband of some sort.  I’m tweeting this anyway: jdh417 meets Dizzy!  Life now complete!  (Insert carefully cropped picture.)  After she left after the match, Danny came by said the nice blonde girl in front of him gave him an invite to play to Apex Legends with her on Sunday night on her Twitch stream.  Damn it! 

Set 1

I had the football game on in my ears over the radio during the match.  I don’t think I actually listened to any of it.  Events on court were much more interesting (and appealing).  Before play started, Coach Kuester directed the Lamar captain to ask the up official why NMSU scheduled this match at the same time as the football game.  He immediately issued Coach Jordan a yellow card, since Athletic Director Mario Moccia wasn’t in the building to more properly receive it.  With that, we were underway.  

The Aggies started the match off with Julianna getting a kill.  Halle looked pretty good on a couple of points.  The coach must have sat her out in the morning match to keep her fresh for this one.  If she had some lingering illness yesterday, she appeared to have recovered.  Ashley Anselmo got a kill at 3-2 Aggies.  4-4, Aggie blocking caused Lamar to scramble.  5-5, beautiful Megan Hart and Ashley combined for a block.  6-6, Savannah Davision got a kill.  Briefly, the scoreboard was correctly giving player stats, but it seems whenever a player cycles out, the scoreboard doesn’t put them back on.  I can’t find Sav’s stats after somebody serves for her.

You can tell by the running score that this set was close.  Lamar eventually took the lead, 9-6.  Much like this morning, they were still cleaning the court about every other point.  It really wasn’t that warm inside.  9-7 Lamar, Meg got her first kill after several swings.  11-7, Annika Slovak with the nice hair for Lamar served up an ace.  12-8 Lamar, after an out-serve by Natalie Mikels.  Timeout Aggies. 

12-9 Lamar, Ashley fired a crosscourt kill, but Lamar increased their lead to 15-11 after a couple of Aggie out-blocks.  15-12, Brigette Lowe came in.  She got some good playing time today.  16-14, Meg got her second kill.  Kiley Tonge came in to serve.  The Lamar reserves began an out-serve chant.  16-16, Meg hit the line with a kill.  17-17, Megan on a tip.  18-17 Aggies, Jules got a kill.  18-18, net serve by Halle.  This continued the tone from the UTEP game and yesterday.  The Aggies would score a couple of points and then commit a service error.

19-18 Aggies, Cat got a kill as two Lamar girls tripped over each other.  However, Lamar retook the lead.  After an ace at 21-19, the coach called another timeout.  22-20 Lamar, Cat had a net serve.  22-21, Jordan Pleasants came in to serve, but a double touch gave the Cardinals the lead at 23-21 lead.  24-21 Lamar, the Aggies were completely disorganized on this point.  They looked like a bad high school team.  Coach Jordan was furious.  24-22, Ash got the kill after a long rally.  Lamar had some great digging on it though to keep it going.  Lamar finally took Set 1, 25-22.

Set 2: Cardinals 1, Aggies 0

Lia Mosher started this set.  I’m not sure if she was in the first set.  Megan started Set 2 with a kill.  3-1 Aggies, Cat had a kill.  4-1, Halle put an untouched ace into the corner.  4-2, net serve.  Sigh.  The Aggies did add to their lead and went up 7-2.  A couple of Lamar fouls helped.  8-2, Sav got a kill.  Timeout Lamar.  During the break, one of the line judges seemed to be having an argument with the up official, probably over those foul calls.

The Aggies continued on their roll with a 10-5 kill by Cat.  Aggie blocking got into it with a point at 11-5.  12-5, Savannah’s cross-court kill hit the sideline.  12-7, Lamar got this point after an Ashley mis-hit.  She’d had mis-dig earlier in the set.  I was concerned about her.  13-7, Sav got the kill, but Jules served into the net on the next point.  14-8, Megan put down a kill with authority.  14-10, an Aggie DT.  15-10, Sav put one into an open court. 

15-11 Aggies, Sav net served.  The problem in the match wasn’t one bad server.  It was basically all of the Aggie servers doing the same thing: making two good serves, then making an error on the third one.  This was why it’s been almost impossible for them to come from behind in a set since last week.  15-12, Meg took a swing into the net.  She talked to Krysten Garrison about the set afterward.  16-12, Aggies with a block.  18-12, Lamar whiffed on a swing and had a player collision on the point. 

20-13 Aggies, Jules got the kill.  After, she thanked Krysten for the low set, which is where she likes it.  20-14, Nat made an out-serve.  Oh, my head.  21-14, Jules got another kill and Sav got a kill at 22-15.  23-16, Cat fired a fastball down the middle of the court.  24-17, Lia got a kill.  24-18, one more net serve by Sav, but Cat finished the set out with a kill.  Aggies took Set 2, 25-18.

Set 3: Cardinals 1, Aggies 1

Aggie Marketing staffer, Nicole had mentioned earlier that a “B” team was running the show today at the Pan-Am with Aggie going on.  I suddenly noticed that there was no “Flex-Cam,” or anything else, going on during the breaks except music.  The on-court action was plenty interesting enough.

Lamar took a 2-0 lead as the Aggies again looked confused on court.  They took a 3-1 lead after even more Aggie confusion.  3-2 Lamar, Jules got a kill, but Lamar increased their lead to 5-2 on a kill off the tape.  5-3 Lamar made an out-serve.  5-5, Krysten made a couple of good serves to tie it, but then had an out-serve.  Lamar followed that with an ace and then another out-serve.  11-8 Lamar, Sav made one of her trademark flying kills out of the backcourt.  (That’d make a good poster image.) 

11-9 Lamar, Natalie got an ace.  11-10 Lamar, Ash and Jules combined on a block.  The Aggie reserves finally got into it.  11-11, Ash hit the backline with heat.  Apparently, she was back to being okay.  12-11 Lamar, Nat, all together now, hit an out-serve.  12-12, Cat tied it on a kill.  13-13 Aggies, Sav got a kill.  Nat had a good pancake dig on the point.  Kiley came in to serve.  14-12, Ash with a kill.  15-12, Sav with an overpass dunk.  15-13, yet another Aggie serve into the net.  15-15, the Aggies took a timeout.

16-15 Aggies, Ash hit the far sideline.  17-16 Lamar, they got the block.  Kiley made a great save way off the court on the point.  18-16 Lamar, timeout Aggies.  A remix of Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight played.  That was pretty cool.  The Aggies started a comeback.  Ash had a tip, Meg had a kill, and Meg and Lia made a block.  21-18 Aggies, after a Lamar attack error.  Timeout Lamar. 

22-19 Aggies, Lamar made an out-serve.  Jordan P came in to serve.  23-19, the Aggies took the point after a long rally.  24-20, Meg had a kill.  24-21, Halle had an out-serve.  24-23, Lamar aced.  24-24, tied after a Lamar kill.  We went to extra points.  25-24 Aggies, Lia got the kill on a long rally.  26-25, a kill by Jules.  Kiley into serve.  26-26, Lamar libero Erin Pequeno made two great digs on this point.  (Don’t say I never cover the other team or notice their good plays.)  Finally, Megan puts an end to it with a kill, 28-26.  The Aggies finally managed to make a comeback in a set.   

Set 4: Aggies 2, Cardinals 1

Savannah and Coach Jordan had an extended chat about strategy before the set.  (I’m assuming they weren’t talking about dinner.  Coach: “How about I take the team over to Chuck E. Cheese if you guys win.”)  Coach Rubio talked to Megan.  Presumably, he was just telling her how great and beautiful she is and how grateful the coaching staff was to have her.  (At least that’s what I would have said.  They might have also been talking strategy.)

2-0 Aggies, they got some great digging on this point, as Sav finished it with a kill.  4-1, Sav’s serving run ended on a net serve.  Ron was able to predict these things before they’d happen by this point.  4-3, DT on the Aggies.  5-3, Meg dropped the hammer for the point.  6-4, Cat with a kill and, 7-5, Jules with a kill.  There was lengthy delay by the refs for some reason.  The play seemed pretty clear cut.  8-5, Sav kill.  Everybody’s in on it.  10-5, Cat with an ace.  Timeout Lamar.

During the break, Ron nudged me.  Mercedes Danrich of Lamar was seated on the floor by the bench with a couple of trainers and assistant coaches with her.  She was there for quite a while, before they transferred her to the training table.  There hadn’t been any obvious injuries on court.  Ron thought that maybe she’d collapsed offcourt, perhaps sick.  It was a troubling distraction.  A few minutes later, a couple of paramedics came in.  They worked with her for the rest of the match.  Eventually, she was sitting up with her head in a towel.  I think she was basically okay and they were just being careful with her.  

Back on court, 11-5 Aggies, Sav got a kill off the tape.  12-5, Cat made a great save on this point, as Sav got another kill.  12-6, Lamar finally won a point.  Cat had a great run on serve.  13-6, Ash went cross-court for the kill.  16-6, Meg and Ash had the block.  16-7, Meg had an out-swing, but that was a good run by Jules on serve.  That was two good service runs in a row. 

17-7 Aggies, Meg and Ash combined on a block.  19-9, Sav did her other trademark, a stutter step, right before hitting a kill.  Jordan G came in to serve and had an ace at 20-9.  Timeout Lamar.  20-10, net serve.  I can see where Coach Jordan is desperately trying to find a dependable sub server among his reserves.  From here, Lia and Cat had kills.  Brigette came in and combined with Jules for a block at 23-13.  She also got a kill off the tape at 24-15.  Analyssa Acosta came in to serve and Katie Birtcil came in with her.  25-17 and 3-1, the Aggies took the set and match as Katie finished it with a kill that deflected high into the stands.  The freshman has racked up another set-winning point (three that I know of).    

Four Aggies were in double figures (Savannah Davision 15, Megan Hart 11, Ashley Anselmo 11, Cat Kelly 13).  Julianna Salanoa had 8.  Obviously, attacking isn’t a problem for the Aggies.  Blocking was also good, going 10 to 3 for the Aggies.  Digs and passes were a lot better today.  It felt like the team had finally gotten into sync by the third set, but those 16 (!) service errors were killing them.  It felt like the whole team had a mental block on consistent serving.  Lamar had 9 aces, so service reception is still an issue.  

Lamar did a great job for Coach Kuester.  Abigale Nash led with 15 kills.  They just got overpowered once the Aggies got their act together.  Much like UTEP’s Coach Wallis, I’m sure she wanted to make a good showing against Coach Jordan.  Both visiting coaches took away another lesson from the master.

Ron was off to work, so no celebratory dinner.  There was smell of pizza in the air from the Dominos across the street just to make it worse.  There were also a few sprinkles, which probably drove away the crowd from Aggie Football.  (My dad said it actually rained.)  Those fans went to the wrong event if they wanted to see an Aggie win.   Aggie Football lost 31-10 to the Aztecs.  At 0-3, the team has not yet debarked from the struggle bus.  Coach Martin said something interesting in the pregame show: “The coach can lose the game, but only the players can win it.”  Something to think about, while I collapse in exhaustion from two weeks of live sports viewing and writing.