NM State Aggies vs UMKC Roo’s Volleyball 11-16-19

I saw a great official promotional picture of all of the seniors that I couldn't find later.

This is from a fan picture from a player's twitter.

Spoilers.  It all ends in tears. 

Welcome to the third cross-up in Aggie Volleyball’s scheduling this season.  This was the second time Aggie Football would be playing next door during a volleyball match (9-14-19).  Not to mention, the game on Thursday was moved to accommodate Men’s Basketball.  I kind of understand the basketball one (there didn’t seem like another way of doing it), but the times for the other two could have moved to at least not having them going on at the same time.  I feel like the volleyball program was being a little disrespected.  Hopefully, Coach Jordan doesn’t feel the same way. 

Speaking of minor annoyances, Ron neglected to tell me that he wasn’t going to be picking me up, but would meet me there.  Good thing I called beforehand.  I left early since I was concerned that there would be an issue with parking because of the football game, since they share some of the same parking lot.  Thankfully, they kept the Pan-Am Center parking lot open for volleyball fans. 

I had plenty of time to watch practice as I sat with Aggie fan, Mike.  We were also joined early by another fan couple, who usually arrive just when the game starts.  They thought there was a hat giveaway today.  (It was on Sunday at Women’s Basketball.)  Danny wasn’t here.  He went to watch Western NM play in Silver City.  Spoilers.  He was going to miss a good one.

The Roos were on court warming up.  Down the south tunnel, we could hear this insane howling.  That was how the Aggies welcomed the Roos before they came on court.  They were enthusiastic today.  They’d need it.  While the Aggies had beaten the Roos in Kansas City (10-17-19), it had been a dogfight.  UMKC was #2 in the conference at 12-3.  When the Roos finished practicing, the girls made a circle around their shortest player and she ran around and bounced off them.         

Today being Senior Day, the girls were wearing commemorative black sweatshirts.  I was wearing black too, because I didn’t want to say, “Goodbye,” to Analyssa Acosta, Ashley Anselmo, Brigette Lowe, or beautiful Megan Hart.  (The other three are lovely too, of course.)  Brielle Sterns was out on court hitting the ball.  That’s definitely a good sign for next season.  Autumn Gentry was also taking swings.  I didn’t realize she’s also listed as a hitter.  The girls were having fun.  Ashley pegged their student assistant with a kill on his rear end when he had his back turned.  Cat Kelly was wearing sweats today, but she wasn’t wearing a cast or limping, so I counted that as a good thing.  A nearby fan asked about her injury.  She’s his favorite. 

The bass over the speakers was turned up to the max.  I was vibrating in my seat with the music.  A good-looking crowd showed up today (1,100 attendance).  I don’t think they lost anything to football.  (I don’t know if football lost anything to volleyball.)  Before the team introduction, I could see Annie peeking through the curtains in the east tunnel, waiting for their cue, like she always does.  Ah, I’m missing her already.  She got a big cheer from her family when she was introduced as a starter.  During the team intro video, both teams were watching it.  Megan was staring and starting wiping tears off on her shoulder.  Then I got choked up, darn it.  Let’s just start playing.

Set 1

Julianna Salanoa put down a big slap for the first point.  There were no problems with sentimentality after the match started.  The crowd was very vocal at the beginning.  Natalie Mikels unfortunately out-served on the next point.  2-2, Jules fired a fastball for another kill.  Kiley Tonge came in early to serve.  The Double Touch fan was back, yelling for the call.  At 3-2 Aggies, he got his wish with a DT call on the Roos.  5-3, the Roos had a net serve. 

6-3 Aggies, Savannah Davison got her first kill.  It’s good to get her going early.  7-3, Meg and Ash combined on a block.  The next point was waved off by the refs for some reason.  When they replayed the point, Julianna got an ace.  9-4, Megan got her first kill.  11-5, Brigette was starting in place of Cat today and got her first kill here.  Roo libero, Maddie Renn, made a great dig on the play, but gave it back on a touch, as Brig’s swing was going out.  12-5 Aggies, Sav put in an ace.  13-6, Meg went crosscourt and hit the sideline. 

Things were looking good to this point, but the Roos started coming back.  13-8, Roo Alicia Harrington dunked on an overpass.  13-10, there was a DT call on the Aggies.  The DT guy was mad, as it looked like the Roos had done it first on the point.  Timeout Aggies.  13-11, there was a carry call on the Aggies.  13-12, Melanie Brecka had an overpass kill for the Roos.  15-13, Ty Lukes blew an easy overpass kill attempt for the Roos.  The Aggie got lucky there.

16-13 Aggies, Sav put down a kill.  16-15, the Roos took this point, but it looked like they’d touched it.  The coach was mad and argued even after the next point.  18-15, Nat and Sav passed the ball back-and-forth and Sav put in a kill.  19-15, the Roos took a timeout.  During the break, the refs had a serious discussion, while Coach Jordan continued working on the down official.

20-16 Aggies, Ash got the kill after a long rally.  The Roos had a couple of good saves on the point.  21-18, Renn put in an ace.  23-19, timeout Roos.  Brigette and the coach spoke before play started.  She seemed to be looking for some more instruction or advice.  24-20, Jules rolled a kill down the net.  25-21, Jules won the set for the Aggies with a kill.  She’d had a massive swing earlier that bounced way off court.  Harrington (I think) made a great save to keep the point going.

Set 2: Aggies 1, Roos 0

A wasp started flying around the up official.  He swatted at it with a towel.  They don’t warn you about these kind of situations in the rule book.  Brigette was still chatting with the coach for more advice.  Lia Mosher and Megan chest bumped before play.  I guess that sort of took the place of Sav and Cat doing their booty bump at the start of a set.

Jules again started the set with a kill.  The wasp started bothering the girls briefly.  The coach yelled at it and it left.  3-1, the Roos jumped out to an early lead.  They had a block on this point.  3-2 Roos, Meg put in a tip.  4-3 Roos, Megan and Lia combined on a block.  4-4, Brig got a kill on a touch.  5-4 Roos, Sav had a net serve.  5-5, Meg hammered one to tie it.  6-5 Aggies, Jules and Brig combined on a block.  7-7, Lia tied it again with a kill.

You can tell this set was highly contested.  9-7 Aggies, Nat put in an ace on the sideline.  It looked out, but we’ll take it.  10-7, Brigette got an overpass kill.  11-8, another DT call on the Roos.  12-9, Jules smacked a kill.  12-10, the Aggies got a block, but lost the point.  The Coach started yelling at them.  Unlike Thursday, Coach Jordan did not have a detached attitude towards losing this match.  13-10, Sav got a kill.  Annie had a great dig on the point.  13-12, the Roos took the point.  The Aggies nearly saved it playing it off the net and with a shoulder dig. 

13-13, timeout Aggies after a Megan attack error.  The crowd got really quiet.  I should finally mention that the Cheerleaders weren’t present for the game.  They were all at football.  There also weren’t any of the usual hijinks, promos, and giveaways (except for one later) in the breaks.  You know what; Cheerleaders aren’t optional at games in the Pan-Am Center.  Somebody needs to lead the cheering!  The crowd needs some help.

15-13 Aggies, Brigette came up with a big kill to get the crowd and the reserves going.  17-14, Brig again.  Timeout Roos.  18-15, Brig again with a kill!  She was on fire.  19-17, after shooting wide on the last point, Jules came up with a kill here.  Put away the party hats though, the Roos came back.  After a three-point run, UMKC was up 20-17.  The Aggies took a timeout after losing a long rally.  An odd obscure Queen song played in the break.  Weird.

21-19 Roos, a foul on the Aggies.  21-20 Roos, Sav made a kill out of a busted play.  21-21, Sav tied it.  22-21, the Roos took the lead on a kill that went off Jules.  The coach yelled at her vigorously as she came off.  He must want this one badly to be yelling at sweet Julianna.  23-22 Roos, Meg got a kill.  This got the crowd back into it.  23-23, a Roo swing barely went out.  Kiley had a great save on the point.  Sav then made a serve, but the play was whistled dead late for a Roo timeout.  Gamesmanship?  (Or were the refs not paying attention?)  24-23, Megan with a huge kill.  25-23, Lia with a big block won Set 2 for the Aggies.  The crowd virtually willed it with their roaring and clapping. 

Set 3: Aggies 2, Roos 0

As I got up to go to the bathroom at halftime, I found Ron.  Since he’d come late, he was up high in the lower bowl.  I changed seats, but really didn’t appreciate the change in view.  I gotta be closer to see the girls better.  Also from this perch, I suddenly noticed a co-worker and his two little girls in the south grandstand.  Actually, they were all alone in the section.  Maybe they just came in or the action on the court kept me from noticing them.  I’d told him about the game and that he should come.  I felt bad though.  His girls wanted to see Cheerleaders and I told him they’d be here. 

[Edit: On Monday, I found out that wasn’t him at all.  He’d apologized because he’d wanted to go, but wasn’t able to.  I told him that he has a twin in town, who also has two little girls.  It was just a weird coincidence and my poor eyesight deceiving me.]    

The Roos jumped out to a 2-0 lead.  They got another overpass kill.  3-2 Roos, UMKC was called for being out-of-rotation.  5-2 Roos, Lukes got another overpass kill.  The Aggies weren’t receiving and passing well, maybe because Cat wasn’t there.  Ron was grumpy about it and turning into the coach, but with a beard.  5-3, Sav got a kill with a huge rebound that went off court.  6-3, the Roos won this point.  Megan dove on a great save into the sideline table (but don’t do that, dear).  6-4, she came back with a kill on the line.

6-5 Roos, Lia made a massive kill that bounced into the stands.  7-5, Sav had a net serve.  8-7, Brig got another kill on a touch.  8-8, the Roos had an out-swing to tie it.  9-8 Aggies, timeout Roos as they were called for being in the net.  The only giveaway today was for Raising Canes coupons.  Marketing Director Nicole made a trek through the stands in the booster section to hand them out.  10-8, Brigette went crosscourt with another kill.  12-10, the Roos served long. 

14-11 Aggies, Jules muscled one in for a kill.  14-12, Kiley had a long serve, but it looked in.  The crowd booed.  15-12, Jules again with a kill.  The crowd was cheering.  15-14, Brecka got yet another overpass kill.  16-14, Meg was blocked, but came back with the kill.  16-16, Roo Alex Ratzlaff tied it with an ace.  17-16 Roos, the Aggies initially saved the point off the net, but then lost it.  Timeout Aggies.  I could hear the coach from the other side of the court from the top of the lower bowl.  Thankfully, it was a short talk.

18-16 Roos, Megan was denied on an overpass.  That was a bad sign.  19-16, the crowd started yelling on a confused play that ended with a foul on the Aggies.  20-16, DT call on the Aggies.  Ron started saying, “We’re going to lose this set.”  Why did I move up here with him?  21-16, Ratzlaff (that’s an alien drink on the show Farscape, by the way) served another ace.  Jordan George came in after Kiley missed a dig. 

21-17 Roos, Sav got a kill.  21-18, Megan with a kill.  22-18, the Roos made their third attempt at a dump play in the match and it finally worked.  22-19, Lia with a kill.  22-20, DT on the Roos.  23-20, Annie with an out-serve.  23-21, the Roos out-served.  There was a lot of pressure here.  23-22, Nat aced, regardless of the pressure.  Timeout Roos.  24-23, the Roos out-served on set point.  Halle Razo came in to serve.  25-23, the Roos finally took it.  The crowd went quiet again.     

Set 4: Aggies 2, Roos 1

A couple of little boys were playing on the band stage in the grandstand.  One of them started doing The Worm.  There wasn’t even a fan-cam today to capture it.  The Aggie coaches took a long time going over their rotation.  Coach Jordan was only able to get a quick word in with the team before the ref interrupted to start play.

1-1, Sav got a kill for the first Aggie point of the set.  2-1 Roos, Jules served into the net, but I thought I saw it drop over.  3-2 Roos, Sav with another kill.  The Roos took the next point.  Ron said, “Without Cat they can’t return it.”  4-4, the Aggies got this point on an overrule.  5-4 Roos, Sav had a net serve.  She wasn’t having a good day at the service line.  5-5, Lia smashed a kill with authority. 

The Aggies got ahead.  7-5 Aggies, Jules and Brig combined on a block.  8-5, Brigette with a kill.  Timeout Roos.  9-5, Annie had an ace off the tape.  10-8, the Roos made a great save off the net to take this point.  11-8, Brigette with a kill.  12-18, Brigette with another kill.  I am so proud of her.  13-10, the Roos had an out-serve to break up their run.  Halle came in.  13-11, the Aggies were called for being in the net.  Boo!  14-11, Ashley’s swing was out, but the Roos were called for a foul.

15-12 Aggies, Lia with another kill.  16-13, Sav got the kill.  Megan was blocked on the point, but Annie was there behind her to dig it out.  16-15, the Roos made a comeback.  You could see Savannah was exhausted on this point.  She barely moved to try to dig a kill.  16-16, Sav had a mishit that tied it for the Roos.  17-16 Aggies, the Roos out-served.  17-17, the Aggies made a campfire around a Roo kill with someone out of position.  Coach Jordan was screaming at the girls afterward.  Sav did make a dig off court to keep the point going.             

18-17 Aggies, Megan with a kill.  18-18, Nat out-served.  The Roos retook the lead.  20-18 Roos, another UMKC overpass kill.  The Aggies looked like they were moving in mud.  Timeout Aggies.  20-20, the Aggies got one more second wind.  Ashley dunked one.  Timeout Roos.  21-20 Aggies, Halle was in to serve and aced.  23-20, Jules authored a kill with punctuation. 

(I was really reaching on that last one.  I apologize.)

23-21 Aggies, Sav had an attack error.  Halle made a tremendous pancake save on the point to keep it going.  23-22, timeout Aggies.  24-23, Julianna with another kill.  Kiley was about to come in, but the coach waved her off and let Jules serve for the match.  (I hope Kiley isn’t in the coach’s doghouse and he just wanted to go with the hot hand.)  The crowd was standing and cheering awash in nervous anticipation.  It was another long, high-tension rally.  There were two fist saves to keep the point going.  Finally, Ashley and Lia combined on a block to end it.  The crowd erupted as the reserves stormed the court.  The Aggies took Set 4, 25-23, and the match, 3-1.

I’m drained.  I was mentally reliving it, while writing about that last point.  What a moment!  Okay, now that it’s happened, I can finally say that the Aggies finished the WAC regular season undefeated.  (I was afraid of jinxing it.)  The team went 16-0 in conference as part of a 17-0 winning streak.  It’s not like they were playing a bunch of cream puffs either.  GCU still has a great record, and Utah Valley and UMKC had the answer to the Aggies, but weren’t able to overcome them.  We’re not perfect yet in conference with the tournament upcoming, but we can see it from here. 

Let’s look at some of the numbers.  For the Roos, Alicia Harrington’s 18 and Melanie Brecka’s 16 led everyone in kills.  The teams were even in kills at 57.  I’ve seen the Aggies out-kill opponents in losses, so this was a rarity.  All those overpasses gave the Roos a lot of free points.  The difference was that the Roos had more attack errors.  Blocks were 7 to 5 for the Aggies, not a huge difference.  The Aggies also had 6 aces to 8 errors, which was very good.  This match still could have gone either way.            

How did the Aggies win this one?  It was Senior Day.  They weren’t going to lose.  (I hope that’s not too technical for you.)  From watching the coach, I don’t think he was going to let them lose.  Megan Hart and Savannah Davison had 13 kills each.  Julianna Salanoa and Brigette Lowe had 11.  I don’t know her career stats, but that had to have been Brigette’s best game.  She was going to make the most of her last game on her home court.  (I said all she needed was more playing time.)

Senior Day Ceremonies

Prepare your hankies.  It’s about to get wet people. 

A good number of the crowd stayed.  Ron and I moved down to watch the ceremony, but should have switched sides to the booster section, as that was where they were facing.  The UMKC seniors were all acknowledged and received a round of applause.  They had a lot of seniors and will need to completely reload, but they’ll be in another conference next year.  

The girls, Analyssa, Ashley, Brigette, and Megan, were all smiles and tears as they were introduced on court with their accomplishments.  The team watched from the floor.  I could see Savannah was wiping away tears continuously.  Brigette’s list included getting the championship-winning kill last year.  Megan lost it while they read off her long list of awards.  She already has a degree and is working on her masters. 

Coach Jordan then talked about each of them.  He described Annie as, “The story of the year,” with her four-year perseverance to become a starter.  He told the reserves watching that she’s proof of what hard work gets you. 

Ashley was a risky reclamation projection.  The coach doesn’t seem want transfers from what I’ve seen, but he saw a great prospect in her.  He called Ashley, “Easy to coach.”  (Certainly, dealing with his coaching isn’t easy.)  He said he only wished he could have been the first to recruit her so he could have had two more years with her.  (Awww.)  

The coach listed Brigette’s injuries with a broken pinky finger and then shoulder surgery.  She’d lost some of her raw power, but had been able to play effectively.  He’d whispered in her ear earlier in the week in practice that Cat wouldn’t be able to go and that she’d be starting.  Brig reportedly replied, “Huh?” 

Coach Jordan said Megan had come to the program about as wide as a sideline and had had to battle back from a serious leg injury suffered in only her second practice session.  He thought the world of her and her unlimited future and didn’t know why she’d choose to come back next year as a graduate assistant. 

(Jdh417 goes, “Yay!”  I can see assistant Meg now.  She’s got her hair up, wearing high heels, a skirt, and a blouse with little glasses perched on her nose.  Sigh.  So beautiful.  If she’s able to teach the team how they can all be 6’5”, this is going to be great.)

The coach starting getting choked up and immediately handed the mic off to the players.  He’s still their coach, they’ve still got games to play, but this is where it hits him that his seniors are about to leave the nest.  Annie was so upbeat, until she thanked her teammates and then lost it.  Ashley choked up in gratitude to the coach for letting her have this second chance.

“Hello, everyone?” Brigette started out to a round of laughter.  What a sweetheart.  She’d written hers out, “To keep it short and to not get too emotional.”  Megan came on and sounded so mature and professional.  She thanked her coaches, including Coach Wallis, now at UTEP.  This received a round of boos.  Both her and Ashley specially thanked the team trainer, Marcella.  She must be doing a very good job.  And then, Megan lost it thanking the team.  She quickly handed off the mic.  They’re great girls.  Go Aggies!  Get that championship!         

I’m getting emotional again just writing this.  Ron and I went across the street to Dominos for their excellent Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich.  (Not their pizza, there’s plenty of better places for pizza.)  Aggie Football did beat their FCS opponent, Incarnate Word, 41-28, eventually.  The game took forever and the Aggies lost out on three or four sure touchdowns for silly reasons. 

At the restaurant, one of their TV’s was on another college football game.  There was a big game between Baylor and Oklahoma coming up next.  We impulsively went over to his dad and brother’s house to watch it.  That was an excellent game with OK coming back from a big deficit at halftime to win it (even though we were rooting for Baylor).  Ron’s dad had predicted that.  Of note, a Taylor Swift commercial was playing during the game at Dominos.  I said I was finished with Tay, but Ron insisted I wasn’t.  “If Taylor walked in right now, you’d be all over her.”  Strangely, that happened on Sunday.  More details next time.

NM State Aggies vs Chicago St Cougars Volleyball 11-14-19

Oooh, I actually have juicy gossip about one of the players.  A couple of days ago, I was accosted by a co-worker, who knows I’m a fan of the team.  “Hey, I’m dating a volleyball player,” he said, rubbing it in my face.  Apparently, they weren’t too close, as I had to correct him on her name.  He’d met her while working at his other job at a food truck, which was parked outside of a bar.  The player was a bit obfuscated, told the co-worker that she thought he was handsome, and they struck up a conversation.

The co-worker was pretty excited about the prospect of going out with her, because she’s very attractive.  He was bragging to a couple of other co-workers about it when I came in.  I told him what I knew about her, which was basically what I knew about her playing ability.  “She’s great, except for her bad taste in men,” he said.  He was waiting to hear back from her. 

After today’s noon game, I got to work and told him, “Hey, I saw your girl playing this afternoon.  She was looking good.”  “Don’t say that.  It’s creepy.”  Then he suddenly realized I had some potential for contact with her, “Don’t say anything to her about me.  Don’t mention me.”  Oh, darn.  I was hoping to help.  (Actually, if I’d had the opportunity to, I would have.  He should have warned me earlier.)     

By the way, the player in question isn’t Cat Kelly pictured above.  (Or beautiful Megan Hart.  That would have really upset me.)  Unfortunately, the news about Cat isn’t so amusing.  Her hamstring is torn.  Cat wouldn’t be playing today or on Saturday, since these games don’t really matter.  The Aggies have already clinched the #1 seed at the WAC Tournament.  (I sold that clinching win over GCU last week a bit short.  They only have three losses in conference, two of which are to the Aggies.)  In the pregame show, Coach Jordan didn’t sound hopeful she’d be back for the tournament.

The coach was more upbeat talking about Chicago State.  They were 1-13 in conference, but their win was in their last game over Utah Valley.  They’d also played some other teams pretty tough.  As mentioned, this was a very odd Thursday noon game, which the girls wouldn’t be used to.  (Aggie Men’s Basketball would be playing this evening.  They would beat Southern handily, though they were really cold in shooting to start the game.)  When the girls came out on court in uniform to do their circle cheering, they seemed a bit low-energy.  You might notice that I’m foreshadowing a bit here.  

Ron and I didn’t come together to the game.  He said he’d try to make it later and made it just before the game started.  I was sitting with Danny, but he had to leave after a couple of sets.  I hope the girls at least noticed that there was a good crowd for them.  Given the time and day, having nearly 700 was pretty good.  Ron noticed that they were really only missing the kids today in attendance.  (The ballgirls on the sidelines were the only young people there.  Ron wondered why they weren’t in school.)  There were a few college students in the south grandstand.   

The tape marking out the court was blue, which I hadn’t seen before.  The previous tape was taken up for Women’s Basketball.  I’ve seen the blue tape on another dual purpose court.  Perhaps it doesn’t interfere with basketball play as much as the white tape.  I noticed Brielle Sterns was back with the team in the practice, though she wasn’t playing.  There’s hope she’ll be able to play next year.  Brenda Hernandez’s hair keeps getting pinker.  The Cheerleaders were there working this game.  We did have radio call.  Lastly, the Cougars all watched the Aggies’ intro video with rapt attention. 

Set 1

Brigette Lowe was starting in place of Cat today.  Natalie Mikels began the match with an ace.  However, she out-served on the next serve.  Chicago State went on a short run, but Julianna Salanoa broke it up with a kill, 3-2 CS.  Halle Razo came in early to serve.  The coach had warned he’d doing a lot of subs today.

And then the wheels kind of came off.  The Cougars went on a big run to 8-2.  Timeout Aggies.  They were having trouble digging and were hitting it out.  CS was getting some good kills.  Their team and reserves were way up in excitement.  As the coach had warned, they didn’t look like a 1-13 team.  Jules pounded a nail out of the timeout to sideout, 8-3 CS. 

9-4 CS, Megan got a kill off a block.  The team then got called for a couple of fouls.  Meg came back with a tip at 11-6.  The Aggies started making a comeback.  11-8, Lia Mosher and Jules combined on a block and CS took a timeout.  There was a t-shirt toss by the Cheerleaders.  One of the shirts didn’t make to some fans over the east tunnel.  A staff member took a few tries to get it up to them. 

11-10 CS, Savannah Davison made a flying kill to get within one.  A net violation ended Analyssa Acosta’s great serving run on the next point.  Chicago State went up 14-10 after a couple of Aggie attack errors.  15-10, Brigette was blocked.  She was playing as the opposite hitter for the first time and learning how on the job.  15-11, Jules got a crosscourt kill.  17-13 CS, this point might have been the low point of the match for the Aggies.  There was total confusion as the team just let a passed ball drop on court. 

At 18-13 CS, Coach Jordan took a timeout.  The coach didn’t seem mad yet, but then we found out later what he said.  I’ll get back to that at the end.  18-14, Jules pounded another one out of the break, but the Cougars then went on a run.  20-14, they aced.  Jules nearly went into the press table trying to dig it.  21-14, they blocked her on a shot.  22-14, another Cougar ace. 

23-15 CS, Ashley Anselmo broke up the run with a kill.  Jordan George came in to serve.  24-17, Sav had a kill, but that was it for the Aggies.  Chicago State took Set 1, 25-17.  Oh boy, were the Aggies missing Cat.  This team had seemed so deep this season, but as the coach had said earlier, they don’t have that depth at outside hitter.  Not having Sav at full strength for the first two sets against CBU (10-28-19) almost caused a loss.  Cat is another key piece that there isn’t an easy replacement for.  Since she wasn’t going to be playing, the rest of the team was going to have to figure it out without her.

Set 2: Cougars 1, Aggies 0

Kiley Tonge started for this set.  She got a dig immediately, as Jules started this set off with a kill.  2-2, Kiley ducked under a CS serve that went out.  4-2 CS, freshman Katie Birtcil came in.  The Cougars hit the tape on a swing that dropped over.  6-2 CS, a bad set totally missed Sav.  It looked bad.  6-3 CS, another Cougar out-serve.  7-3 CS, Sav served into the net.  Service errors are absolutely contagious.  7-4 CS, Meg and Katie combined on a block.  8-4 CS, usually dependable Annie had a net serve.

Adam Young on radio reported that the crowd was, “Stunned,” by events on court.  True, but I wasn’t entirely surprised.  I listed the reasons why this was a “trap” game earlier.  Last year, Chicago State lost here in straight sets (11-17-18), but still managed to give the Aggies one their hardest sets of the season. 

9-5 CS, Jules pounded a kill.  She is turning into a big time player.  10-6 CS, Natalie physically moved Brigette into another position before the Cougar serve.  Chicago State ended up being called for out-of-rotation on the point.  The CS coach and their captain complained to the up official to no avail.  Too bad they didn’t have Nat positioning their players.  12-8 CS, Ashley got a kill and another on the next point.  12-9 CS, timeout Cougars. 

The Aggies continued their comeback.  14-10 CS, Meg with a tip.  14-11, Megan with a block.  14-12, Megan with a kill.  14-13, Sav said, “Don’t hog the ball.  Let me do something!” and had a kill.  She then tied it at 14 with a kill.  The Aggies took the lead with an ace by Krysten Garrison.  16-15 Aggies, a Cougar swing hit the backline to finally side out on a long serving run by Krysten.  After all her serving troubles earlier this season, she’d gotten it together. 

The Aggies built on their lead.  17-16 Aggies, Meg got another kill.  19-17, Jules put down the hammer.  The crowd was not quiet now.  20-17, this point was an insane, long rally.  One of Sav’s digs brushed the video board, but was still in play.  The point ended with a CS swing into the net.  Timeout Cougars, probably just so everyone could catch their breath.  Ron’s highlight of the match came here.  The Cheerleaders were giving out Aggie hats.  He signaled for one and a girl hand-delivered it.  He was beaming afterward.

Back to the action, 20-19 Aggies, Chicago State got an ace.  CS tied it at 20 after another long rally.  The Aggies had two free balls, Brig almost went into the sideline table for a dig, and Savannah made a great fist dig falling backward.  21-20, the Cougars retook the lead on an overpass kill.  That was off a bad pass by Sav.  The coach pulled her for Jordan G.  21-21, the score was tied again with Brigette getting her first kill.  22-21 Aggies, Brig got another kill.  Jordan had a dig on the point.  22-22, we weren’t done yet, as Nat had a net serve.  23-22 CS, timeout Aggies.  23-23, Cougar net serve.  24-23, Sav was back in and got the Aggies to set point with a kill.  25-23, the Aggies took Set 2 on another kill by Savannah.  Kiley was serving at the end.

Set 3: Cougars 1, Aggies 1

Nat had another ace to start.  The ball was returned out.  Analyssa grabbed Brigette to keep her from trying to dig it.  1-1, Brig was called for being into the net on the next point.  A misplay seemed to be destined either way.  2-1 Aggies, Jules killed it with a tip.  Kiley was back into serve.  3-1, Ash had a kill.  4-1, Sav had a kill.  Nat had to physically move Ashley out of the way to get a dig on the point.  6-1 Aggies, timeout Cougars.

The run continued.  7-1 Aggies, Ash and Jules got the block.  There was a short delay as a wasp or bee invaded the court.  The players all backed away from it.  8-1, Ashley and Jules got another block.  9-1, Sav with a kill.  9-2, the Cougars finally sided out.  That was a great serving run by Kiley.          

12-2 Aggies, four touches was called on CS to end a long rally.  The players argued.  They had had a great pancake dig on the point.  13-5, four touches was called on the Aggies.  Coach Jordan was yelling at the refs.  14-6, Megan broke up the CS run with a kill.  15-6, Lia had a massive overpass kill.  15-7, Brig was called for being in the net again.  16-7, a double touch was called on the Cougars.  The Aggies got bailed out on that call, because they were otherwise going to give up a kill.

16-8 Aggies, Annie out-served.  17-18, Chicago State did the same.  Still contagious.  19-8, timeout CS.  Coming out of the break, a couple of players had to wave for a ball to serve, as the ballgirl wasn’t paying attention.  20-11, CS took this point.  Ashley seemed to be hit on the nose.  She was okay and her lovely face wasn’t damaged.  21-11, strangely both teams protested the ref’s call, but the Aggies got it.  22-11, Ash and Meg combined on a block.  23-11, Jordan G was back serving.  Sav got a kill.  23-12, Sav had a net violation.  Was this the call du jour of the down official or were the girls just clumsy?  24-13, Ash with the kill to get it to set point.  25-15, the Cougars had an out-serve to give Set 3 to the Aggies. 

Set 4: Aggies 2, Cougars 1

Savannah high-fived one of the ballgirls as the teams exchanged sides.  Honestly, the ballgirls mostly seem to be oblivious to the score or who’s winning.  Anybody at the press table not calling the game doesn’t seem to be into it either.  They’re all busy with their jobs. 

Sav started the set with a kill.  At 4-0 Aggies, the CS coach took a quick timeout.  The Aggies were on a roll going back to the last set.  Julianna’s serving run was broke at 5-1.  A Cougar swing rolled along the tape and fell in.  5-2, the Cougars had a panicked exchange on their side, but managed to get the ball over and hit Natalie for the point.  6-2, Sav had a kill.  7-2, Krysten had another ace.  8-2, Lia crushed a kill.

9-4, the Aggies took this point, but nearly lost Megan as she fell to the floor.  Thankfully, she was okay.  9-5 Aggies, Sav had an out-serve.  She then had an out-swing that got the coach yelling.  10-7, CS had an out-serve.  11-7, Lia had a kill.  There was a delay right after as the balls were inspected and one was tossed out.  Was there a bad ball causing the bad serves? 

12-7 Aggies, Brigette and Jules combined on a block.  13-8, Brigette slammed one in.  You could see her getting more comfortable and confident on court this set.  14-8, Sav with the overpass kill.  15-8, Sav and Jules combined on a block.  Sav also had a great dig on the point.  15-10, Jules had an out-serve.  Okay, it wasn’t the balls.  16-10, Megan kapow!  (I’m running out of ways to describe kills.)  17-10, CS was called for being into the net.  Maybe it was just the ref wanting to call it.         

18-12 Aggies, Jordan G was back in to serve.  19-13, Meg slapped one down.  Chicago State then went on a run.  19-15, timeout Aggies.  Brig got an unintentional dig off her shoulder on the point.  She came back with a kill on a touch at 21-16.  She followed that up with a crosscourt shot.  Timeout Cougars.  The ballgirls danced and goofed around during the break.  Hey, we’re not in school and we’re hanging out at a volleyball game!  Out of the break, Nat again moved Brigette around in the rotation.  She has a good head for the rules.  23-17 Aggies, Ashley had an overpass kill.  24-17, Ash with another kill.  24-18, the Cougars made a good block on Sav.  25-18, Ashley ended Set 4, and the match, 3-1, with a kill.

That was a workout.  In the postgame interview, Coach Jordan heaped praise on Chicago State’s effort today.  For his own team, he was less effusive.  Here we found out what he’d said in that one timeout in Set 1.  He was threatening to put in the reserves and call it a day, unless they the girls on the court started playing harder.  What a motivator!  (Meanwhile, the reserves were like quietly, Yay! I might get to play today!)

The Cougars did play very hard today.  As soon as the Aggies finally got used to playing without Cat, Chicago State was in trouble after that.  Josi Borum had 14 kills to lead CS, with Kirah Williams-Shephard next at 12.  I’m not sure why this team doesn’t have more success.  They look like should play well and they do.  No offense to their coach, but I wonder how they’d do with Coach Jordan handling them for a season.  Don’t make me go rooting for a conference opponent here with a plucky attitude.

Savannah Davison was her usual great self with a double-double of 16 kills and 11 digs.  Ashley Anselmo stepped up with 10 kills.  Megan Hart had 9 kills and Julianna Salanoa had 8.  Brigette Lowe had 5 kills starting and really got into the swing of it late in the match.  All she needs is more playing time.  Team stats were close for the match.  Both teams had 10 blocks.  The Aggie serving was decent with 7 aces, while staying out of double-digit serving errors.

After the match, Ron told me that his hat-delivering Cheerleader fell while being lifted during the postgame celebration.  I totally missed that happening.  She was hurt pretty bad, but she did what any good Cheerleader would do.  She got up, smiled, and finished the routine.

Cat Kelly came over to the stands afterward.  She was probably talking to her dad.  I couldn’t resist going over to wish her good luck in healing and telling her that she’d done a great job this year.  She thanked me and gave me a slightly embarrassed smile.  It’s almost like nobody ever tells these players how good they are (certainly not the coach).  I hope Cat will be okay to play.  She missed out on the end of last season because of illness.  With the great job she does on court, Cat certainly deserves to play in the postseason. 

Just to sing Cat’s praises for a moment, she seems undersized for the outside hitter position.  She also doesn’t have the showy flash that the other girls have in getting kills.  But, there she is getting double digit kills all the time and being a solid defender in digs and at the net.  You notice her, but don’t realize how important she is until she’s not there.  Lack of injuries has made this team great this year.  With two games before the tournament, the Aggies have time to work out how to play without her, but they’re better with her.

Ron and I had an early dinner at Day’s Hamburgers.  This was mostly because it was near my work, which I went to early.  I admit, this matinee game worked out well for my schedule.  I got to see a game without taking time off.  After a great burger, we walked over to Zia Comics nearby.  I got a couple more comics to review and we picked up ice cream there.  Actually, I found out ice cream and comics aren’t a good combination, as I accidently smeared the cover on one of them with my cone.  That’s okay.  It was a good day.

More Comic Reviews: B&V, D&D, and Swamp Thing

Well, this was certainly a grab bag that I picked up last week. 

Betty and Veronica Friends Forever #1: Supernatural Stories

I have bought Classic Archie Comics at comic book stores before.  While the main line Archie has gone away from the classic look, they are still using it in digests and the Your Pal Archie title.  It’s meant for kids with the friendly artwork and reduced price.  I suspect Zia Comics was okay with me picking it up anyway.

There are four short stories inside.  They fill up the entire interior.  There were no ads, so you’re getting your money’s worth.  It’s also printed on thick, bright, slick paper, so it’s physically of better quality than Marvel or DC comics.  The stories are silly and cute.  The artwork is functional.  I’ve seen Dan Parent do better work on covers and pinups.  I wish could see that in his stories work. 

I’m not going to say this was a great comic, but I was grinning the whole time I was reading it.  Maybe it was nostalgia or the innocence of the setting.  I enjoyed it.

The next issue might be interesting whenever it comes out.

           

DC Dollar Comics: Swamp Thing

This is DC’s analog to Marvel’s True Believers $1 reprints.  I think this was to promote the new Swamp Thing DC streaming service TV show, which was canceled right after its first episode debuted (too high production costs).  I decided to pick this up instead of the $5 Swamp Thing 100-page Giant that was also just released.  While the Giant had a Zantana story listed, I went with the cheaper option.  I was also interested in the Bernie Wrightson artwork.  I seem to recall this character and Marvel’s swamp creature, Man-Thing, were introduced within a month of each other.  Weird that only one of them caught on.  Perhaps it was the art and Len Wein story made the difference.

I’ve only ever read one other Swamp Thing comic.  It was part of a DC anthology.  He was sort of a low-key supernatural hero.  This issue featured Swamp Thing’s origin.  All I’ve really known about the character came from the 80’s movie.  (I think Adrienne Barbeau’s “performance” in that movie may have introduced more young boys to puberty than even Slave Leia from Return of the Jedi.)  The comic book story is sort of like it basically, but definitely different in execution. 

It’s certainly a horror comic and more hardcore than the movie, but not that scary.  It was set up as a continuing series, which probably took some bite out of the horror element.  I’m not sure if any of this ties into Alan Moore’s famous run with Swamp Thing being some kind of nature avatar.  This was okay for what it was, but suffers from being too functional as it was an origin story.

Dungeons & Dragons: Baldur’s Gate

This was actually the issue I’d gone to the store to get from seeing this week’s solicitations.  I don’t know why other than the “100 pages of D&D for $6,” it was advertised as.  That’s kind of irresistible to me at least.  On the other hand, I’d had plenty of warnings that this was going to disappoint me.  Why didn’t I listen?

First, it features Boo on the cover.  What’s wrong with the miniature giant space hamster?  One A, it’s a dumb concept creature from Spelljammer made worse in miniature.  Two B, it meant his even dumber master, Minsc, would be in this.  I’d already been exposed to these ridiculous gag characters in a giveaway comic, which I think I no longer have.  We’ll make that point #2, as said comic is reprinted here right at the beginning.  Worse still, the fourth story just features Minsc.  The first story mostly features Minsc.  The second and third use the other characters in the group, but they suck, so that doesn’t help.

Point #3, I could have figured out beforehand this going to be a bunch of reprints.  What I should have figured out was that it was just going to be the first issues the various Baldur’s Gate limited series.  It was going to be a teasing disappointment that would dissuade me from buying the trades (even if I’d liked the comics), since I’d just bought the first issue of each right here.

You’d think after my last IDW D&D comic purchase, I would have learned my lesson.  Make that point #4.  Fifth, IDW did an excellent D&D comic for fourth edition, so it’s not like they’re incapable to putting out a good genre comic.  It was clever, adventurous, and the characters were sharply well-drawn in their personalities.  These Baldur’s Gate stories have none of that.  I doubt any group of players would do the injustice of playing characters be so bland or foolish, no matter how tactically-minded they were.  I could see a bad DM setting up these stories though.  

Sub-point 5 A, one of these stories has Dragonborn character in it.  What dumbass DM allowed this character race into the game?  What were you thinking?  Why is this a part of the published game?  Well, Jdh417, this just adds more choices to the game to make it more fun and acceptable to modern audiences.  Shut up!  Shut up!  Shut up!  You deviant heretic, shut up!  You and your kind are banned from D&D.  That’s right.  I’m gatekeeping and you’re on the outside looking in for your unnatural half-dragon-luvin’ ways.  Pervert. 

     

The first and last issues reprinted have the best artwork.  The first one features Delina, the pretty Elf mage.  She looks good, but isn’t much of a character.  The second issue is more cartoony, while the third tries to be more realistic (and fails).  I just don’t have anything good to say here.  Don’t buy this or any of the current IDW D&D comics.

So surprisingly, Betty and Veronica win the smackdown here, if this was an actual comic book review fight.  It does occur to me that a bunch of reprints and gimmicks are the only thing enticing me to go to the comic book store.  I don’t think this is going to last for me much longer.