NM State Aggies Volleyball Postseason 2019

The Regular Season Review is here.

Regular Season Awards

Beautiful Megan Hart was the WAC Player of the Year.  She was hitting nearly .400 for the season.  Coach Jordan was the Coach of the Year for going undefeated in conference play.  Elected to the All-Conference First Team were Savannah Davison and Julianna Salanoa.  Every other team in conference would probably like Sav playing for them instead of against them.  Jules was ranked in the top 20 in the country for blocks.  

WAC Tournament

11-22-19 vs Utah Valley Wolverines Semi-final

I’d resigned myself to keeping track of this match via the team’s Twitter, since there wasn’t any radio call.  There weren’t even live stats for it.  I was heartened to see the Cat Kelly was starting.  As the coach would say later, Brigette Lowe was right there with the hitting and blocking, but Cat was better with the receiving.  The Twitter feed posted the Aggie highlights, but didn’t actually show the score until the end of Set 1.  The Aggies dominated 25-12.

There was sudden flurry of updates about halfway through Set 2.  The ESPN+ coverage had gone down.  The WAC Digital Network would now be showing the game.  Yay!  I immediately brought that up.  (No, I’m not doing a shot-by-shot recap.  I was working.)  The Aggies had dominated Set 2 early, but as soon as I started watching the Wolverines tied it up, as they blocked out beautiful Megan Hart.  However, Aggie blocking got them back ahead, and they won it 26-24 in extra points.

I was able to sit down and watch most of Set 3.  The Aggies got out in front as UVU had a pair of back-to-back double touch calls.  Megan had a tremendous off-speed kill that floated into the back corner.  Savannah Davison actually set Ashley Anselmo for a kill.  Lia Mosher had a kill that the UVU announcer described as, “Sounded like it came out of a cannon.” 

By mid-match, the Wolverines’ blocking came up big with four blocks in a row to give them the lead.  Once again, Aggie blocking got them back into it.  Sav came back with an angry kill to get the Aggies back in the lead.  They’d go on to finish it off 25-21 and 3-0.  The Wolverines were just as good at blocking (11 to 10 Aggies), but not in attacking.  The Aggies were up 50 to 25 in kills.  Savannah Davison led with 15 kills, Megan Hart had 12, and Julianna Salanoa had 9 blocks.  The Aggies were weak on serve, with 9 serve errors and only 3 aces.

The Utah Valley coach went over and congratulated the entire Aggie team afterward.  That was pretty classy.  While the Utah Valley fans had really shown up the teams’ previous meeting (over 1,600 on 9-26-19), it didn’t look like a great crowd there tonight for the home team.  They should have played the tournament here in Las Cruces.  In the postgame, Coach Jordan took a swipe at the WAC over the location, though it seemed like he thought that they should be playing at a neutral site.  (He was being kind of vague in saying it.)

11-23-19 vs GCU Lopes Final

I found out who won this Saturday evening match on Sunday evening.  I felt lucky that I finally picked the right El Paso TV station to get an update from.  The two I watched Saturday night only covered the Aggie/Miner Football game and Women’s Basketball matchup.   

Regrettably, I didn’t get much more information than that.  The Aggies beat GCU in straight sets for the third time.  (Even Chicago State won a set against the Aggies.)  I made excuses for the Lopes the first time, but after these three wins, I think the Aggies just had their number.  The Lopes did finish as the number two team in conference, so they weren’t bad.

According to the Las Cruces Sun-News recap, Cat Kelly personally overwhelmed the Lopes in the first set with 8 kills to win 25-17.  Set 2 was closer at 25-23.  For the third set, the Lopes showed some real grit by fighting off four match points to tie the score.  Cat put the team back in the lead with kill #15.  I did see the final point on the team Twitter.  It was truly epic as Savannah Davison finished it off with a kill, 26-24.

Beautiful Megan Hart is now a two-time WAC Tournament MVP.  In her interview, she referred to herself as a, “Big crybaby,” for getting emotional.  Savannah Davison made the All-Tournament team.  The coach had no comment on her performance, which is the nicest thing he’s ever said about her.  I’m just kidding.  I’m sure he grunted something that sounded vaguely affirming.  Then there’s Cat Kelly.  The coach did praise her tremendous performance, “On one leg,” as the interviewer put it.  It’s hard not to be impressed with the whole team for not dropping a set for the tournament.

NCAA Tournament

12-6-19 vs BYU Cougars

The team would have to wait until after Thanksgiving to find out who their opponent would be in the NCAA Tournament.  They had a viewing party at the Barbara Hubbard Room on that Sunday after.  I meant to go, but I’m going to have to finally mention something personal.  My mom was in the hospital for the last two weeks.  She’d gotten pneumonia and had existing serious health problems.  She passed away in the morning before this game.  Regardless of the outcome, I was happy to see the volleyball girls and to have a distraction for a couple of hours.

Unlike Oregon last year, host BYU did not charge for their TV coverage of this match.  Also unlike last year, there wasn’t any Aggie radio call.  Jack Nixon came home sick after the Aggie Men’s Basketball team lost in the Cayman Islands Tournament (who could blame him?  I didn’t feel so good), but his backup, Adam Young, didn’t call the Men’s next game.  I’m sure I heard initially that there was going to be radio coverage.  I don’t know what happened.  Was this another slight against the volleyball team this year after all the scheduling issues?

Regardless, BYU-TV put up a very professional broadcast.  I was impressed.  I ended up bookmarking their site, because they were advertising some interesting-looking Christmas programming during the breaks.  I got into their coverage as they were showing a prerecorded interview with their star player, McKenna Miller.  She is awfully good-looking and charming.  McKenna was also married.  At least one of her teammates was also mentioned as being married.  I think they were both hitched to guys on BYU Men’s teams.  The interview was extremely relaxed.  They must be chatting with the players on camera all the time. 

BYU was the #14 seed in the tournament and haven’t lost a home tournament game since the 90’s.  They didn’t win their conference, the WCC.  The Aggies played and lost to Portland from that conference earlier this season (9-13-19).  Portland came in last in the WCC.  That was not a good sign for tonight’s game. 

The commentators couldn’t quite help themselves in the looking forward to BYU’s potential next opponent in their draw.  They respected the Aggies’ accomplishments this year, but were expecting a win.  The pregame highlighted Megan Hart’s resume.  They also showed her on camera sitting on the bench, and she looked more beautiful than ever.  Gotta make sure to look good for the big game.  The rest of the team was referred to as, “Undersized, but athletic.”  The broadcasters were tickled at the prospect of beating Michael Jordan, referring to Coach Mike Jordan.   

The game was played at the Smith Fieldhouse.  It was an intimate venue with small grandstands on either side of the court and seating at the ends of the court with second deck balconies.  The fans were right on top of the action.  McKenna didn’t want them to move volleyball tournament games to the university’s larger basketball arena.  With their usual large crowds, they had a real home court advantage in the smaller building.

  

The seats were mostly filled (2,400 attendance), which made the crowd loud.  There was a rowdy student section right behind one of the service lines that might cause some opponent intimidation.  Before the match, they were swaying and singing to a Kayne West song on the PA.  BYU’s Men’s Volleyball team was there, along with the Utah girls, who won the game preceding this one.  The non-playing Aggie reserves were also in the stands.  The camera found Kassi Stotlz grooving in her seat during one break.  She’s always working it.  (Nice call by the broadcast director on that shot.) 

Set 1

Set 1 started promisingly with Natalie Mikels serving up an ace.  Unfortunately, this set went downhill for the Aggies shortly thereafter.  Lefty Cougar, Whitney Bower, went on a 16-point serving run.  She very nearly served-out the set, but hit it out on set point.  This was way too reminiscent of lefty, Willow Johnson (Randy Johnson’s daughter) going on an 11-point run for Oregon last year.  These lefties remind me of Crash Parker on the Aggies a couple of years ago, though she’s right-handed.  She has that kind of curveball action on her serve.  Perhaps the team needs to recruit or bring in somebody prep them for good left-handed serving.

The Set 1 final went 25-7 Cougars.  Ouch.  You knew it wasn’t going to go the Aggies’ way when Megan was getting blocked on her signature spike move.  The announcers were still very impressed by Savannah Davison’s high-flying acrobatics.  Analyssa Acosta made a tremendous dig on a swing by McKenna.  Brigette Lowe and Autumn Gentry came in went the set was out-of-hand.  It was a surprise to see the freshman, Autumn.  She must have impressed the coach at some point.   

Set 2: Cougars 1, Aggies 0

“What did we learn?”  This was what Coach Jordan asked his team in the huddle between sets, as reported by the sideline reporter.  The coach was able to point out some adjustments and calm down the girls’ nerves a bit.  This set went to BYU, but the Aggies fought it a 25-23 result.  Nervous serving was an issue.  For this set, the team was next to the student section.  Krysten Garrison regressed back to her early season form, but others contributed to the eight total service errors for the match. 

Julianna Salanoa got blocked on her signature low-swing over the net move, but Megan did get her first kill.  Ashley Anselmo was the one finding the seam with five kills.  Sav was coming up big with kills and assisting on blocks.  The announcers were not surprised at all by the Aggies coming back and making a strong showing.

Set 3: Cougars 2, Aggies 0

Natalie started off another set with an ace.  Early in, Ashley hit a kill into the announcers.  I think only a tin of mints was disturbed.  The Aggies got their blocking working and went out to a 3-point lead about halfway through the set.  But, there was that Whitney girl again serving to put BYU back in the lead.  McKenna put the Cougars up definitively with back-to-back aces, of which the team had eight total for the match.  The Aggies would fight off a few match points, including a swing that seemed to bounce and hit one of the balconies, but was still in play.  BYU won 25-19 in Set 3, and the match, 3-0.  The coach did make sure to put Brigette in before the end, as a nice nod to the senior. 

McKenna Miller led all scorers with 13 kills.  The Cougars did what few other teams managed to do this season in out-killing the Aggies, 41-32.  Savannah Davison was next with 12.  She may be “undersized,” but she’s also unstoppable.  Cat Kelly, who’s also probably in the undersized category, had 6 kills.  Senior Ashley Anselmo finished her college career strong with 6 kills.  Megan Hart only had 3 kills, but did have 3 blocks.  I think BYU had Megan game-planned and didn’t care what anybody else scored.          

Next Season  

I covered the current team in the Regular Season Recap.  I’d like to look ahead to next year here. 

With Megan Hart joining the staff as a graduate next year, the Aggies will at last have corrected their main deficiency in not having an attractive assistant coach.  No offense to Coaches Rubio and Hertel, but most of the other teams the Aggies were playing were cleaning our clock in this area.  Unfortunately, losing Megan on court is a bit more serious.  Beyond her kills and blocks, Meg’s 6’5” frame was an actual weapon of psychological warfare that demoralized opponents.  That element will be difficult to replace.   

I’m curious to see more of Autumn Gentry.  Not just because she’s good-looking (that certainly doesn’t hurt), but she’s listed as a setter and a hitter.  I’d like to see Brie Mortensen play some more.  Again the “looks” thing, but I have a feeling she’ll be good, but needs some play time.  However, the current setting corps, Natalie Mikels and Krysten Garrison, is returning, which would likely limit either of them getting in. 

I hope Cat Kelly can heal properly in the offseason, even though being injured didn’t seem to slow her down much in the postseason.  Savannah Davison is simply great.  She just needs to work on her serving.  Unfortunately, neither of them will get any taller, which was what BYU picked on.  

The team also suffered when Cat was hurt and when Sav had trouble playing.  I’d look for the coach to start grooming some more hitters, like Katie Birtcil.  Could Krysten be moved back to hitter?  The coach will probably not want to mess with a good thing between her and Nat setting, but Krysten’s got to get better with her serving too.  She either needs to cut down on the errors or start acing a lot more. 

Megan is going to be hard to replace on the front line, but Lia Mosher paired with Julianna Salanoa should still be very good.  I think Lia busts out next year like Jules did this year.  There’s plenty of other blockers potentially: Brielle Sterns (I assume she’ll be back and ready to play), Tessa Fisk, Lindsay Blakey, and Kaleigh Thomas.   

I hope Halle Razo wins back the libero job next season.  I felt bad for her, since she’d done a good job last year.  However, I think Kiley Tonge and maybe some others will be pushing for the spot.  I’m sure Analyssa Acosta’s story this season has inspired some of her bench teammates.     

Of course, Coach Jordan is out recruiting new Aggies as well.  After the successful Ashley Anselmo experiment, maybe he’ll consider another transfer.  Could he luck out and find a freshman, who’s ready to contribute immediately?  Well, cheers to this year of Aggie Volleyball, and I am looking forward to next year.  

Sports Journal November 23 to 30, 2019

11-23-19

This is a bit of a cheat here.  I didn’t watch or hear this Women’s Basketball game between the Miners and Aggies when it was played.  I’d been at Aggie Football versus the Miners during the afternoon and ate out in the evening.  I’d tried to get this game on the radio at home, but I’d come in late and the reception on the El Paso station had powered down for the night.

This was the reciprocal game after the Aggie home game (11-13-19).  UTEP won the first meeting in a fairly tight game, but in El Paso, the Miners dominated, 65-45.  UTEP led the game all the way.  Gia Pack had 18 points and Aaliyah Prince had 10 to lead the Aggies.  My dear Katerina Zec had 11 and two other Miner players in were double figures.  (Yes, I’m playing favorites.  I don’t have to cover UTEP’s players fairly.)  The significant stats were a 19-9 Miner advantage in bench points and the Aggies going 1-15 in three-pointers.  They did have a 13-8 edge in steals though.

11-24-19

I still didn’t know how the Aggie Volleyball team had done in their championship game on Sunday morning, but I got to watch the Patriot League Volleyball Championship on Stadium with Army versus American University.  I’d seen the Eagles play against Navy for the championship last year (11-18-18).  The Midshipmen had beaten AU on their home court to win it.

I didn’t take notes during the match, but I can sum it up by starting at the trophy presentation.  The MVP for the tournament was the AU setter, Olivia Wassner.  She was also one of the tallest girls on the team and helped with the blocking.  She had four dump shot kills in the match.  Olivia had run into one of the posts in the first set going for a dig and had to come out.  I was distressed, because I’d latched on to her as the cute one on court.  During that time, Army came back and won Set 2.  When she got back in, American got back on track and won the match 3-1.  Don’t say that people don’t notice good setter play. 

11-25-19

This was a Monday morning game for Aggie Men’s Basketball versus the Colorado State Rams in the Cayman Islands Classic.  I think AD Mario Moccia scheduled this to pick up (and launder) some offshore contributions for the university.  The man will do anything for NMSU. 

   

I woke up late and came in at halftime.  The Aggies had had a big lead to start the first half, but the Rams came back.  They tied it on a pair of free throws at the end of regulation.  In overtime, Jabari Rice went off to the tune of 12 of this 21 total points.  The Aggies scored 14 points total in OT.  Trevelin Queen followed with 19 total for the game.  The Aggies couldn’t hold a big lead, couldn’t lock it down at the end of regulation, and didn’t close it out well in overtime, but they got the win, 78-70.

11-26-19

This was another morning game for Aggie Men’s Basketball.  They were playing the South Florida Bulls.  Strange that there still seemed to be more Aggie fans (or Cheerleaders) there.  However, the Aggies had two more injured players: Shawn Williams with a turned ankle and Terrell Brown with a stomach virus.  Terrell played well initially, but his morning bout of nausea probably got the better of him later.  Shawn scored 13 to lead the team.  Trevelin Queen was held scoreless in the first half.  Johnny McCants made up the difference with 10 points.  This was reversed in the second half.  Trev came on with 10 points and McCants didn’t score again.

The Aggies were up 32-20 at the half and never looked back, winning 65-45.  They were playing against a team that was nationally ranked in creating turnovers, but the Aggies came out ahead in that category today.  When Jack Nixon started talking to Coach Jans after the game, he said this was the Aggies’, “Best game of the year.”  The coach thought that was pretty astute analysis. 

During halftime, Jack interviewed Sherry Jans, the coach’s wife.  Mario had said they’d hired Jans just to bring his wife here.  She was indeed as charming as I’d heard.  Jack called her, “The first lady of Aggie sports,” which I think I heard him also call the football coach’s wife.  Never mind that Barbra Hubbard is the Aggies’ actual first lady.  We’ll just diplomatically say that we’re lucky have them all.

11-27-19

The championship game for the Cayman Islands Classic came on in the evening, while I was at work.  I ended up joining the game in progress in the second half.  I didn’t even know who the Aggie Men’s Basketball opponent was before tuning in.  They were up 49-43 over the George Mason Patriots at the time.  The Aggies’ biggest lead was 15 earlier, but GM’s full court defense was stifling them in the second half.  With seeming inevitably, the Patriots took the lead with five minutes left. 

Terrell Brown hit a three to regain the Aggie lead, but it went back-and-forth from there until GM started pulling away.  The final was 68-64 George Mason.  The score really wasn’t that close.  Jabari Rice had 19 points, but 16 were in the first half.  His last three came when it was too late.  Trevelin Queen had 14 points and Johnny McCants had 11.   Coach Jans sounded depressed and disappointed afterward (and like his voice had been rubbed raw).  This was definitely a lost opportunity.   

11-29-19

We had an afternoon game on Black Friday with Aggie Women’s Basketball today.  The 1-5 Aggies were playing the 0-4 Georgia State Panthers.  Maybe I should have gone shopping.  I had my misgivings in the first quarter when Aaliyah Prince accidentally bounced a pass off of Gia Pack’s head.  Then, Nana Sule attempted to enter the game off the bench still wearing her warmup jacket and was called for improper wardrobe by the refs.  Prince was finding the basket though and had all 9 of the Aggies’ first points.  Amanda Soderqvist hit a three and Gia had 2.  The Aggies led 17-15 after ten minutes.

In the second quarter though, the Panthers’ offense picked up and they jumped out to a 9-point lead.  An emphatic block on Amanda got their defense doing.  Gia hit a pair of three’s late to get the score closer and had 11 points before the half.  34-31 Georgia State at halftime.  Somebody leaned on the final horn for about ten very loud seconds to stop play.  It was about as loud as the Georgia State coach, who was barking orders for the entire game.

I had a hockey game on TV at the time, but poor reception kept me from really watching it.  The Bruins beat the Rangers 3-2.  The announcers had amusingly been throwing dirt on Boston’s chances since the first period, after New York had scored the first two goals. The Bruins scored the winner late in the game.  After they’d won, the team came over to the glass and saluted the crowd.  It felt like a big win for them.

The third quarter started with a 5-0 Panthers’ run that prompted an Aggie timeout.  Nana made it to the free throw line and missed both shots.  She hasn’t scored in five games and has frankly been a disappointment this season.  Micayla Buckner accumulated three fouls trading infractions with the down-low player on the Panthers.  Gia hit another three in this quarter.  45-40 Panthers going into the fourth. 

Unfortunately, the Aggies never really got closer.  Amanda hit another three to bring the Panther lead to five again, but Georgia State just kept adding on.  Strangely at the end, the Aggies made no effort to foul.  In fact, the Panthers stopped the clock for a timeouts twice when their players got trapped.  The game ended 59-51 Georgia State.  Again, the final horn went off for ten seconds. 

Gia Pack led the Aggies with 17 points and 10 rebounds.  She’s just about back to playing like her old self.  Aaliyah Prince finished with 11 points.  She really cooled off after that hot first quarter.  The big difference was again in bench points.  This could really be a problem.  Shockingly, the game itself only took an hour and 37 minutes (from my counting).  The refs seemed to let quite a few fouls go.  It was like everyone involved wanted this one over as quickly as possible.   

11-30-19
Aggie Football finished their season with a 49-28 loss at Liberty University this afternoon.  It’d been close at the half, but turnovers and bad defense had doomed them.  We’ll have to hope for a better season next year.  The Aggie Women’s Basketball team played the Western Michigan Broncos in the evening at UTEP.  The Broncos had been crushed in the tournament yesterday by the Miners by 30 points.  They took it out on the Aggies.  In the first quarter, the Broncos were hitting on their three’s and took a 31-16 lead after the first quarter. 

In the second quarter, Western Michigan got into immediate foul trouble, including their star player, who had to sit out.  They maintained their lead, 48-38.  Gia Pack at least was having a good game with 15 points to that point.  At the start of the third quarter, Didi Echols picked up two quick fouls and had to sit with four total.  Gia kept scoring and the Aggies came within one point of tying twice.  It was 59-58 Broncos after three quarters.

To start the fourth, the Aggies briefly took the lead.  Freshman Soufia Inoussa got in on the scoring.  The Bronco’s star came in and fouled out halfway through the quarter.  The teams tied at 72 with about two minutes left.  Micayla Buckner fouled out for the Aggies with under a minute left.  Soufia hit two free throws to put the Aggies within one with 16 seconds left.  She then got a steal with 10 seconds left, but the Aggies turned it right over and had to foul.  They went down by three after a couple of free throws and ultimately lost 79-76. 

This was a discouraging result, but had a couple of bright points.  Gia Pack finished with 29 points, so her offense definitely seems to be back on track.  Soufia Inoussa was next with 12, excellent for the freshman.  Aaliyah Prince had 10.  However, Western Michigan had two players with 20 or more and that was even with neutralizing their star player.  In the game right after, the Miners would beat Georgia State by three in a thriller.  They are looking good (especially Katerina Zec), though I think (unsure because of poor radio reception) that their star Ariona Gill was injured in the game.

NM State Aggie Volleyball Regular Season Recap 2019

I’m going to be doing a separate postseason recap (and hopefully have plenty to write about).  I simultaneously love and hate doing these recaps.  I like going back and rereading them, but it starts turning into work after the first couple.  Also, I’m not a volleyball coach or expert, so I’m hardly qualified at analyze a team’s season even after watching them play so much.  I hate the thought of unintentionally overlooking some great performances too.     

First up, Coach Mike Jordan’s motivational skills in getting the team to go undefeated in conference this year were unparalleled.  As good as the girls were, they needed his gentle proddings at times.  Well done, sir.  Senior Megan Hart was the overpowering force for the team for kills and blocks.  Other teams game-planned around her presence.  (And she’s beautiful.  I’m just not tired of saying that.)

Savannah Davison was the passion for the team.  In spite of all this team’s talent, they needed her fire to win.  (We saw that in the second Cal-Baptist game.)  Cat Kelly is a lot like Sav in terms of gameplay (big air, lots of swings, gets in on blocks, gets digs), but she’s the quiet one.  When she wasn’t there in the last two games, you noticed it immediately.  Congrats to senior Brigette Lowe, who filled in for her.  I think Brig fully realized her potential as a volleyball player in that last game.              

If you thought getting past Megan was tough, Julianna Salanoa is a national-level blocker.  She also gets her kills at a different set angle than most anybody else, making her hard to defend against.  Ashley Anselmo was right there on the other side with supporting blocks and kills.  Lia Mosher in the front court, flashed brilliance, but never seemed to be on court enough as this team was so loaded with blockers. 

Natalie Mikels and Krysten Garrison were steady on setting, though the team wasn’t that great in passing.  (Being out-of-system was almost a specialty.)  Nat got a long leash with service errors because she also led the team in aces.  Natalie also did a good job of positioning players, so I’m going to say she’s the brains of the team.  Krysten was converted into setting and grew well into the role.  Serving was an issue at times for the team, but her in particular.  She showed some real mental toughness in overcoming it.

Halle Razo was demoted from being a starter early on, but still saw regular playing time as a server and defender (as did Kiley Tonge).  I’m sure the coach wanted to keep her game-ready and her confidence up.  I expect Halle to make a comeback next year.      

Lastly, what more can you say about senior Analyssa Acosta?  There was even an article about her in the paper.  I think she made an off-season decision that she really wanted to play more in her final year.  She must have put a tremendous amount of work and it paid off.  She was like a freshman in enthusiasm, but with an upperclassman’s pose in playing. 

 

These little capsules will just include whatever highlights I found interesting about the games.  The actual game recaps are more detailed (sometimes).

8-29-19 Crimson and White Scrimmage: Senior Analyssa Acosta caught my eye immediately playing defense.  She’d been on the bench for three years.  I hoped I’d see her get into some games this season.  Setters Natalie Mikels and Krysten Garrsion both had swinging kills and blocks in the match.

9-6-19 vs Pacific Tigers: This was the Aggies’ first home match after sweeping three teams in straight sets at the Auburn Invitational, including host Auburn.  It was an auspicious start.  The Aggies straight-setted the Tigers to continue the roll.   

9-7-19U NM Lobos vs Pacific Tigers: This was one of the morning matches of the Borderland Invitational.  I only mention this here because the Aggies had come to watch and some of their freshmen ended up getting drafted as ballgirls for the match. 

9-7-19 UTEP Miners vs Pacific Tigers: For this match, the Aggie assistant coaches were acting as ballboys.  Coach Jordan might have been playing some headgames with his former assistant coach, Ben Wallis, the new UTEP coach.  Graduated Aggie star player, Tatyana Battle, was there as Coach Wallis’ new assistant.

9-7-19 vs UNM Lobos: It was another straight-sets win.  Freshman Katie Birtcil delivered a couple of set-winning kills. 

9-8-19 vs UTEP Miners: And this match was the wake-up call.  The Miners punched the Aggies in the nose taking Set 1, the Aggies’ first dropped set of the season.  The Aggies would win in five bruising sets.  Afterward, Coach Jordan was infuriated that the team wasn’t serving hard enough.  This would have terrible consequences for the first half of the season.

9-13-19 vs Portland Pilots: This remains the most inexplicable game of the season for the Aggies.  They took their first loss hosting the Springhill Suites Invitational.  Portland was a good team, but I’d never even heard of their university before.  I attributed the straight-sets loss to a mention of the flu running through the team earlier in the week.  The team was terrible on serve-receive.  I think this game ultimately cost Halle Razo the libro job.  Also, I wrote some terrible fan-fiction because of this match.

9-14-19 vs Grambling Tigers: The Aggies got back on track with a straight-sets win, but the Tigers aren’t a great yardstick to measure your team by.  The reserves got a lot of work in this match. 

9-14-19 vs Lamar Cardinals: The Aggies played against a team led by an alumni player, Coach Michelle Kuester.  Coach Jordan had to be so proud of her.  The Aggies won in four tough sets.  Halle Razo, who’d sat out the previous game, still wasn’t playing well.  The team had a terrible time serving.  They seemed to be trying too hard to get in a good serve and then it became mental. 

9-21-19 vs Sacramento State Hornets (neutral site): This was a five-set loss that could be summed up with one stat: 19 service errors.  The only reason this went the distance was because the Hornets had 17.  Coach Jordan’s postgame was memorable as he called the team, “Mentally weak.”  When asked about the evening game with the Wildcats, he said, “We’re going to get crushed.”     

9-21-19 at Arizona Wildcats: It was a straight-sets loss.  The coach was even putting in the reserves in the first set.  Analyssa Acosta came in as libero in the third set.  Krysten Garrison had 9 service errors on the day total.  That was a low point.

9-22-19 vs Alabama State Lady Hornets (neutral site): This was a morning game for the last day of the Wildcat Invitational.  Analyssa Acosta was now the starting libero after a great performance the day before.  This was a straight-sets win, but the serving issues continued.

9-26-19 at Utah Valley Wolverines: The Aggies won 3-1, but had a rough time serving and Megan Hart had a hard time with the Wolverines’ blocking.

9-28-19 at Seattle U Redhawks: This was a win in 3 against an unexpectedly bad Redhawks team.

10-3-19 vs UTRGV Vaqueros: Tatyana Battle took time off from her UTEP job to come and watch her old teammates.  Ashley Anselmo made her first two serves of the season to win Set 1 in extra points.  The Aggies won in 3 sets, though Halle Razo was bizarrely playing in the front court to end Set 3.  It was unintentional comedy.  The players won this match in spite of the coach’s rotation decisions.  Also, I think he wanted to work out a trade for the Vaqueros’ star, Barbara Silva.

10-7-19 at CBU Lancers: The Aggies won 3-1 in spite of 18 service errors.  Savannah Davison, Megan Hart, and Julianna Salanoa were incredible in this game. 

10-10-19 vs CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners: It was a 3-1 victory.  The Aggies finally got their serving issues under control.  The team blocks and kills were tremendous in this game.    

10-12-19 vs GCU Lopes: This was the Aggies’ third game of the week and they were playing the number two team in the conference.  Megan Hart had 19 kills in a straight-sets wipeout.  To give the Lopes credit, since they had a great record, I wonder if they came in sick, like the Aggies may have been in the Portland game.   

10-17-19 at UMKC Roos: The Aggies blocked well in this 3-1 win.  They had 10 service errors, but 7 aces.   

10-24-19 vs Utah Valley Wolverines: The Aggies won 3-1 in four hard sets, two of which went into extra points.  The Wolverines were able to go block-for-block with the Aggies.  NMSU’s kills carried the day.

10-26-19 vs Seattle U Redhawks: They handed out free LED lightbulbs at this game.  I even got a Raising Canes coupon too.  The Aggies won in straight sets and were playing the reserves quite a bit.  Brenda Hernandez got in, but that didn’t go so well.  The coach actually apologized for putting her and Katie Birtcil on the spot like that.

10-28-19 vs CBU Lancers: This game was so epic, it required two posts.  (I think I might have overdid it.)  This was the third game in five days for the Aggies.  The Lancers won the first two sets as Savannah Davison seemed out-of-it.  Then they got her mad and she rallied the team to victory.  Megan Hart was a steady rock with 18 kills.  I give the crowd, with a bunch of young volleyball players in attendance, a lot of credit too.  There were autographs afterward and I was able to heap praise upon the girls.

11-2-19 at UTRGV Vaqueros: Another straight-sets win over the Vaqueros.  Barbara Silva was limited to only 3 kills.  The coach called off the trade.

11-7-19 at UMKC Roos: A big four-set win.  Two of the sets went to extra points.  Aggie blocking was overwhelming.  Aggies serving had double-digit errors, but also double-digit aces.

11-9-19 at GCU Lopes: The only information I got on this match was during an Aggie Football game.  The Aggies beat the number two team in the conference again in straight sets, but more importantly, with the win, they secured the regular season conference championship.

11-14-19 vs Chicago St Cougars: I started this report off with a bit of gossip.  I’m not proud of that, but for once I had inside information.  This was a classic trap game being played at noon on a weekday against a team with only one win in conference.  (The Aggies had already beaten them in 3 sets on 10-19-19.)  Not to mention the Aggies had little to play for.  Cat Kelly was also laid up for this and the next game.  The Cougars took the first set.  The coach threatened to put in the reserves and throw the match.  With that motivation, the Aggies came back to win in four.

11-16-19 vs UMKC Roos: Ah, the tears of Senior Day.  Before that though, it was another bruising four-set win over the Roos.  Three of the sets ended 25-23.  Senior Brigette Lowe had a career game with 11 kills.  The Aggies ran the table in conference, 16-0.  The only good news about the goodbye ceremony was that beautiful Megan Hart would be returning as a graduate assistant.  Yay!

NM State Aggies vs UTEP Miners Football 11-23-19

I finally made it out to a football game this season.  My workplace gave out tickets to this rivalry matchup.  I asked Ron about going and he finally said, “Yes,” and meant it.  Ron has been reluctant to go to any game with free work tickets to the point of stiffing me right before leaving for a game.  Getting fired from a place and seeing former co-workers has a way of doing that.  For whatever reason, or lack of an excuse, he was okay finally doing it this time, but seemed pretty unenthusiastic when he picked me up late.  We even sat in his car for a while after getting there.  Maybe something else was bothering him (he wasn’t feeling entirely well), but Ron wouldn’t talk about it.

Instead of the main gate, we parked on the south end, behind the Fulton Center.  There were still a bunch of people there.  Some were tailgating.  (The workplace had a big tailgate on the north end, but I didn’t bother asking Ron about going to it.)  Some were not wearing shirts and had letters painted on their chests.  I question those guys’ sanity.  It was bright and sunny, but there was a cool little breeze going with a low ambient temperature, which made it cold. 

Upon entry, I finally found the elusive Aggie hamburger stand.  It was hard to miss the savory smell as it came from a tent right behind the gate.  Whoa!  $10 for the house double burger.  I’ll pass.  Too much meat for a meal for me anyway.  Ron assured me that the Chihuahuas’ burger was better and sold at a cheaper price.  Kids were rolling down the grassy knoll in front of the suites during most of the game.  A proposed stadium upgrade I saw replaced the knoll with terraced seating.  Unless there was club service with them, they’d be lousy seats.  I’m ambivalent on that proposal.

The first thing we saw out on the field was the Pride Band marching in.  They were majestic.  Striking the Wonder Dog was introduced and he ran down the field too.  During the Anthem, the flag corps had trouble unfurling the giant flag on field.  The UTEP fans seemed a bit amused.  The group got a round of applause when they got it unraveled. 

   

We found our seats on the south 30 in the upper bowl.  It was about where we sat when we went to some games a couple of years ago.  They provide a commanding view of the field.  I left to find something to eat and maybe a program or a giveaway.  I found nothing but a really long line.  So much for an overpriced slice of pizza (but I was willing to overpay for that).  I finally settled on a bag of kettle corn and a lemonade from a stand with no waiting.  I was hungry and thirsty, so it was great.  I found a program in the stands after the game.

The crowd for the game was excellent.  The west side was well-filled with fans.  I saw and greeted some co-workers.  The lower section was stuffed with season ticket holders.  The student section was filled and they stood for the entire game.  (They also chanted, “F UTEP!” before the game.)  The section next to them was for UTEP fans and they filled it.  They stood too, so I’m thinking that was mostly students.  I saw some shirtless guys in their front row.  I don’t think they were the Aggie fans I saw outside, but rather Miner fans.  I only saw the bare-chested Aggie guys on the video screen once.  Of course, they weren’t in order and misspelled, “Aggies.”

Next to the Miner fan section was the UTEP Band and their full complement of Cheerleaders and Dancers.  At times in the game, we’d have dueling bands, so it was kind of cool.  Their band did not play that great remix version of their fight song that I keep hearing on the radio.  They did play the MCU Avengers theme, which sounds excellent live in a stadium.           

I heard the Miner pre-pregame show earlier in the morning on El Paso Sportstalk.  John Tischer, voice of the Miners, thought pretty highly of the Aggies, even though both teams had the same 1-9 record going into the game.  The Aggies were playing an, “Athletic Director’s schedule,” he called it, with three games against Power 5 conferences (money games).  Tischer was also on the Aggies’ pregame show.  I didn’t know he started off broadcasting in this area doing Aggie games for a year. 

First Quarter

I haven’t recapped a football game in a while.  Wow, is this easier than doing volleyball or basketball.  I’m also using my new little notebook, since I filled up the previous one at my last game, and I had a new fountain pen.  I found myself watching the game, mentally noting any significant plays, then writing stuff down after the possession ended. 

UTEP won the toss and deferred.  The Aggies received the kickoff and committed a personal foul.  That seemed like a bad sign for fouls, but instead, it just set the tone.  The Aggies got a first down, but no further.  Kai Locksley was starting at quarterback for the Miners.  In the pregame, the hosts wanted one of the backups in instead, but the senior known for his running abilities got the nod.  Indeed, he did rush a couple of times, but the Aggies broke up a third down pass for a three and out.

In the next Aggie series, senior running back Jason Huntley picked up some yards rushing.  Quarterback Josh Adkins mixed in a completed pass.  Then, Huntley broke off a 39-yard dash for a touchdown.  7-0 Aggies just like that.  The next series, the Miners managed to get a first down from out of their own endzone.  The UTEP band played a short riff from their fight song whenever they had a first down.  I saw Marketing Director Nicole running up the stairs nearby.  She already looked exhausted.  Four penalties would end up sabotaging the Miners’ drive.  Kai was hammered on his final pass attempt.  The Aggies got the ball, but handed right back after four downs.

Second Quarter

UTEP stayed on the ground on their next possession.  Kai had a 20-yard run as part of a touchdown-scoring drive that finished at the start of the second quarter.  7-7.  Huntley came up big again with a 50-yard run to the UTEP 15, but unfortunately this only resulted in a missed field goal.  During the break, there was the fan burger-making contest with the fans dressed as top and bottom buns.  Both top buns enthusiastically jumped on their bottom bun partners.  Funny stuff.

The Miners mixed it up next on their next series running and passing.  A 20-yard pass got them into the Aggie red zone.  The Aggie defense held the Miners to a field goal.  10-7 Miners.  In the break, the Aggie Cheerleaders took to the field for their big routine.  Nice.  The seats in the lower northwest end let you watch the Cheerleaders working hard for the whole game. 

The Aggies went three and out trying to pass downfield.  Adkins did not look good here.  There was a near fight after the punt, but no flags or punches thrown.  The UTEP Cheerleaders congregated by the Aggie Cheerleaders waiting to perform for the halftime show.  I saw no interaction between the two groups.

Kai got another 20-yard pass to drive the Miners to inside the Aggie 5.  Senior Shamad Lomax broke up a pass in the endzone.  UTEP settled for another field goal.  13-7 Miners.  There was about 1:30 left in this quickly-played half.  A UTEP penalty gave the Aggies a good starting position.  Huntley came up big again with a 40-yard dash down the sideline for another touchdown.  14-13 Aggies going into halftime.            

Halftime

The Las Cruces crowd had the rare treat of seeing two bands perform for the half.  The UTEP band came out first and got a warm round of applause for their performance.  The Pride Band came out and put on a whole production number.  They were doing some recent songs by artists I did not know, but I recognized one of the numbers that gets played in the Pan-Am Center during games all the time.  The UTEP band stayed on the sidelines and watched the performance.

Third Quarter

Before the kickoff, Pistol Pete mounted an elevated platform that raised in front of the video board, taller than the goal post.  He waved a flag, while a banner unfurled from the platform that said, “Cowbell,” which is the official fan noise-maker for NMSU.  During the game, they play a clip from the SNL Cowbell bit to lead the crowd on third downs for the opponents.

The Miners took the kick and worked downfield well, but had to settle for a field goal attempt, which missed.  There was a mass t-shirt toss into the crowd by the Cheerleaders.  This is another reason to sit near the Cheerleaders.  They’re always tossing stuff into the stands.  The Aggies went three and out again when they got the ball back.  Payton Theisler got off a great punt, but the Miners got a good return, as an Aggie was injured missing the tackle on the returner. 

In the break, I think I saw Marketing Intern Emerson take a fan on field for a contest.  The guy had three chances to drive a tennis ball through the uprights with an oversized golf club.  Maybe because he was standing next to such a beautiful young woman, he flat whiffed on five swings.  He got a round of applause just for hitting one.  PA Ed helpfully offered the classic golf advice, “Be the ball.”  The guy only got a ball into the air when he picked one up and threw it through the goalpost.

UTEP moved downfield well again.  The Aggie defense stopped them on a third and short.  The Miners tacked on a field goal.  16-14 Miners.  The Aggies’ next series went well with a pair of completions and face mask penalty.  A 20-yard third down pass to Jared Wyatt got the Aggies into the UTEP red zone.  There was that Huntley guy again.  He cut one to the outside from five yards out for his third touchdown.  21-16 Aggies.

Fourth Quarter

As the sun went down, the temperature dropped and I was shivering a bit.  Unfortunately, this final quarter dragged out terribly in relation to the previous three.  Between the lemonade and the cold, I took three piss breaks during the game.  I’ve been colder at Aggie sporting events though.  The Sundancers performed in the break in the north endzone.  They looked good.  The cheer squads for both teams would put on pants and jackets in this quarter, so you knew it was cold.

UTEP made another drive into Aggie territory.  They were stopped on third down in the red zone, but went for it on fourth down and got a touchdown.  UTEP fans chanted, “Aggies suck!”  The two-point conversion was broken up.  22-21 Miners.  The bands started battling each other with music briefly.

On the next Aggie possession on third down, Adkins evaded a sack and found Caleb Mills for a catch downfield.  The Aggies then went for it on a fourth down play on the Miner 35.  Adkins found senior OJ Clark for another first down.  In the UTEP red zone, Huntley took a direct snap.  He then flipped the ball to Tony Nicholson on a double reverse.  Nicholson then tossed it high to Adkins, who went over the defender to grab it for a touchdown!  Where have I seen this play before (11-19-16)?  Ron saw the play standing by the endzone on the concourse and was amazed.  The two-point conversion was dropped, as the receiver as too wide open.  It was 27-22 Aggies.

The Miners and Aggies then traded three and outs.  Theisler made another great kick and the coverage nailed the returner.  Kai pressed on the next series with time running out.  Rashie Hodge then came up big with an interception over the middle.  It was the first turnover of the game.  The Aggies got the ball, but had to keep the drive going with a fourth and one sneak by Adkins.  On the next third down play, Josh’s pass was blocked, but he caught the deflection to keep possession.  Senior Dylan Brown came out for another field goal attempt and hit a personal best 53-yarder.  Clutch there.  30-22 Aggies.

Right after that, we had our second turnover of the game.  Xander Yarbergough stripped Kai of the ball as he went back to pass.  Matthew Young recovered the ball and ran it right in.  37-22 Aggies.  Kai came back with a vengeance with a huge uncovered run down the field on the next Miner possession.  He passed down to the Aggie 1 yardline.  The ball came out on a dive on another play, but was recovered by the Miners for a touchdown.  37-29 Aggies.

On the Aggies next possession, a third down deep pass to OJ gave the Aggies another set of downs.  Senior Christian Gibson then broke it open with a 60-yard run for a touchdown.  44-29 Aggies.  After the Miners got the ball back, there was an extended delay as a Miner was dumped on his head.  He was able to walk off to a round of applause from the crowd.  Kai made one more good drive downfield.  He was sacked by senior Roy Lopez, but a ruffing the passer penalty later gave the Miners a final play in the red zone with four seconds left.  Kai found a receiver in the back of the endzone as time expired.  The Aggies won the Battle of I-10, 44-35.             

 

I don’t know if I said this out loud before the game, but events transpired for the Aggies the way I thought they would, if they were going to win.  All they had to do was not beat themselves.  Mostly I was thinking they had not turn the ball over by fumble or interception.  I imagined the Aggies could beat the Miners talent-wise and let the Miners lose the game by themselves with their mistakes.  

Though they acquired a flag on the first play of the game, the Aggies were magnificent in avoiding penalties, which is the other way football teams beat themselves.  The Miners didn’t do as well in that category, but weren’t that bad either.  Hmm.  Ron later confirmed what I thought; the refs stayed out of the way and just let them play it out.  Lastly, let’s hear it for the Aggie seniors.  They wanted to go out winners on their home field.

   

Even with much of the crowd gone and being at the south entrance, there was still a traffic jam.  It wasn’t too bad though.  Ron found a back road in the dark to avoid most of it.  Regrettably, he took a wrong turn to get to the pizza place we had planned on going to.  “You knew where you were up to a point,” I said.  Suddenly, we were at What-a-burger with about 50 other people.  Neither of us wanted to delay eating, so we went with it.  The meal was okay, but even better, it was fairly quick.  After the chill, neither of us wanted ice cream.  This was definitely the best case scenario for getting to see an Aggie Football game this year.  Thank goodness I got see this one in person.