NM State Aggies vs Abilene Christian Wildcats Volleyball 11-12-22

It was a busy day in Aggie Sports today.  First up was Aggie Football.  On the pregame, Jack Nixon wisely only asked Volleyball Coach Jordan about his seniors for their last home game.  He called Lia Mosher one of his best middle blockers ever, who was the “worst athlete.”  It was a compliment on her work ethic to be as good as she is without good jumping abilities.  The Coach also gushed on Kayleigh Thomas.  She’s been injured her whole career and probably wasn’t D1 material, but she’s been a great teammate.  Molly Johnson (graduate) and Katie Birtcil were also departing seniors garnering praise.

 

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the birds at the Bosque.  But I do have this pic of this "Raven Lunatic" shirt from the gift shop there.

On Friday, I was out-of-town on a trip with dad to visit the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge and to meet up with his old neighbor, Joe.  We saw the migration layover of a bunch of snow geese, cranes, and some ducks.  It was cool.  We also ate at what dad told me was the “World Famous Owl Bar and Café,” which dad had always meant to eat at since we’d moved to New Mexico nearly 50 years ago.  It was okay.  Maybe another time, we’ll try the “World Famous Buckhorn Tavern,” which is across the street from the Owl Bar.  It’s amazing that the little town of San Antonio, New Mexico has two world famous dinners.  (Actually, they are famous for their burgers, though I don’t really know why.  Maybe it’s a throwback to a time before Hatch Green Chili was a known brand.)

More importantly on Friday, Aggie Soccer played their NCAA tournament game against Mississippi State.  From seeing the recap later, MS took a one goal lead into the half.  Loma McNeese equalized the score late.  A no-chance header in the goal box in the final minutes gave MS the 2-1 win.  Praise from Jack, AD Mario Moccia, and football analyst Cory Lucas (who watched the game), was still effusive.  Mario hopes to keep Coach Baarts here (shown above hugging goalie Makenna Gottschalk after the game), though he will be in-demand by other schools. 

 

Ron and I arrived at the Pan-Am Center well early as usual.  The arena was prepped for some sort of show after the game.  There were two hanging screens, the north bleachers were pushed in, and the side tables were gone on one side.  I remembered to bring my radio this time and started listening to the football game.  The Aggies, with Diego Pavia starting at QB, was already up 14-0 on Lamar in the first quarter.  Ron mentioned that the Aggies’ mascot horse, Keystone, had died this week.  He’d been spooked early in the football season in his last appearance.  Pistol Pete needs a new horse for next season.      

 

Marketing Director Nicole Sack came by and said, “Hi,” to us.  I asked why there wasn’t an Autograph Day for Volleyball this season.  She didn’t know, but said to take a poster down to the floor after the game with a pen.  (I’m not that brave, but I really did want to say something positive to some of the girls.)  Beautiful former star, Megan Hart, was still here.  I really wonder what she’s doing now that she’s able to hang out in Las Cruces for several days.  (I still have her poster up at home.)  I think her friend and teammate, Kiley Tonge, was with her.  They were here to see off the seniors.  Pistol Pete was here and worked the crowd during the game.  The Cheerleaders were all busy at the football game. 

 

The ACU coach and staff were rather attractive.  I feel like this is becoming the norm for visiting teams.  There appeared to be seven players on staff.  Maybe a couple were injured players.  Actually, the best-looking staffer was the guy assistant coach, Jeff Fiorenza.  (And the women were really good-looking.)  This guy was big, strong, and handsome.  I don’t know if I’d trust pretty young athletic women around this guy.  They may be looking for “personal coaching” from him all the time.

 

Lia was looking really serious on court before the game, instead of her usual happy-go-lucky self.  She’s a sixth-year senior, so this last game had to be hard on her before it started.  It looked like a really good crowd considering the football competition next door.  Officially it was 403, but there had to be more than that.  During player introductions, Kayleigh was pushed out on to court with the starters with a souvenir ball to toss.  She looked so happy.  Meanwhile, Katie was announced as a junior.  That’s what says on the program and did say on the website.  This confusion has gone on all season. 

 

Set 1

This was ACU’s final game, but the Aggies needed to win to get into the WAC tournament.  At least they had their destiny in their own hands.  Set 1 began with kills spread among Lia, Molly, and Jayde Shelton.  Jayde and Lia teamed up on a block at 6-3 Aggies and did it again on the next point.  Diminutive Setter Rilen Garcia bear-hugged Jayde after the second one.  (I really wanted to say something encouraging to Rilen during autographs.) 

 

Katie got her first kill at 9-6.  However, the Aggies were back to having serving issues early.  Lia put the hammer down at 10-7 in her most memorable kill of the match.  (Meanwhile, the football team was up 30-0 in the second quarter.)  Ryleigh Whitekettle (a player I really wanted to praise in person) and Taylor Snow (and another one) combined on a block.  Ryleigh got her first kill at 13-8 off a block and then hit the backline on a kill.  (She’s our next star.  Mark it.) 

 

Rilen had an ace on serve at 15-9.  There was an ACU challenge on the next point on in or out.  The line judge was hit by the ball trying to get out of the way.  The call was upheld, but Rilen served out after the delay.  The Wildcats had a great three-player save at 16-10, a point they won.  (Meanwhile in football, the Aggies scored a touchdown on fourth down in the Lamar red zone to make it, 37-0.) 

 

ACU went on a run to make it 19-15, which included an ace.  Jayde broke that up with a slam that rebounded into the south bleachers.  Rylee Fay had another service error for the Aggies’ fifth total.  But Katie came back with a kill, 22-17.  The line judge had to jump out of the way of another shot down the line on the next point.  Molly put in another kill and her and Taylor had a block to finish the set off, 25-19.     

 

Set 2: Aggies 1, Wildcats 0

Ron asked me about the Wildcats’ libero’s height.  She was listed at 5’2”.  They had another listed at 5’3.”  Early on, Rylee had the sixth Aggie service error.  She’s a great server, but it seemed to be in her head right now.  Katie came back with an ace at 3-1.  3-4 ACU, Lia was blocked, but came with the same play on the next point to tool the block.  Talk about effort, Molly dove off-court for a save and then got back into position to get the kill at 6-5.  Molly and Jayde each teamed up with Taylor for a couple of blocks. 

 

Jayde got a touch kill to put the Aggies in front, 11-6.  ACU took a timeout.  12-8 ACU got a kill on the backline.  Katie wanted a challenge, but the coach considered it and didn’t do it.  ACU went on a run to close it to 12-11.  Katie took herself out on the previous point as the bandages on her hand got loose.  (Both of her hands were wrapped.)  ACU aced to tie it, but Lia broke up the run with a kill.

 

Katie came back in and got a kill.  Lia then dunked an overpass.  Rylee took something off her serve and got an ace.  16-12 and timeout ACU.  From here, Lia, Molly, and Katie had kills.  Katie also had another ace.  Jayde and Taylor had a block.  To a spontaneous “Let’s go Aggies” chant from the crowd, Katie finished it at 25-17.

 

Set 3: Aggies 2, Wildcats 0

On the sidelines, Kaylee Peterson and Rilen faked out Ashley Herman on a chest bump.  (Ashley I definitely wanted to talk to.  I see you working there on the sideline as a one-woman cheering section, Ash.)  ACU got out to a 2-3 lead off a hard block on Lia.  Molly came back with a couple of kills and Jayde and Taylor had two blocks on a point to make it 5-4 Aggies.  (Meanwhile, football was up 44-0.) 

 

6-5 ACU challenged a touch call.  During the break, Kaitlin Espiritu was popping to the Beastie Boy’s Intergalactic on the sidelines.  The call was upheld.  Aggie serving issues continued, but Katie kept pouring in the kills.  She served out at 11-8, but did her signature flying backcourt kill on the next point. 

 

There was a media timeout at 15-9.  The up official chatted with an ACU player on court.  It seemed like there was something on her back.  In any case, they were laughing.  (At the football game, Gavin Frakes was now in to give him some work.  51-0 Aggies.)  17-13, Molly and Katie tried to dig the same ball and neither got it, but Jayde, Ryleigh, and Katie came back with kills.  There was a great team effort on Katie’s kill at 20-13.  Timeout ACU and I could see flowers being delivered to the court.  Kayleigh on the sidelines was nervously stretching, hoping to come in.

 

(At the end of the third quarter in football, Lamar got on the scoreboard, 51-7.)  Ryleigh and Lia teamed up on another block.  At 22-14, both Kayleigh and Kaylee came in.  Coach does actually have a sense of humor.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great intro for either.  Kaylee was having trouble of digs and was pulled out.  Kayleigh missed a set.  She didn’t seem physically comfortable jumping with her leg in a brace.  23-19, Darian Markham served out, but on the next point, Molly fired one hard enough to send the ball into the stands.  Finally, Rilen ended it with an ace.  25-20 in Set 3 and 3-0 for the match to the Aggies.

 

For the stats, Katie Birtcil led all scorers with 10 kills and 2 aces.  Molly Johnson and Lia Mosher each had 8 kills.  Lia also added 5 blocks.  Jada Birkel led the Wildcats with 9 kills.  Overall, the Aggies were up 11 to 5 in blocks, 7 to 4 in aces, and up in hitting .304 to .058.  There was a regression in serving with 11 service errors.  Rilen Garica did have 3 aces.  And to think, Coach Jordan was making fun of her serve after her first appearance in a game.  The Aggies actually needed to win both of these last two matches to get into the tournament and they did so definitively.  Good job, ladies.       

 

Senior Day Ceremony

First and most importantly, Katie’s family brought her dog out on court and he completely stole the show.  She held him as everyone came by for a pet.  Pistol Pete and Morgan Stewart got a bunch of doggie kisses.  (Discerning pooch.)  AD Mario Moccia jetted over from next door football to be here.  (What great timing.)        

 

On the other side of the court, the ACU girls were gathered in a huddle, most crying.  This was the end of their season.  Their seniors were recognized first and there were a lot of them, so this was also probably their last college game.  The team didn’t stick around for the Aggies’ ceremony, but their coach did.

 

I wish I had taken out my ear buds with the football game, so I could have heard the ceremony better.  (Aggie Football did win 51-14.  They were playing their third-string quarterback in the final series.)  Kayleigh Thomas came out with her family (and two very hot sisters).  Her playing record was 1 kill.  I was there for that and felt so good for her.  Molly Johnson has the Aggie single game record for kills at 37.  Katie Birtcil had a bunch of accomplishments that I missed all of.  Lia Mosher, our sixth-year senior, finally let go on some tears and had many accolades that I also missed all of.

 

With some trepidation, Coach Jordan handed the girls a microphone.  Kayleigh started off well thanking everyone and then completely lost it as the moment hit her.  Molly was sorry that she only got to play here one year, but she’ll be back next year as a graduate assistant.  Katie and Lia spoke.  When Lia mentioned her former teammates, Megan gave her a heart from the stands.  The Coach had the last word, “These girls will successful in whatever they do next . . . except public speaking.”

 

I guess I should have charged the floor at that point and demanded my autographs, but discretion prevailed.  Ron and I were walking out when I suddenly noticed he wasn’t with me.  Ron was still lingering at the top of the stairs watching the girls on court.  Well, I suggested going to Dion’s and getting a Barbeque Chicken pizza, and I think that helped him get over the end of Volleyball season for us.

 

Later in the evening, ironman Jack Nixon went from calling football to calling Men’s Basketball in El Paso.  Unfortunately, it was not a clean sweep for Aggie Sports today, as they lost to UTEP, 67-64.  It felt like an undisciplined effort by the Aggies.  Though the final stats were really close, the Miners mostly dominated the game.  In the postgame interview, Coach Heiar apologized to Aggie fans for not being able to finish off the day with a win.    

NM State Aggies vs Tarleton State Texans Volleyball 11-10-22

Dad called me this morning (after ignoring my call last night) and mentioned that a player on the Volleyball team lived in his apartment complex.  He didn’t know her name or what she looked like, as it was a neighbor of his who knew her.  “She’s tall,” was the only description I got.  I asked for more information (dad lives just down the street from me) and, if possible, ask her what happened with Alana and why there wasn’t an Autograph Day this season.

 

Ron hadn’t called me in the afternoon about getting together for the game.  I finally called him and left a message.  I found myself suddenly nodding off a few minutes later, before he was there, knocking at my door.  His phone wasn’t working.  (My dad didn’t have that excuse for not calling me last night.)  We went for dinner at Raising Canes to cash in on last night’s Aggie Women’s Basketball win.  The cashier tried to sell us four meals, but we talked her down to two.  I actually finished my Combo Meal before Ron finished his for the first time ever.  I was hungry.

 

We got to the Pan-Am Center early as usual.  We got to watch Lia Mosher bound up the stairs from the court to see someone in the upper bowl.  I was impressed, as she did it quick and didn’t have any trouble negotiating the sometimes tricky stairs.  I noticed beautiful Megan Hart on the sidelines.  I had assumed our former star player and graduate assistant was on to bigger and better things.  She chatted with her former teammates on the staff, Tatyana Battle and Cat Kelly.    

 

On court, Bianca Perez’s thumb was still wrapped.  She wouldn’t be playing today or on Saturday.  Adam Young was on the other side of court getting ready to call the game.  He grabbed a loose ball and tossed it to Ashley Herman, as they shared a smile.  Oh, crap!  Ron and I both forgot that this match was on the radio today.  This was the last chance for the rest of the year (except for Men’s Basketball).  I feel like I should apologize to Adam.  I spent the rest of the match irritated with myself. 

Once again on opposing coach and staff watch, we offer Tarleton Assistant Coach, Hannah McManus.  Meanwhile, Barbara Hubbard graced us with her presence.  Every bit the Aggie, she was sitting on the opposing bench, chatting up their handsome male graduate assistant.  Obviously, she was charming him into giving up their game plan, which she then relayed to Coach Jordan.  The Texans team was loose and were dancing to the PA music.  The crowd was listed at 900.  It felt like a decent crowd, but there weren’t any girl teams visiting to liven up the cheering. 

     

Before the player introductions, PA Ed Carnathan asked for a Moment of Silence for Lily Ernst, swimmer student-athlete, friend of Rylee Fay on the Aggies.  There was also a mention of mental health help.  When I was on the team Twitter, there was a picture of the girl and a link to mental health help.  I looked up Lily.  She was a 4.0 student.  She’d set a school record in swimming.  She volunteered at the food bank and helped kids learn how to swim.  Her major was mental health counseling.  The cause of death was not revealed other than “died “suddenly” and “unexpectedly.”  Seems to be a lot of that going around lately.

 

Set 1

The Aggies stepped off to a bad start going 0-3.  Lia was stuffed on a swing.  Lia and Ryleigh Whitekettle teamed up on a block to break the run.  4-5 Tarleton, Jayde Shelton and Taylor Snow combined on a block.  Then there were two double touch calls in a row.  I was worried we’d gotten those officials again for the match.  We almost lost one of our precious remaining setters at 5-7, when Rilen Garcia dove into a net pole going for a ball. 

 

Katie painted the backline on a kill to bring it to 6-7.  Lia got two kills in a row to bring it to 8 all.  8-9 the Texans took the next point on a touch.  Coach Jordan challenged, which led to a very long review.  During the break, Ed mentioned Megan Hart and they showed her lovely self on the video screen.  She waved to me (and everyone else).  Eventually, the PA music turned to Elvis’ A Little Less Conversation.  The call was finally reversed, 9-5 Aggies.  I hate to call this the turning point in the match, but Tarleton didn’t really recover from it.

 

At 17-11 Aggies, I count four kills for Molly and pairing up with Taylor on block.  (And Mari Sharp mixed in a flying kill from the backcourt.)  Lia stayed in for a point when libero Darian Markham was out.  That left all “bigs” on the court.  That worked out okay for a point, but then a Texans’ mishit popped over the net and landed between three Aggies. 

19-14 this was an incredible rally.  Lia and Jayde combined on a block to end it.  Molly won 21-15 with a kill.  The Texans’ dig landed on top of the net and fell over.  23-15 Ryleigh got her first kill.  23-16 Darian made a pancake dig and Lia made two tips, but got called for a foul.  25-16 Ryleigh finished off the set with a convincing kill.  She has learned a lot this season.  She’s going to be great.

 

Set 2: Aggies 1, Texans 0

Morgan Stewart with the reserves posed for Flex Cam.  The Aggies came out dominate after switching sides.  Molly, Lia, and Ryleigh all scored kills and Rylee aced to make it 5-0.  Texans took a timeout.  Molly had a kill and combined with Taylor on a block, 8-2.  9-4 after a very long rally, Taylor finished it, skipping the ball off two defenders. 

 

11-4 Jayde got an overpass kill.  11-6 the Texans’ aced.  Molly nearly had a kick save on it.  12-7 Jayde hit one into the corner and made the line judge skip.  Coach Jordan challenged the call and it was reversed, 13-6.  The down official seemed confused on calling the change, but the up official called it correctly.  14-6 Molly aced.  She’s doing it all today! 

 

Tarleton came back with a three-point run.  Matti Theuer scored two aces in a row, but then faulted to make it 15-9.  17-9 Katie and Lia on the block.  17-10 the Texans took this point after a long rally.  It was the second long rally they won in this set.  They were playing hard.  22-15 Rilen got hit with a DT call.  The coach chewed her out when she cycled out.  Kaylee Peterson came in to serve.  Taylor and Jayde blocked out the last two points to take the set 25-16.

 

Set 3: Aggies 2, Texans 0

A senior lady tapped me on shoulder and asked if I worked for the paper.  I told her I wasn’t working for anybody.  She still appreciated my dedication.  I have this conversation every season in every sport.  I might have even talked to this lady before.  The big event tonight was a $2,500 giveaway for grad students.  They asked for all graduate students to stand in the crowd.  Molly momentarily stepped out of the team huddle to wave.

 

This set started tight.  Tarleton took a 4-7 lead, as the Aggies looked a tired.  Molly then won the next three points, two of them by service aces.  Jayde and Taylor then combined on a block and Tarleton took a timeout. 

 

9-8 Taylor got the kill off of a beauty feed by Rilen.  Rylee made two aces in a row, including one off the tape.  At 14-11, the Texans took their final timeout.  Back to play, Ryleigh got a kill swinging off her back foot and got an overpass kill on a tip.  Mari Sharp got into ace game with a pair on her serve. 

 

20-12 Molly put in another kill.  Darian had a great off-court save on the point.  Anji Vishwanathan and Kacia Brown subbed in.  Rilen stayed in to set.  Jayde, with the reserves, rested on Rylee’s shoulders as they watched play.  22-13 Molly got another kill.  Rilen was diving all over the court for digs.  22-17 after a four-point run, the Aggies took a timeout.  Rylee and Katie came back in at 22-18.  Kills by Molly and then Katie finished the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-0.

        

Happy Stat time. Molly Johnson had 16 kills and 3 aces.  Ryleigh Whitekettle had 9 kills. Rylee Fay had 28 assists and 3 aces.  Taylor Snow had 6 blocks.  Grayson Schirpik led the Texans with 10 kills.  The Aggies had an incredible 8 aces (Cane’s Challenge achieved) to only 1 service error.  (Ron and I had had enough Cane’s for the week though.) 

 

I wouldn’t call this “peaking at the right time.”  It’s more like, “finally getting their act together.”  Molly said in a postgame interview that the team had decided to “Play for each other.”  I guess that means, “Serve better.”  This the kind of play as a unit that I’d been waiting to see again since earlier this season.  If they can keep this up, they’ve got a chance in the tournament.      

 

Back at home, the match finished early enough that I was able to catch the last set of a Mountain West Volleyball match between UNM and Colorado State.  The Lobos handled them easily in three sets, however the Rams are a better team.  I think the commentator mentioned they were missing key player.  I liked the announcer.  He came up with some interesting descriptive terms: Dented (a hard hit), Pineapple (like a grenade, lobbed over the net), and Donut Hole (a ball falling in between players).  

NM State Aggies vs NM Highlands Cowgirls Women’s Basketball 11-9-22

 

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve written about Aggie Women’s Basketball.  I had to go back and look.  It was December 21, 2021.  Apparently, I’d only gone to two games last season and had decided in the previous game that I didn’t want to go back.  This is pretty explainable as I didn’t buy an Aggie Country Pass in 2021.  I wasn’t entirely convinced there was going to be an entire season after what had happened in 2020.

 

This ties directly into the other reason; you had to wear a mask at the game.  I barely tolerated that with Volleyball.  With a declining program in basketball, I wasn’t interested.  I did make a prediction in my posts that came true.  Coach Atkinson was on the way out, if for no other reason than her inability to beat UNM. 

 

Am I more enthusiastic about the new coach, Jody Adams?  She has a heck of a pedigree.  Adams coached Wichita State to three NCAA appearances and won a championship as a player under Pat Summitt.  She was also fired from coaching for . . . yelling at her players?  That’s what I heard.  I don’t care enough to look it up.  Still, it will likely take some time, even with the transfer portal, for her to put together a full team how she wants it.  The team’s first game was last week at Colorado and was a 30-point loss.  

Adams was wearing an Aggie Soccer WAC Championship t-shirt at practice, so she, at least knows how to support the school.  The Men had their first game a couple of days ago and scored 101 points against NM Highlands.  They hosted the Soccer team there on court to be honored by crowd.  Given all their trials over the years that must have been awesome for them.  Tonight, Adams was wearing a black shiny, rhinestone-studded Aggie jacket.  She looked a bit like she’d walked off the set of Grease.  

 

The bottom line is that I have the Country Pass this season, so I’ll go when it’s convenient.  I set up to take a week off to go to two basketball games and two volleyball games (and take a day trip out-of-town).  This isn’t going to be much of a vacation if I’m writing up all these games.

 

Ron was all in on going.  He picked me up way early to go to the Downtown Mall for dinner.  I’d found out about a pizza place I hadn’t known about and wanted to try it.  We went by Coas Books and Zia Comics before getting the meal.  I’ll tap that into a comic review later.  

 

The restaurant is called Grounded.  It’s a coffee café that also serves pizza.  I was skeptical, but intrigued.  It was pricey for a small pizza.  Ron also put in an order of pretzel bites with a cheese sauce.  There was no soda.  There was only a lemonade La Croix water.  There was also no bathroom that I could find.  How was it?  Delicious.  Absolutely delicious.  The pizza was on a sourdough crust with a sweet tomato sauce.  Ron completely fell in love with the pretzel bites and sauce, myself as well.  And this all prepared in about five minutes.  It was just wonderful.

 

Ron had brought by another box of ice cream Drumsticks last weekend, when he came by to watch the World Series.  He’d brought a box to watch baseball a couple of weeks ago, too.  I still had plenty left over, so we stopped back by my apartment for dessert before going to the Pan-Am Center.  There was a spectacular orange sunset against a clear blue sky as we pulled in.

The program for the game was half-sized and only included the team rosters, no scorecard.  I scribbled scoring on the empty spaces next to the roster, but it was mostly out of habit.  On the other hand, it had this nice picture of Moe Shida on the cover.  I was looking forward to seeing her play more this season.  I mentioned there was a Japanese player on the team to a co-worker, Taylor.  When he saw her picture, he was all over going out to a game sometime.  

While the main concourse renovations are still walled off, the new box seat section at the north end of the arena is nearly done.  There’s also a narrow video board across the top of the section.  On court, Highlands was warming up.  Neysa Munguia was their tallest player at 6’2” and nice looking.  In spite of the exotic name, she’s from Arizona.  (Jessika Espinosa, pictured second, was also eye-catching.)  The Roadrunner Revue band was here for the game.  The Cheer coach gave the Cheerleaders a bunch of instructions before the game. 

 

Ten minutes before tipoff, both teams had left the court to dress.  Suddenly PA Ed Carnathan announced the Anthem, which started immediately.  It caught everyone off guard as the crowd was still coming in and the Sundancers were still getting dressed.  This may have also happened at the Aggie/Miner Men’s game on Saturday, so perhaps it’s NCAA guidance.  They can’t trust the players not to take a knee and the crowd wants the Anthem played.        

  

First Quarter

Fama Thiam started off the game with a 3.  Thiam is pronounced “Cham,” by the way.  I’d be surprised by this, but a couple of years ago, the Men’s team had a Mohamed Thiam on the team.  They’re both from Senegal, but I haven’t found any other relation between the two.  (It’d be kind of cool if they were brother and sister.)

 

There were lots of fouls at the beginning.  Delani Harris on the Cowgirls got called for a charge where she knocked down two Aggie players.  She also got a block on a jumper.  Four minutes in, Coach Adams subbed out all five starters.  Surprising.  Moe was one of the subs and scored a layup to make it 7-4 Aggies.  Highlands took a timeout.  During the break, the Cane’s Challenge was announced.  It activates at 70 points.  A few members of the Men’s team were in the crowd.  The rest of the crowd was a bit subdued, if not confused.  It felt like I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been at a Women’s Basketball game in a while.

 

Lucia Yenes dropped in a 3, then everyone was subbed out again with four minutes left.  Ashley Strawbridge got a steal on a bad long pass.  Molly Kaiser also got a steal.  Lucia made a nice pass to Taylor Donaldson under the basket for a layup.  The Aggies were up 20-11 at the end of the quarter.

 

Second Quarter

A large crowd had materialized by the start of this quarter.  Attendance was listed at    1,400.  Strangely, most of the crowd was on the west side of the court.  This mystery would be cleared up later.  Pistol Pete was hanging out with a family on camera for Dance Cam during the break.

 

In this quarter, the subbing was more normal for the Aggies.  This was probably mostly because some of fouling was adding up.  Soufia Inoussa got a steal and a layup to make it 26-11.  Sabou Gueye got a block.  5’3” graduate Rachael Niles on the Cowgirls got two steals in this quarter.  She’d also hit two 3’s in the first quarter.  Darn it.  Stop making me root for your team.  They did go on a 6-point run late in the quarter.  The Aggies took a timeout.  28-17 Aggies.

 

Sylena Peterson made a steal and fed Sabou for a bucket.  At 34-18 Aggies, Highlands called a timeout.  Things got a bit chippie at the end of the quarter, but not too rough.  Sylena hit a 3 and quarter finished 43-20 Aggies.

 

Halftime

Much of the late-arriving crowd turned out to be little kids, who were the Borderland Cheerleaders.  They came out and performed for the halftime show.  The Cheerleaders and the Sundancers sat and watch and seemed to be enjoying it.  Camera phones were out all over the crowd.  A little group of tumbling toddlers came out to finish the show.  The Cheerleaders made a bridge for the kids leaving on their side.  The Sundancers congratulated the kids leaving the court on their side.

 

Third Quarter

In the break, PA Ed made a premature call on a t-shirt toss to the crowd as play started.  The crowd was disappointed.  They live for the free T’s.  Coach Adams went back to subbing out the whole team for this quarter. 

 

Moe made a good assist on a fast break to Sabou, who made a fancy spin move before laying it in.  (Ed was getting completely tongue-tied on calling her name.)  47-24 Aggies.  Lucia had a bad turnover right after and was pulled.  The coach gave her a long lecture on sidelines.  The fouls were still coming.  Highlands was getting to the stripe, but couldn’t hit them.  That’s kind of inexcusable given that foul shots are undefended, even if you were playing an NBA team.

 

49-28 Aggies and Highlands took a timeout.  Back to play, Fama found Taylor under the basket for another layup.  The Roadrunner Revue suddenly started singing the Aggie fight song a cappella for a couple of minutes straight.  I’m not sure what brought that on.  Donaldson started taking over.  She hit a 3 and made a steal and stuffed it in.  60-33 Aggies at the end of the quarter.  I’m starting to taste some chicken.         

 

Fourth Quarter

The scoreboard was showing player scoring during the game (unlike during Volleyball games).  Donaldson led everyone with 17 points.  Also on the videoboard during the break was the What-a-burger Fry Contest.  I completely lost track, but others in the crowd did not and helped out the contestant.  I noticed Colin Deaver from the El Paso NBC affiliate by the sideline talking to AD Mario Moccia.  He was shooting some footage.  Regrettably, I can’t get his station over-the-air here.  (We get the Albuquerque affiliate.) 

 

Strawbridge came out with a strip and a steal for a layup and added another steal on an inbounds right after.  That looked good, but the team was immediately shaky on the next play.  Moe got the play from the coach and motioned to other players, which led to a pass to no one and a turnover.  Oops. 

 

The Aggies started doing mass subs again.  Molly made a breakaway layup and drew a hard foul.  The offending Cowgirl put her hand to mouth in shock after Molly went down.  Looking down at the sidelines again, I thought I noticed Men’s Basketball Coach Heiar.  Him and Coach Adams worked at Wichita State at the same time.  They might be friends, at least friendly. 

 

Sabou scored her tenth point.  Molly hit a jumper and made it 71-37.  The Aggies thus achieved the Cane’s Challenge.  I think I know where me and Ron will be eating lunch tomorrow.  Flex Cam came on and focused on the Men’s team members in the stands.  Super-jacked Mike Peake was on his phone.  I think that was Deshawndre Washington sitting next to him, who grabbed his phone and made him flex.       

 

Aggie defense was still doing well.  Strawbridge added another steal and a rebound.  Donaldson grabbed a rebound.  She passed it down court to Moe, who laid it in.  Moe added a steal by tipping away a ball.  She danced on sideline and made a nifty behind the back save to keep it inbounds.  One thing that was not good was Aggie free throw shooting at the end (four misses).  The Cowgirls last points were on a nice feed by Juliana Aragon to Aja Scott for a layup under the basket.  Soufia scored the Aggies’ last with a three-pointer.  Aggies win 80-39.

 

Here’s the numbers.  Taylor Donaldson led all players with 17 points.  Sabou Gueye was next with 10 points and 5 rebounds.  Fama Thiam and Molly Kaiser each had 9 points.  Other stat leaders were Ashley Strawbridge with 4 steals, and Moe Shida with 5 assists.  Rachel Niles led the Cowgirls with 9 points.  Let’s hear it for 5’3” basketball players.  (I did find myself cheering on Highlands a bit.)  A couple other relevant stats.  Highlands was 4 for 14 in free throws (Aggies 9 for 14) and 3 for 18 in 3’s (Aggies 5 for 8).   

 

Ron and I decided on Raising Canes before tomorrow’s Volleyball match.  They’d also announced that Aggie Country Pass card holders could use that in lieu of presenting tickets.  Overall, it was a good warmup for the Aggies.  We’ll see how good they really are next week against UNM. 

Postcards from the Edge: Blanks 24

Sportsman's Motel, Alpine, Arizona.

Angel Fire, New Mexico.

Another postcard from Angel Fire.  It's a resort town.

 

Postcards from the Edge: Blanks 23

Rodeway Inn, Flagstaff, Arizona.

 

Hall of Presidents Wax Museum, Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Here we have the Apollo 11 astronauts and JFK.

Del Camino Motor Hotel and Restaurant, El Paso, TX.  This card is from 1969.  I wonder where it came from, since I don't think any of my family was in this area until later in the 70's.

Postcards from the Edge: Blanks 22

Congress Inn, East Jackson, Mississippi.   

First Methodist Church and Wesley Foundation, Rolla, Missouri.  That's the town I was born in.

High Country Lodge, Ruidoso, New Mexico.

MLB Postseason Report and Other Sports

Okay, let’s get real.  I haven’t been covering baseball this year and I barely watched the postseason.  Baseball is still my favorite sport.  I really enjoyed the El Paso Chihuahuas run to PCL Championship.  That took up a lot of my attention during the season.  The MLB team I was rooting for, the Padres, got shot in the foot twice by Fernando Tatis Jr.  They still made it to the NLCS by beating the Dodgers.  That was kind of awesome, but they never seemed like World Series winners.

 

On the other hand, who had the Philadelphia Phillies as the National League champs at any point of this season?  They fired their manager early on, lost Bryce Harper for significant time, and he couldn’t play the field when he returned.  Still, they caught fire when they made it into the postseason.  I was rooting for them.  I wanted Harper to have some redemption after he’d joined the team as a free agent, only to watch his previous team, the Washington Nationals, immediately win the World Series without him. 

 

The Astros were a good pick.  They had the best record in the American League and seemed to have the Yankees’ number all season.  However, they’d left a bad taste in people’s mouths after their 2017 World Series win when their sign-stealing scheme was exposed.  I was actually ambivalent.  Since then, the team has lost their GM, their manager, and two great players all from that winning team.  And they haven’t missed a beat. 

 

I wasn’t for the Astros, but I was okay with them winning.  This was another redemption arc of sorts.  If they’re still cheating, they’re doing a heck of a job of hiding it.  I’ll take it at face value that they’re just a really good baseball organization.  I appreciate that the Astros aren’t just trying to buy their championships.  (Ahem.  Dodgers and Yankees.  Okay, that’s not fair.  They’re smart organizations, too.) 

 

I felt good for Dusty Baker, the Astros’ manager.  Granted, he was something of a diversity-hire that was meant to deflect any criticism from him replacing AJ Hinch.  Yeah, Dusty had plenty of successful managerial experience, but he hadn’t won it all and seemed to be basically put out to pasture, as his age worked against him getting hired elsewhere.  Dusty didn’t cry upon winning, instead he was happy as a kid on Christmas.  That was good to see.

 

Okay, let’s get to the report card.  As usual, my pre-season report was a litany of prognostication failure.  I had some happy miscalculations.  The Orioles resurgence and run at the postseason, I think delighted everyone.  Keep an eye them next year.  Cleveland also surprised everyone, but screw them and their crappy new name.  The Mets and Braves did fight it out all season long for the NL East.  I got that right, but having the Blue Jays winning it all was just dumb.  I can’t wait to look like a fool next year.  In the meantime, I’ll probably do a Hot Stove recap at some point this winter.

 

NASCAR Championship

The day after the baseball season ended, NASCAR’s did as well.  I hate the Chase format.  It’s contrived and somewhat fixed, as drivers not in the championship are almost obliged to pull over for those who are.  Its set up to produce a dramatic end and then pretty much fails to do so.  It does make it easier on the broadcasters, who really only have to call four drivers’ activities on track.

 

Even if the format was good, the chosen venue for the event at Phoenix can only produce a boring race.  Homestead-Miami used to be in that spot before the Chase to basically coronate a champion, not to have an exciting race.  Phoenix seemed to be chosen because of climate.  It’s track unlikely to be rained or snowed out in November.  If you have to do this Chase thing, fine, run it at a road course or a Daytona for some real drama.  Imagine all four Chasers taken out in one wreck.  Oh, that’d be awesome and would finally end the format.

 

So, it was a lousy race, though the contenders were intriguing.  You had Chase Elliot, past champion and had won the most races this season.  There was Ross Chastain, who’d nipped out Denny Hamlin with a move that will live forever in NASCAR.  He’d also had a surprisingly great, if not very interesting, season.  Christopher Bell, who still looks 17, had won twice in the Chase in “walk-off” fashion to advance to this final round.  Clutch.  However, the day belonged to Joey Logano.  Him and his crew were perfect in the race, as he started on pole and led most of it.  After winning, Joey seemed lightyears ahead in maturity in his postrace interview compared to previous years.  I felt okay with him winning.  Given the format and the venue, he’d played it all correct.       

  

There were two major bummers right at the beginning.  Before the ceremonies, it was announced that Coy Gibbs had died.  He was Joe Gibbs’ son and Ty Gibbs’ father.  Ty had just won the Xfinity Championship the previous day.  (Ty is also the biggest villain in NASCAR.  I don’t know if winning changed that opinion.)  Coy was 50-ish and suddenly died in his sleep for no given reason.  That seems to be going around a lot. 

 

The other problem was that right before the race started, there was a commercial condemning anti-Semitism.  What’s wrong with that?  Ask Kayne West, Kyrie Irving, and Elon Musk and get back to me.  I was with my dad and friend Ron watching the race.  I bit my tongue, not wanting to go into some sort of tirade.  Granted, that would have been more interesting than race. 

 

College Football

After watching Tennessee beat Alabama in an epic game a couple of weeks ago, everyone was looking forward to the Volunteers playing Georgia.  Inexplicably, though both teams were undefeated, Georgia had been dropped from #1 to #3, with Tennessee taking over the top spot.  With the Bulldogs playing at home and coming off of being insulted by the press, it wasn’t even close as Georgia easily covered.  This is why college football can be hard to watch at times.  There can be upsets, but usually its blowouts.    

   

Aggie Volleyball

Oh, boy.  They lost on Thursday to Utah Valley.  Unlike their loss to SFA last week, the Aggies did play hard, but were overwhelmed.  Molly Johnson had a career game with 18 kills.  This loss had put them ninth in conference and out of the tournament.  Luckily, they were playing Seattle U next, who were winless in conference. 

 

Five sets later, the Aggies squeaked out a 15-13 win in the final set.  Oh, my God.  They’re worse than I thought.  Katie Birtcil seems to be hurt or every team has her well game-planned.  Once again, Molly stepped up with an awesome 37 kills in the match.  The Aggies’ last two matches for the regular season are at home and I’m set to see them.  They’re back in the tournament with the win and their next two opponents are beneath them in the standings.     

Meanwhile, I’d gotten this in the mail last week.  It’s pretty cool.  At least it allows me to remember better times for the Volleyball team.

A great iconic image of Johnny McCants.

Here’s a sweet pic of Cat Kelly.  

 

Aggie Soccer

Finally, I have some news I’m enthusiastic about.  Aggie Soccer won the WAC Championship on Sunday!  Ron and I were following along with the team’s Twitter feed during the race.  Check out this tournament stat line: the Aggies scored 3 goals in 3 games and gave up 0.  With three shutouts, goalie Makenna Gottschalk was the tournament MVP. 

 

Four other Aggies made the first team, including Tati Jerman.  Tati picked a great time to get her first two goals of the season, both obviously game-winners.  One was on a penalty kick.  Sofia Beerworth won the first tournament game with a goal in double overtime.  (The two OT’s were required by the tournament rules and there were no “golden goals” awarded, so all 20 minutes were played out.)  On to the NCAA tournament ladies!  Melika at work had talked to them last year (when she was on the Softball team) and they'd told her, this would be their year.