NM State Volleyball vs Sam Houston Bearkats Volleyball 11-4-23 Part 2

Aggie Volleyball posing for Senior Day.

Continued from Part 1.

 

Set 3: Bearkats 2, Aggies 0

Wait, what just happened?  The Aggies had a big lead halfway through and a led late in the second set.  I may get my quick match anyway, but not the way I wanted.  I've really been looking forward to getting a Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich at Dominos for weeks.  I can almost taste it.  Coach Jordan went after the officials during the break.  They were having a rough match, admittedly.  The up official showed a yellow card before the start of the third set.          

 

Kacia Brown started the set with an ace.  Ryleigh Whitekettle was blocked early.  The set tied at 2 when SH aced.  Mari Sharp misjudged the serve and watched it land in.  Ry got a kill and Aleka Darko gave the Aggies a 4-3 lead with a kill.  5-3 Aggies, Starr Williams had a tip kill. 

 

I don't know what happened to precipitate this, but suddenly Mari was shuttling between the Coach and the up official.  There was an argument going on between them.  Finally, the ref told him (and it was quiet enough to hear it) that he'd had enough and was about to give him a red card.  Coach Jordan had a long talk with the down official before sitting down and was much more subdued for the rest of the match.  Wow, how angry would the Coach have been if they'd lost that point?

 

Play resumed and SH tied it at 5 on another ace that Mari let go.  SH then service errored right after.  Bella Castro came back with an ace.  Ashley Herman and Aleka teamed up on a block.  Mari aced.  The Bearkats took a timeout at 9-5 Aggies.  The Coach talked some more with the down official.  Rilen Garcia talked to the huddle.

 

Play resumed and Bella put in an ace on the back line that SH watched go in.  Ash and Aleka combined on a block.  11-6 Aggies, Bella finally faulted, but that was a five-point run.  Ash and Aleka got the serve back on another block.  Ashley followed with a kill.  Darian Markham was on serve and put in an ace.  Timeout SH, 14-6 Aggies. 

 

Back to play, Ash slapped down an overpass.  Next, Mari got a kill on a touch.  The officials delayed calling it.  Coach Jordan was getting up when they finally decided.  Darian faulted to end her run.  SH came right back with a service error.  Bella let the serve go as it went out. 

 

17-8 Aggies, SH took the point, but Rilen made a dive save during it.  Kacia came back with a kill.  19-8 Aggies, after a long rally, Starr ended it with a kill.  Kacia had another kill.  Maggie Lightheart was in on serve and put in two consecutive aces.  Ry had kill before Maggie served one out.  That was a five-point run.  Starr had two kills to finish the set, 25-10 Aggies. 

 

Set 4: Bearkats 2, Aggies 1

That was six aces for the Aggies (and two for the Bearkats) in that last set.  That exchange with the officials seemed to fire up the Aggies.  Maggie started on serve, but faulted on the first point.  Ryleigh was blocked.  SH shot out twice.  2-3 SH, Kacia faulted on serve.  3-3 “What?” I wrote in my notes.  The Aggies won the point, but I couldn't figure out what happened.  (Official stats said it was an SH attack error.)

 

Ashley put the Aggies up, 5-4, with a kill.  7-6 Aggies, SH took the point.  Maggie went into the press table going for a dig.  I noticed the Bearkats were aiming at the freshman as much as possible, but her digging skills are pretty solid.  Aleka put in a kill and Maggie and Kacia teamed for a block to put the Aggies up, 9-6.  Maggie was fired up on court.  Kacia and Ash teamed on a block on the next point and SH took a timeout.  Maggie was jumping up and down in excitement.  (Yes, she’s my favorite!) 

 

Out of that break, Maggie and Kacia had another block.  SH made a comeback after some Aggie attack errors and putting in an ace.  11-10 Aggies and they took a timeout.  Maggie was a bit too excited and had hit a ball way long on a point.  The Coach took her out for a couple of points and had her sit beside him for a chat.  Back to play, Mari tooled a block.  13-10 Aggies, on a long rally, Darian tipped a ball to Mari, who tipped it over the net for a kill.  Our PA stepped out for a few points and the assistant took over.  He did a decent job in a pinch. 

 

I could hear the Band warming up outside for the Football game.  Kacia and Starr had kills, then Kacia, the Bearkats, and Bianca Perez all service errored on three consecutive points.  Maximum futility.  SH did come back with an ace to make it 16-15 Aggies.  When the Aggies got the serve back, Bella’s serve was waived off by the up official.  She might have been early.  Coach Jordan started yelling.  The Aggies took the point on her re-serve. 

 

Maggie had a block and a couple of kills to make it, 19-17 Aggies.  Darian then aced on the next two points.  After Maggie and Kacia had a block, Darian aced again.  You think this girl maybe wanted to win on her Senior Day?  An SH attack error ended it, 25-17 Aggies.

 

Set 5: Aggies 2, Bearkats 2

I’d forgotten about lunch by this point.  September by Earth, Wind, and Fire played on the PA during an extended break.  I was bopping along with it.  Since there wasn’t a fan cam for this game, I didn’t have to worry about being on camera. 

 

Starr, Ryleigh, and Morgan Stewart were in to start.  SH took the first three points of this first-to-15 set.  They made a couple of pancake saves on the points.  An out-swing by Ry was challenged, but the call stood.  Kacia got the first Aggie point with a kill.  SH then had a mis-set and Mari made a clever dump shot to tie it at 3.

 

Mari tied it at 4 with a kill.  Ashley had a DT and was blocked to make it 4-6 SH.  Timeout Aggies.  The Bearkats came back with an ace.  Mari got a kill and Maggie and Bella came in.  6-7 SH, Aleka got a kill.  SH made a great off court save on the point and Bianca made a pancake save.  Maggie hit another shot way out, 6-9 SH.  Timeout Aggies. 

 

Out of the break, Ashley had a kill, but Maggie then had a swing into the net.  The Coach took her out and put Sydney McIntosh in.  Next, SH got called for four touches and Ry tooled a block.  9-11 SH, the Bearkats took a timeout.  Maggie looked like she was on the verge of tears in the huddle.  Back to play, Syd hit a big kill to make it 10-11 SH.  That’s where the tide turned.  SH tied it at 11 by hitting into the net and took a timeout.  Coach Jordan gave Sydney some extra instruction right before she went back out on court. 

 

Kacia came back with a kill, but SH responded with a kill.  This ended Rilen’s four-point serving run.  Next point, Kacia pounded a kill.  The crowd let out a cheer as the Aggies went up 13-12.  Morgan came in to serve.  14-12 Ryleigh made a kill.  The final point was an insane long rally.  Both teams were desperate to not lose it.  Finally, Kacia tooled a block to win it 15-12 and the match 3-2.  It was a “reverse sweep.”   

 

Sam Houston shook hands and immediately vacated the court.  After playing so hard the last two days and losing in such a tantalizing fashion, they had to be very disappointed.  Unfortunately, they weren’t there when the Senior Ceremony started and the PA recognized the one senior on their team.  The crowd applauded anyway.  In the Aggie huddle afterward, Maggie wrapped her arms around Sydney and gave her a big hug.  That’s teamwork. 

 

I got a bunch of stats.  Both teams had 9 aces.  Unfortunately service error-wise, the Aggies had 16 and SH had 10.  That’s pretty terrible for both teams even with all of those aces.  The Aggies were up 9 to 8 in blocks, 58 to 41 in kills, and were hitting .230 to SH’s .072.  The Aggies nearly lost to a team hitting .072. 

 

Individually, Kacia Brown led with 12 kills and 6 blocks.  Mari Sharp had 11 kills, Ashley Herman had 10 kills and 4 blocks, and Ryleigh Whitekettle had 10 kills.  Maggie Lightheart and Aleka Darko had 3 blocks.  For Sam Houston, Hailey Heider led everyone with 13 kills and Alyssa Fielder had 10 kills.  McKenzie Morvant had 5 kills with 6 blocks.  In support, Darian Markham had 16 digs and 4 aces.  Rilen Garcia had 29 assists. 

 

For these last two games, Assistant Coach Hertel wasn’t here.  I wonder if this hurt the team.  No offense, the Aggies should have rolled Sam Houston.  I know they were playing really hard and trying to get into the tournament.  (Sorry, I wasn’t naming their players in the match.  No malice was intended.  It’s too much effort for me to cover both teams.)  I can say coaching-wise for this game, SH had Ryleigh game-planned pretty well after her 20-kill game.  The Aggies had Morvant locked down after she’d also had a big game.  This didn’t really stop either team, though.            

 

For the Senior Ceremony, Coach Jordan said, “This is hardest day of the year for me, except when we lose.”  Local girl Kaitlin Espiritu was introduced first.  Unfortunately, her accomplishments were a bunch of injuries, including a torn ACL, which prevented her from playing.  The Coach heaped praise on her support work for the team.  Certainly after four years of not playing, she was dedicated to the program to have stayed.  Her family is good-looking like her, though none of them are as tall.  Her dad is handsome enough that some of her teammates have probably said inappropriate things about him. 

 

Darian Markham had a bunch of playing honors.  The biggest number was her 1,500 digs.  The Coach praised her effort in doing so much on court.  He turned to the team, “She’s doing so many jobs that aren’t being done.”  Ouch!   

 

While Darian was giving her speech, my phone went off.  Embarrassing.  When I got outside a few minutes later (I couldn’t have heard anything inside during the ceremony), I answered it and it was surprisingly Ron.  He was in town from his truck driving job.  I told him the football game was about to start, but he said he’d rather just listen to it and eat pizza.  

The 12-th Man was there in force for Aggie Football.

And that we did back at my apartment.  I’d had bad pizza like for four days this week and I really didn’t want more, but Ron brought Little Caesar’s.  It was okay, but I think I got pepperoni poisoning later in the evening from having too much this week.  If only I’d gotten that Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich.       

 

While watching some other college football games on TV, we listened to Aggie Football play Middle Tennessee State.  The Aggies would be bowl-eligible with a win.  It was a defensive struggle to say the least.  In the second half, the Aggies only managed a field goal.  MTSU didn’t even get that.  The last play was a Blue Raider pass into the endzone that was broken up.  Jack Nixon had this pregnant pause before the announcing that the Aggies had won, 13-7.      

 

The crowd was great, though official attendance is listed at 0.  [Edit: AD Moccia said on Monday’s Men’s Basketball game that it was 15,000.]  They were the player of the game.  The fans and their cowbells kept backing up the Blue Raiders with false starts.  The game really wasn’t enjoyable, though.  It was too tense and not enough scoring.  Regardless, the Aggies will go bowling for a second year in a row.  Who could have imaged this at the beginning of the Coach Kill era?

 

On Sunday, Aggie Soccer played Liberty at the C-USA tournament for the championship.  It was a tough 2-1 loss.  The Aggies did beat them on the road and win the conference regular season, but Liberty is a very good team.  Gia Valenti scored the team’s goal.  (She scored all of their goals in the tournament.)  This was a great season for them, regardless.  If they’re less injured and get some more good recruits, the Aggies should be even better next season.

 

This was Aggie Volleyball’s final home game.  It’s been an up-and-down season.  This post went unintentionally way long.  I plan on going to some Women’s Basketball games, including this Monday against Arizona.  I’ll post some updates of Volleyball in upcoming sports posts. 
 

NM State Volleyball vs Sam Houston Bearkats Volleyball 11-4-23 Part 1

Kaitlyn Espiritu #22 finally gets into a lineup.

You can’t lose on Senior Day.  It’s like a rule.  If you do, you get kicked out of the conference or demoted to Division II.  It’s serious.  Do not lose on Senior Day.  Aggie Volleyball had everything on the line today with this match against the Sam Houston Bearkats.

 

Actually, this match was dramatic enough without any false buildup, but I'm watching the NASCAR championship right now, so I'm giving into the hype.  I took the “back” entrance to the Pan-Am Center and didn't have any trouble getting in.  After I parked, I saw that the whole next door Football parking lot was filled in for their game later. 

 

Inside, I saw that alumni beautiful Megan Hart and lovely Annie Acosta were back for today’s game.  There weren't any Cheerleaders, but Pistol Pete put in an appearance.  (They're all working the football game.)  Team Ops Director Tatyana Battle brought today's ballgirls over to meet the officials for instructions.  We'll all get to hear more from the officials later.  Coach Jordan had a talk with the PA before the match.  I think he was making an addition to the player lineup introductions, maybe.

 

The girls were loose and happy.  Maggie Lightheart, Ashley Herman, and Ryleigh Whitekettle were dancing during warmups.  Coach Jordan gave Aspen Aldous a playful tap on the shoulder while he was passing by.  Our playing senior, Darian Markham, was wearing the pink top today.  The crowd was a bit more than a 1,000.  I don't know why they don’t promote these events a little better to all the football fans tailgating outside. 

 

For player introductions, the PA (not Ed, who'd be at the football game) missed McKenzie Morvant's last name.  She’d played so well for the Bearkats yesterday.  I hoped she wasn't offended and motivated to play harder.  (He didn't have any trouble with the complicated Polish name next.)  I think I missed this yesterday, but the PA emphasized it today.  The Sam Houston head coach, Brenda Gray, has been there for 40 years!

 

For the Aggies, local girl and senior Kaitlin Espiritu was finally in uniform and got an introduction.  I'd never seen her play in her four years because of injuries.  I kind of hoped she'd be in for point, but this was just ceremonial.  Her and Darian got big cheers from the crowd.  Kaitlin got to huddle with the team on court before returning to the bench.  The reserves huddled up off court.  I noticed that Morgan Stewart seemed to be leading the pep talk.

 

Set 1

The Aggies took an early lead with kills by Ashley and Aleka Darko.  SH tied it at 6.  Starr Williams had two good swings on the point, but Bearkats saved them.  They followed that up with an ace and then a service error.  Ryleigh tied up the score at 8 and 9 with kills.

 

Across the court, an arena staff member went down a row with a mop for a cleanup.  It must have been pretty bad to have merited a cleanup during the game.  Ash put the Aggies up 10-9 with a kill.  Two Bearkats nearly dove headfirst into each other trying to dig it.  SH aced and then service errored right after again.  The Bearkats took the lead with a block, but then service errored again. 

 

SH got another block to lead 12-14.  The Aggies were mistiming their jumps at the net in this set.  The Media timeout came at 12-15 SH.  Uncharacteristically in the break, the starters were seated at the bench and got a lecture from Coach Jordan, while the reserves looked on.  SH came back with an overpass kill, which is always demoralizing, but then they had another service error to break their run. 

 

Morgan and Maggie came in with Maggie serving.  Ry was blocked at 15-19 SH, but tooled a block on the next point.  Ashley got a kill on the next point.  Darian and Morgan had tremendous saves on the point.  Ry would get another kill, but would also get blocked.  A blocking error by Ry and an attack error by Ashley finished the set, 18-25 SH.

 

Set 2: Bearkats 1, Aggies 0

I was sort of looking forward to lunch and was hoping for a quick match.  I saw Tatyana talk to the team huddle briefly.  That's our future coach.  Coach Jordan only had a couple of quick words for the team.  Alex Connatser started. 

 

Rilen Garcia started off the set with a service error.  She was obviously frustrated afterward.  Kacia Brown came back with a block and teamed up with Starr for a block.  Starr and Ryleigh were on court together.  The two “bigs” aren't usually in together.  Ry and Kacia teamed up for a block at 3-1 Aggies.

 

Morgan, usually a steady server, errored at 3-2 Aggies.  Starr put down a kill, but then Kacia had a service error.  Ryleigh fired out on the next point.  I saw a touch and so did the crowd and Coach Jordan, who challenged the call.  The SH girls danced to Blondie's Call Me in the break.  The Aggies were just standing still.  The call was overturned to make it 5-3 Aggies. 

 

Aspen came in to set and serve, but had a service error.  7-4 Aggies, Alex had block.  The next point, Starr had a service error.  SH followed that with one of their own.  Everyone gets one today!  Mari shot out.  Coach Jordan challenged again and got it reversed, 9-6 Aggies.  This time he was angry. 

 

During the break, Rilen and Bianca Perez were talking while Aspen was still setting and they were on the sidelines.  Meanwhile, Maggie was dancing seductively to the music or maybe I was hallucinating.  The down official noticed the reserves also and told them to move away from the court during play.   

 

11-6 Aggies, Rilen put in an ace.  SH made an heroic attempt at a dig over the press table on it.  Kacia followed with a kill.  Next, SH made a back set to . . . no one . . . and the ball dropped to the court.  There was immediate confusion after the point with the team.  Rilen was back in and setting and gave Kacia a nice low set for a kill, 14-6.  Then Rilen had another service error.  I checked the stats later.  Yep, I was dinged with a service error as well and I was only in the stands.  It just wasn't a good day for serving.

 

Kacia had another kill to make it 15-7 Aggies.  From here, the Bearkats started making a comeback.  15-10 had a SH kill.  Rilen had a brave save over the press table on the point.  After the Media timeout, Morgan had a couple of bad digs and was taken out.  15-13 SH took the point, but Rilen and Mari each had a dive dig on the play.  Then the Bearkats had service error.  Starr had a kill at 17-13 before Kacia had service error.  Both teams seemed to be trying to give it away.

 

18-14 Aggies, Ry hit out apparently, but the up and down officials disagreed on the call.  There was a standoff for a moment, before settling on the out call.  There wasn't a challenge this time.  18-17 SH got an overpass kill and hit Alex in the face.  No!  Not her beautiful face!  She was okay, but was rubbing her nose during the Aggie timeout. 

 

The Bearkats tied it at 18 on a kill, though the officials may have missed the Aggies having four touches before the kill.  (The SH reserves were jumping up and down calling it.)  The teams tied at 20.  SH had another service error and Ashley had a kill to make it 22-20 Aggies.  Timeout Bearkats. 

 

Ashley got the kill on the next point.  SH hit over three free balls on the point.  Darian had a service error.  After two Aggie errors and an SH ace, it was tied at 24.  The crowd was getting loud.  Bianca got into the net to put SH on set point.  Kacia got a kill to tie it at 25.  SH took the next point.  Coach Jordan was yelling at the up official over a call on a pancake dig.  Mari tied it at 26 with a kill.  26-27 SH, the Bearkats fired a kill through three defenders at the net.  Another kill finished the set, 26-28 Sam Houston.

 

Continued in Part 2.

NM State Volleyball vs Sam Houston Bearkats Volleyball 11-3-23

Sunny Sydney McIntosh.

I’m sorry.  I’m depressed for no really good reason.  This was even after watching the Texas Rangers’ World Series victory parade today.  I didn’t even go out for anything to eat.  I could not get up for this penultimate Aggie Volleyball home match.  Writing up this fairly dramatic match is going to be a labor.  Sorry in advance.

 

The Pan-Am Center side parking lot was blocked coming in.  There’s the Homecoming Football game going on tomorrow.  There were a bunch of RV’s and trailers parked out there, so there might be a great crowd present for the Aggies to possibly clinch a bowl bid. 

 

After entering, I had no trouble spotting beautiful star alumni Megan Hart by the Aggie bench.  At 6’5”, she’s easy to pick out of a crowd.  Megan was on crutches, though.  I wonder if she’s still playing somewhere professionally.  (PA Ed gave her a fist bump while walking past her.)  Annie Acosta was also there, along with a couple other alumni, probably for Homecoming.  They were honored on court during a break.  Former star player, Katie Birtcil was there, but she wasn’t with honored the group.  I can’t explain that.

 

Tonight, we had radio.  I also had the loudest fans in the arena sitting behind me, so I wasn’t able to hear Adam Young’s call all of the time.  From his pregame, I found out that tonight’s foe, the Sam Houston Bearkats, were 1-13 in conference.  They were playing to just get into the postseason tournament and need to sweep their next four matches.  The Aggies are only in the middle of the pack, but sweeping their next four matches could get them a much better seed. 

 

The Bearkats are a pretty good-looking team.  They were also fairly tall.  They didn’t have anybody really short, though they also didn’t have anybody really tall like Megan.  Their setter came from the same Texas high school of our Darian Markham.  That must be a heck of program there.  A couple of their injured players (I’m guessing) that were holding clipboards were really good looking.  Even one of their assistant coaches was cute, though she looked like she’d had a hard season. 

 

On the Aggie side fashion-wise, Alex Connaster had were hair up and in braids.  She let out an uncharacteristic loud shout while hitting in practice.  Peyton Castillo on the bench, had her long, curly hair straightened out for tonight.  My favorite, Maggie Lightheart, was popping and locking on court to the music.  I can’t wait for her to become a star player.  (Neither can Coach Jordan.)  I noticed that Assistant Coach Hertel wasn’t here.  The setters were no longer sitting with Assistant Coach Whitis and were back with the reserves.  Are they out of the doghouse?           

 

The crowd was a bit lighter at just over 1000.  There weren’t any little girls teams there tonight.  One of the suites was in use.  (I need to figure out how to get up there.)  The warm up music was upbeat in contrast to Monday.  I was enjoying Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence.  I forgot that Friday was free popcorn night with a soda purchase.  I’d eaten a sandwich right before leaving and wasn’t hungry. 

 

Set 1

I can’t do a point-by-point recap tonight.  Sorry.  The score was fairly close early, but the Aggies were staying ahead with kills from the usual suspects.  The main scoreboard scoring stopped working early, but the old side scoreboard kept up.  13-10 Aggies, Mari Sharp did one of her flying kills from the backcourt that was a real crowd-pleaser.  15-11 Aggies, Starr Williams finished the point with a kill off a great bump set by Rilen Garcia.  Mari also had a great dig on the point. 

 

This took us into the Media Timeout.  PA Ed announced that Aggie Soccer had just beaten Sam Houston at the C-USA tournament, 2-0.  (Gia Valenti scored both.)  That was kind of cold to drop that into this game.  Soccer will be playing for the championship on Sunday.  From here, the Aggies finished the set off in dominating fashion.  Bianca Perez, after having kind of a rough set with her setting, went on a 10-point serving run to finish it, 25-12.  That was kind of awesome. 

 

Set 2: Aggies 1, Bearkats 0

The scoreboard started working again.  The Aggies went down early, 4-8 SH.  Starr got a kill to break their four-point run.  7-9 SH, the officials disagreed on the call and initially gave it to the Aggies.  A challenge reversed it to 6-10 and then the Bearkats added an ace right after.  A service error ended another four-point SH run.

 

A challenge went the Aggies’ way to make it, 13-15 SH.  After another SH service error and a shot out, it was tied at 17.  SH took a timeout.  They came back taking the next two points, which led to an Aggie timeout.  Ryleigh Whitekettle broke the run with a kill off a block, but the Bearkats came back with four-point lead, 18-22.  Timeout Aggies.

 

Ry and Ashley Herman came out of the break with kills.  After a net violation tied it at 22, SH took a timeout.  It didn’t help.  Mari aced and Ash and Kacia Brown combined on a block.  Ryleigh finished of the comeback and set victory with a kill, 25-22 Aggies.  Rilen gave her a beauty of a set with a little misdirection, as she pointed at the other side of the court before setting her.  It was a seven-point serving run by Mari to finish the set out.  The crowd went berserk during it.

 

Set 3: Aggies 2, Bearkats 0

I noticed Annie getting water from the sidelines for Megan and the other people she was sitting with.  Who’s going to say, “No?”  The Aggies went down early again.  3-5 SH, Ryleigh got a kill off an accidental touch.  She came out and got a lecture from the Coach for being lucky. 

 

The Aggies tied it at 5, 7, 8, and 9.  Mari dropped a sledgehammer and gave the Aggies a 10-9 lead.  They’d keep it for a few points, before losing it, 14-15 SH, at the Media timeout.  Starr would tie it at 15 with a kill, but the Aggies wouldn’t retake the lead.  Ry tied it at 19 with a kill and she was more fired up than I’d seen her before.  Her and Aleka had blocks on the point. 

 

19-21 SH, Ry was blocked.  Timeout Aggies.  Coach Jordan just talked to Bianca for the whole break.  Coach Whitis made a brief comment to the rest of the team, but they otherwise talked amongst themselves.  I could see some of them cutting up a little.  Ry came back with a tip, but a service error by Rilen and an ace by the Bearkats finished the set, 20-25 SH.

 

Set 4: Aggies 2, Bearkats 1

The Aggies went straight down 0-4 and the Coach took a timeout.  Ryleigh got the first Aggie point on a hard-fought point right after.  Ashley had an off court save by Adam at the press table.  The Aggies went down by four again.  9-11 SH, Ry showed off some raw power on a kill and tried to fire the team up again. 

 

9-14 SH, Bianca was called for an illegal attack.  Ryleigh was next called for a net violation.  She couldn’t believe it.  She was also called for a touch on a kill.  At 12-17 SH, the Coach was so angry, he got in the faces of the reserves and started yelling at them.  13-18 SH, timeout Aggies.  Coach Jordan, furious, now had the opportunity to chew out the players who were playing on court.

 

13-19 SH, another net violation was called.  The Coach challenged it, but the call stood.  The Aggies managed to claw their way back into it.  Starr hit a soft kill into the corner to make it 16-19.  SH took a timeout.  18-19 SH, Starr brought the thunder with a kill and got the crowd back into it.  She did it with a tip at 19-20. 

 

Ry tooled a block at 20-21.  21-22 SH, a Bearkat service error.  The player came out and was upset with herself.  Ashley had a block and Ryleigh got another kill, but they couldn’t get the Aggies back to even.  The Bearkats took the set, 23-25, off a blocking error by Kacia.

 

Set 5: Aggies 2, Bearkats 2

Suddenly, the sharp Aggies showed back up.  They took 6 of the first 8 points.  There were a couple of challenges, but nothing was overturned.  SH came back on a block of Ryleigh to make it 6-5 Aggies, and the Coach took a timeout.  Rilen’s misdirection on setting Ry had worked at least three times in the match, but SH eventually caught on. 

 

Ashley got a kill out of the break and Maggie came in to serve.  She’d almost come in earlier in the set, but had been waived off.  Maggie bump set Starr, who tooled a block for the point.  Kacia then got a kill.  10-5 Aggies, Maggie hit the tape on her serve and it fell over for an ace.  Timeout SH. 

 

The Bearkats hit out on the next point.  Maggie dove flat out for a dig during the point.  On the next point, she hit the tape again, but this time it fell back on the Aggie side.  That was a four-point serving run, not bad.  The Aggies finished it out 15-7 on a SH shot out and the match, 3-2.  Cue the music and the fans doing the Aggie cheer.  Wait a second, the SH coach challenged the point and it was overturned.  The Aggies won it 15-8 on a point that nearly was nearly a duplicate of the previous one.  No challenge this time.  We’re done!

 

I stuck around for a little bit to listen to the radio postgame.  I wrote down some stats, but was disappointed that the coach didn’t come on for commentary.  Actually, he made quick speech to the team and they all seemed unhappy afterward.  Maybe I didn’t want to hear what he had to say tonight. 

 

Maggie and Bella Castro, who served for Ryleigh during the most of the match, came up into the crowd to hug family members.  I started up the steps and suddenly ran into Ashley talking to some people.  I wanted to tell her, “Good game,” in passing by, but unfortunately the stairs were blocked with people.  I got tired of waiting and went to the other side.  So much for meeting any of the players this season.

 

Ryleigh Whitekettle led all scorers with 20 kills.  I haven’t heaped enough praise on Ryleigh.  She’s been so steadily brilliant this season, you just take her for granted.  Three other Aggies scored in double digits: Kacia Brown with 12 (and 9 blocks), Ashley Herman 10 kills (5 blocks), and Starr Williams 10 kills.  The Bearkats had three players in double digits led by McKenzie Morvant with 15.  The Aggies were up 13 to 7 in blocks.  The Bearkats were up 7 to 4 in aces.  Both had 7 service errors.  The Aggies hit .306 (63 kills) with the Bearkats only hitting .146 (53 kills).  Darian Markham sold out with 20 digs.    

 

I agree with Adam’s assessment.  I can’t quite figure out how the Aggies let this go to five sets.  Not just that, they were playing from behind in the three of the sets.  The girls looked so sharp in the first and fifth sets and at the end of the second set, but were otherwise very beatable.  Usually, when teams go on really long serving runs, it’s because the teams are badly mismatched in talent.  I don’t want to take anything away from Sam Houston’s efforts.  They were playing for something.  The Bearkats looked like they should be a better team than their record. 

 

I had trouble getting out of the parking lot again, even though most of the crowd had cleared out.  I’m somewhat concerned about ***tomorrow’s game,*** since the parking lot will have the Football crowd showing up.  I won’t be going to that game, but I plan on listening.  I really got miserably depressed during volleyball, not even because of the play, but I’ll be there tomorrow.  Maybe getting something to eat afterward will pick up my spirits.   

MLB Postseason Report: Victory!

All treat and no trick to end this MLB postseason.  This was a sweet card from Aunt Judy.

10-4-23

It was an afternoon Wild Card Series game to start the postseason.  I went over and watched with my dad before going to Aggie Volleyball.  The Rangers won 4-0 over the Rays.  Rays had 4 errors and a run-scoring WP in the game.  The score could have been worse, as the Rangers left 13 runners on base.  Offensively, the Rangers got one run off the wild pitch and an unearned run.  Elsewhere, the Twins finally won a playoff game after 18-straight defeats with their win over the Blue Jays today.

10-5-23

Well, that was over quick.  All of the Wild Card series were over in two: the Phillies over the Marlins, the Twins over the Blue Jays, and (shock) Dbacks over Brewers.

 

I watched the afternoon game with dad game.  The Rangers rolled over the Rays, 7-1.  The main drama of the game was whether the Rays would score before they set a new playoff record for scoreless innings.  (It went to 33 2/3 innings before they scored in the seventh.)  21-year old rookie in the league for a month, Evan Carter, was on base 7 of 8 plate appearances with a home run.    

 

The main news of this series in St. Petersburg was that these two games had the lowest playoff attendance since 1919.  The broadcasters said it was more of a “group” than a crowd.  One of them agreed with my take:  Why are they building another stadium next door to this one that isn’t drawing fans? 

 

I saw Rays’ other mascot DJ Kitty a couple of times during the broadcast.  Admittedly, he’s kinda cute.  (I want a doll of him.)  I didn’t see their official main mascot, Raymond, who is frankly just weird.    

 

10-13-23

I listened to several of the Division Series games via ESPN Radio.  I just didn’t write about them at the time, so this is a recap. 

 

I had terrible mixed feelings about the Orioles and Rangers series.  I like the O’s.  Adley Rutschman is my favorite player.  And of course, former Aggie, Kyle Bradish is their star pitcher.  On the other hand, I’ve been a Ranger fan longer and I listen to their games all the time.  The Rangers’ offense came back to life in a big way to win the series.  Their starting pitching was good, but that bullpen . . . scary shaky. 

 

The Orioles seemed overwhelmed by the moment, but their fans were great.  O’s were 24-th in payroll and had 101 wins.  They have nothing to be ashamed of.  Hopefully, this team will improved over the offseason.

 

The Twins put up a fight against the Astros, but were overwhelmed.  It’s going to be and all-Texas ALCS.  As I thought, the Phillies beat the Braves.  I don’t think one little taunt by Orlando Arcia caused Bryce Harper to go off, but it sure made it sweeter. 

 

But most importantly, the Dodgers will no longer be irritating me in the postseason thanks to the Diamondbacks.  In the closeout game, the D-Backs scored all of their runs of the game via four solo home runs in the third inning.  That fourth homer was memorable.  Catcher Gabriel Moreno hit one by the foul pole that was initially ruled fair, but then the umps quickly realized their mistake.  (They should have an extra ump down the foul line for the playoffs . . . oh, wait.)  The very next pitch, Moreno hit it harder and knocked it clean out. 

 

10-25-23

I’ve been mostly listening to the League Championship, but I’ve been so busy at work and other things that I wasn’t taking notes.  Most of the games were on cable, so didn’t get to watch a lot.  Darn.  These were a pair of great seven-game series.

 

First up was the Battle of Texas between the Rangers and the Astros.  Texas won the first two on the road at Houston.  They then lost all three at home and were crushed in the first two.  Game 5 was devastating.  Adolis Garcia hit a go ahead three-run homer.  His next at bat, he was hit by Bryan Abreu.  It seemed like ill-timed revenge at the time for Adolis’ home run trot.  Curt Shilling said the next day that he was definitely hit intentionally.  This did result in a benches clearing brawl and both players in the incident getting ejected. 

 

On the radio, the ESPN color commentator was angry about the ejection of the Astros’ pitcher.  He predicted that Jose Leclerc, the Rangers’ closer, would blow the save because of the delay.  He was right.  Leclerc gave up a three-run homer to Jose Altuve and I was pissed at the commentator. 

 

It was fine.  The Rangers proceeded to crush the Astros over the next two games and Adolis won the series MVP.  Adolis was also getting a stadium full of boo’s in Houston.  In Game 6, he struck out four times and then hit a grand slam homer in the ninth.  Who would have thought that having a losing record at home might come back and bite the Astros in the playoffs? 

 

In the NLCS, the Phillies crushed the D-Backs so bad in the first two games nobody could believe that this series would go to six games.  The D-Backs won the third game, 2-1, in a tight pitcher’s duel with a single by Ketel Marte in the ninth.  

 

In Game 4, the D-Backs made a stunning comeback with a three-run eighth to tie the series.  The Phillies took the next game heading back to Philly only needing to win one.  Once there, the Phillies only scored three runs over the next two games, as the D-Backs’ pitching held them down.  “Boooo!” goes every Philly fan.     

 

Okay, who had the Rangers and the Diamondbacks meeting in the World Series?  Both teams are a bit unlikely participants as they both got in via the wildcard.  “I guess we’ll have to come up with a new format to punish the wildcard teams further,” says MLB.   

 

The Rangers kept losing pitching all through the season and then losing the AL West on the final day of the regular season.  The D-Backs led the NL West for quite a while before a bad losing streak allowed the Dodgers to pass them.  They finished the season getting swept by the Astros.   

 

I’m rooting for the Rangers, but I’m good with either team winning.  It’s an interesting matchup.  It’s #9 in payroll (the Rangers) versus #21 in payroll (the D-Backs).  Just to mention it, Arizona did beat the #4 (the Phillies) and #5 (the Dodgers) payroll in the playoffs already.  (The Mets, Yankees, and Padres are #1, #2, and #3.  Look what all that payroll cost bought you.  Nothing.) 

 

The Rangers seemed jubilant after winning.  The D-Backs seemed shocked and stunned.  They’re both good on defense.  The Rangers have the better hitting.  The D-backs probably have better pitching.  (They really should send the Mariners a fruit basket for sending them Paul Sewald to close for them.)  Youth and speed are going for the D-Backs.  The Rangers have the experience and the established stars.    

 

Who’s going to win?  Who can say?  Neither of these teams should logically be here.  The Diamondbacks team got here way too early according to the experts, but who needs more payroll when you have talent?  (Their team has a negative run differential for the season.)  

 

The Rangers are deeply flawed, but have Bruce Bochy guiding the ship.  He’s got three rings already.  (Madison Bumgarner, who the D-Backs released earlier this year, offered to come back and pitch for him.  Amazingly, he’s still the highest paid player on the D-Back’s payroll this year.)  The Rangers are the No Pride team in the league, so that’s enough for me to root for them.      

 

I feel good for Eric Nadel, the Rangers’ Hall of Fame radio broadcaster.  He missed the start of the season from a mental breakdown and came back halfway through the season.  Eric probably can’t believe his good fortune at being able to call another World Series.  If the Rangers want to win it for anybody, win it for him.

 

10-27-23 World Series Game 1

Offseason moves happening now before the World Series.  Astros’ manager Dusty Baker has retired again.  It was definitely worthwhile for him to have unretired, as Baker finally earned a World Series ring.  Padres’ manager Bob Melvin has gone to the Giants.  Gosh the Giants almost hired a woman for the job.  Whew!  I don’t know, though.  I think Melvin’s reputation has been soiled by his tenure with the Padres, but I may be in the minority.  We’ll see how he does with the Giants. 

 

Let’s cut to the chase.  Corey Seager hit a two-run homer to tie it in 9-th.  Talk about clutch.  “The only park that could have held that one in would be Yellowstone,” said an ESPN commentator.   I had the game on while at work, but just missed seeing it live.  In the 11-th, Adolis Garcia hit a solo homer to win it.  He had taken a hit on the hand in a previous at bat.  Stop making the man angry!  He hits better.

 

The Rangers were up early, but the D-Backs took the lead, 5-3, before Seager’s blast.  The Ranger bullpen pitched over six scoreless innings in the 6-5 win.  Jon Grey was back and was effective in relief.  D-Back Tommy Pham homered off Nathan Evoldi. In his dugout interview, Pham was amazingly complimentary of Evoldi, who was his former teammate.  This characterized much of the series: mutual respect.

 

I listened to the Rangers’ call-in radio show afterward.  Broadcaster Jared Sandler’s nephew called.  The exchange was hysterical.  “Hey, Uncle Jared!  I just got back from the game.  It was crazy there tonight!”  “Is that all you got?”  The kid asked if Adolis or Seager was the better player.  Jarred instead asked him who he liked best and then added, “It’s past your bedtime.”  “Okay, Uncle.  Love you.”

 

10-28-23 World Series Game 2

Well, this one was brutal: 9-1 D-Backs.  Merrill Kelly pitched 7 innings and only allowed 1 run.  To this point, Arizona was looking stronger, as the Rangers had only won Game 1 with heroics.

 

10-30-23 World Series Game 3

I missed most of the game to go watch Aggie Volleyball.  No regrets.  (Sort of.)  The Rangers won 3-1, but lost Max Scherzer, tonight’s starter, and Adolis Garcia to injuries for the rest of the series.  Marcus Semien got his first RBI of series and Corey Seager hit a two-run homer.  Jon Gray pitched three innings in relief of Scherzer, who had to come out of the game after three.  The key play came in the second.  D-Back Christian Walker ran through a stop sign and was thrown out at home by Adolis from the outfield.  That said, please don’t blame individual players (or fans) for playoff losses.    

 

10-31-23 World Series Game 4

It was month end processing at work.  There was no chance of me being able to stop and take notes.  I was lucky that I got listen to the early part of the game.  That was the pivotal part, as the Rangers had two 5-run innings in their 11-7 win.  Travis Jankowski, replacing Adolis in the lineup, delivered a 2 for 4 performance with 2 RBI’s.  Semien, who’d been so quiet in the playoffs, roared with 5 RBI’s and a homer.  The Rangers went up 10-0.  The D-Backs’ comeback came off of the bottom of the Rangers’ bullpen.  I wasn’t too concerned about that, but Jose Leclerc was used to get the final out making him unavailable for the next game.

 

11-1-23 World Series Game 5

5-0 Rangers.  They take the World Series 4-1.  The final numbers do not reflect the game or the emotions.  Zac Gallen no hit the Rangers into the seventh before finally surrendering a hit to eventual World Series MVP Corey Seager.  Mitch Garver drove him in for a 1-run lead.  Meanwhile, Nathan Evoldi had nothing but trouble for five innings with runners on base, but somehow didn’t give up a run.  His last inning, the sixth, was his only 1-2-3.  In the eighth, a Jonah Heim hit and an error scored two and a two-run blast by Semien gave the Rangers their 5-run lead.  Josh Sborz worked a no-drama bottom for the win and the championship.

 

I got to hear broadcaster Eric Nadel’s immortal call of the final out later, “It’s over!  It’s over!”  After 40+ years, he finally made it to the Promised Land.  Listening the Rangers’ radio postgame between him and Matt Hicks and Jared Sandler may have been the best part. 

 

Matt, after so many years of calling minor league baseball (including the Diablos where I’d heard him daily), had gotten called up to the big leagues in 2012.  He’d never been to a World Series game before.  Jared, Metroplex native and boyhood fan of the team, had been ecstatically interviewing team members.  When asked what the win meant to him, Jared paused for a long time and then it hit him.  Later, he was in tears crediting hearing Nadel’s broadcasts as the reason for him entering the field.  Eric said, “I don’t have any children, but working with you is like having a son with me.”       

 

In the other broadcast booth, Greg Schulte, the Diamondbacks’ radio voice since their creation in 1998 had announced in April this would be his last season.  I used to listen to him every day when a local station carried their games.  I heard his last words.  Schulte was in his final professional voice, before finally wavering at the very end. 

 

I’m getting a little choked up myself.  I’ve been listening to Ranger games here for the last few years.  For most of my baseball fandom, I admit, my favorite team is whoever I get to hear or watch the most of during a season.  I seriously doubted this would be the year for the Rangers early on.  I’m so glad to be so wrong.