In talking with a couple of folks, I've discovered that some think the 24 rank is a little premature. To quote a 'friend' who has since told me he wants to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation at Thursday's game, "If you stack up who we've played vs. who the other teams in the top 25 have played, it doesn't make much sense to see us ranked. Yeah, we've played a couple tough teams but we haven't played the big teams like Hawaii, Pepperdine, BYU or even Long Beach State. Our opponents haven't given us much to compete against, aside from Tech or San Diego."
First of all, as I told him (in an all caps email for which I apologize), we'll get to Hawaii, Nevada and Utah soon enough. I may be emotional when it comes to Aggie Volleyball but the ranking was definitely warranted. Why? Well first off, I don't see any other teams in the top 25 with a 14-0 record. The closest is a 13-0 from UCLA and Michigan.
Secondly, we've been solid in our numbers and on both sides of the ball. After the Hilton Classic, some of us fans were saying that we needed work on serving but it seems Coach has taken care of that.
Thirdly, if the rankings were based solely on the heart of the team, we'd be number 1. I've said it so many times - this is a solid unit, a solid family. (That's the emotional side of me talking again.)
All along I've heard the same things from people - "Work on the serving" "Work on the simple mistakes" "Work on the communication". Yeah yeah yeah already. What do you think goes on in practice? Aside from the random outbreak of "Happy Birthday to You", they aren't just sitting there having tea and crumpets. I've never been to a practice but from what I've heard, its tough work. Stop over to bleedcrimson.net and read Jordan Bostic's volleyball diary. Her entries will give you an idea of what goes on in practice.
I'll get off my soapbox now, but I'll leave you with something I picked up at nmstatesports.com:
Against the WAC (as of Sept. 18)
New Mexico State ranks first in the conference in team hitting percentage (.289), opponent hitting percentage (.093), blocks per game (3.04) and service aces (114). Individually, Amber Simpson (.464) and Kim Oguh (.394) are first and second in the league in hitting percentage. Simpson is second in blocks per game (1.42) with Oguh ranking fourth (1.31). Alice Borden is sixth in kills per game (178) while Jackie Choi ranked second in assists per game (11.90).
Oh, and by the way - Happy Birthday Coach Jordan!
Tomorrow I'll have some final thoughts about the Vandals.
posted by Melanie Brooks @ 8:57 PM
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