Jacob Jardel
Assistant Managing Editor
@JJardel_Writing
Cameron’s volleyball team dug deep to snap their 20-game conference losing streak, defeating Texas A&M-Commerce on Sept. 19.
The Aggies did not carry momentum from their road win to their match against Texas Women’s on Sept. 20 in Denton. The split brought the team to 1-3 in Lone Star Conference play.
Head coach Qi Wang said in a press release that the team had been working on the right fundamentals to put a win in the books.
“We’ve talked about the process of learning how to win matches, and tonight the team battled back late and earned this win,” Wang said. “This wasn’t our strongest performance of the season, but we fought with plenty of heart tonight.”
The match against the Lions marked Cameron’s second consecutive win and fifth consecutive five-set match.
The Aggies took control early, pulling out to an early lead before A&M-Commerce was able to tie the set at 21 points apiece with a late 9-3 run. However, senior Rebecca Green scored a decisive kill that would lead the Lady Aggies to a 25-23 set win.
The Lions pulled the match even after an early 11-2 run allowed them to coast to a 25-16 set win. The Black and Gold would pull back ahead after winning the third set 25-18, but Commerce came back to take the fourth set 25-18 after a go-ahead 5-0 run.
The Lions opened the final frame with four unanswered points, but CU would battle back to tie the set at 11 with kills from freshman Cristina Viera. Following an exchange of points, junior Shannon DuLaney scored two kills to set up match point.
Junior Kat Evans would make the kill that clinched the match for the Black and Gold.
Sophomore Kayla Hebert added 30 assists and 20 digs to the effort, while freshman Lindsey McCauley came away with 21 digs.
The next match against the Texas Women’s featured a struggling Aggie offense in a straight-set loss to the Pioneers.
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The first set was a back and forth affair until a four-point run put Texas Women’s up 21-15. Despite efforts from DuLaney and Viera, the Pioneers took the first set 25-18. Texas Women’s would go on to win the next two sets 25-15, 25-18.
The Black and Gold experienced troubles on offense, with an attack percentage of .155, 35 kills and 15 errors. They also posted one block at the net, eight less than the Pioneers.
Viera led the team with nine kills and added 10 digs. Green and Evans notched eight and seven kills, respectively. Junior Ingrid Boatman led the Aggies with 16 assists, and Hebert added 11 assists. McCauley contributed with 19 digs.
Cameron will crash the net next on Sept. 30 against Arkansas Tech and Williams Baptist in Russelville, Ark.