Jacob Jardel
Assistant Managing Editor
@JJardel_Writing
Cameron Volleyball rang in Ole Kim’s 50th Birthday with a win in Aggie Gym but felt the drag the next day on the road.
The Lady Aggies took on rival Midwestern State on Oct. 31 in Aggie Gym and defeated the Mustangs in four sets. However, the team fell to Northwestern Oklahoma State in four sets on Nov. 1 at Alva.
With Ole Kim and Halloween paraphernalia adorning the gym and spectators in an array of costumes, the Black and Gold welcomed their rivals with two consecutive set wins and a third seemingly on lock with a 14-7 lead in the third.
However, MSU mustered an eight-point run to take the 15-14 lead, which they later built to 21-16. Despite a three-point run from CU, the Mustangs stymied the sweep with a 25-21 set win.
The next set featured a back and forth battle between the rivals, but the Aggies took momentum with a kill from sophomore Kayla Hebert and an ace from junior Kat Evans. Though they would not lead for more than a pair for most of the set, they closed out the match with a 25-22 win.
The win brought the Aggies their much-needed fourth win in the Lone Star Conference (LSC) and bolstered their record to 12-13 on the season, their best since the 2011 season. That year was also the Aggies’ last appearance in the postseason.
Evans and Hebert locked in a pair of double-doubles for Cameron. Evans led the team with 13 kills and added 11 digs, while Hebert earned her 16th double-double with a team-leading 23 assists and 11 digs. Evans also added a pair of blocks.
Senior Rebecca Green slated a perfect match with an errorless 11 kills and a .314 hit percentage to go along with an ace and two blocks. Frosh Kendra Adams matched her effort with 11 kills of her own, adding a block.
Overall, the Lady Aggies earned 59 kills on .242 hitting with 75 digs, outplaying the Mustangs in all three departments.
The next game against the Rangers gave the Aggies a tougher test. Cameron took a neck and neck first set 25-21 behind an errorless four kills from freshman Cristina Viera. Adams added four kills of her own.
Northwestern responded in the next set with a five point run put them up 16-8. The Black and Gold ended up dropping the set 25-15 with a .088 hitting percentage and nine kills. More of the same happened for the Aggies in the third set, during which the Rangers took 25-16.
Cameron battled back with an offensive renaissance in the fourth that kept Northwestern from picking up a lead of more than three points and picked up a 20-18 lead in the set. The teams traded points until the Rangers took the last four points to win the set 25-22 and the game 3-1.
Adams led the team with 10 kills, while Evans carded nine kills and a block. Freshman Jordan Escobar added eight kills of her own and a block.
Hebert added another double-double, her 18th of the season, with 19 assists and 18 digs. Senior Ingrid Boatman added 12 assists, while junior Taylor Tepfer slated 18 digs. Viera added 16 digs along with five kills and a block, while sophomore Paige Holt led the team with a trio of blocks.
The loss dropped the Aggies to 12-14 on the season and 8-3 in non-conference play.