Krista Pylant
Sports Editor
@KristaPylant8
The Cameron volleyball team defeated Texas A&M-Kingsville in a five set thriller (12-25, 25-20, 12-25, 26-24, 15-12) during the opening round of the Lone Star Conference Tournament Thursday evening.
Cameron had three individuals notch a double-double on the match. Senior Kat Evans earned her twelfth double-double on the year with 14 kills and 17 digs, while freshman Jordan Williams attained her eighth with 13 kills and 17 digs, and freshman Tori Luckenbill got her eleventh after contributing 49 assists and ten digs for the Aggies.
Overall, Cameron had 60 kills on the match with a .167 attacking percentage, while Texas A&M-Kingsville had 58 kills and a .250 hitting clip.
Errors plagued Cameron in the first set, with the Aggies finishing with a -.129 hitting clip. TAMUK held a 12-5 lead when CU hit three consecutive kills followed by a Javelina attack error to come within three points. However, TAMUK went on a five point run that included three straight blocks to pad their lead. The Javelinas took the first set 25-12 paced by ten kills and a .172 attacking percentage.
Texas A&M-Kingsville jumped to a 3-0 start at the beginning of set two and held a 7-4 lead until Cameron went on a six point chain propelled by five kills and a Javelina attack error to gain the 10-7 advantage. TAMUK battled back to tie the set at 12 and back-and-forth action ensued. TAMUK put down a kill to take back the lead, but CU answered back with one of their own.
The set tied three more times and for a final time at 16-16 before the Aggies scored three straight points for the 19-16 edge. The Aggies held their lead with the Javelinas coming within a point, but CU hit three kills and forced a Javelina error to take set two 25-20.
Cameron opened set three with a kill, but the Javelinas would hit back-to-back kills to take the lead and retain it for the entirety of the set, winning 25-12. The Javelinas held Cameron to six kills while hitting 13 of their own with a .273 attacking percentage.
Set four was tightly contested with 15 ties and nine lead changes. With TAMUK ahead 14-11, Cameron knocked down two kills and forced two Javelina errors to take the lead 15-14. After a timeout, the Javelinas got a kill to tie the set at 15. The set tied nine more times and at 24-24 Kat Evans and Jenna Gillean each put down a kill to keep the match alive 26-24 powered by 16 kills.
In the fifth set, CU was down 7-3 but Cameron hit three kills and TAMUK had a setting error to tie the game at seven. Both sides traded points and the set tied at eight and nine until the Aggies pulled ahead off of two kills to lead 11-9. CU held the lead to get the set and match 15-12.