The Cameron University volleyball team went 1-2 in their last three home games against Western New Mexico, Eastern New Mexico and Texas A&M Commerce on Oct. 28-29 and Nov. 1.
Western New Mexico
Cameron volleyball outlasted Western New Mexico in a four-set battle to pick up the 3-1 win (25-23, 23-25, 27-25, 26-24) on Oct. 28 in the Aggie Gym.
The Aggies not only snapped a 14-match skid but also notched their first Lone Star Conference victory. The contest saw 50 tie scores and 19 lead changes.
Sophomore Brittany Lawson credited the team’s perseverance for their win.
“It’s really exciting and kind of a relief because we just worked really hard every day and to finally get the win is a success for our team,” she said. “Our teamwork was for sure our key to the win.”
Sophomore Shelby Mench said the team also stepped up various aspects of their game in the victory.
“We had a lot more hustle than usual, and our defense was great tonight,” she said. “When we went to Western, we lost in three. It was not a close game, so it was nice for us to get the win here tonight.”
After trailing 23-21, the Aggies took advantage of back-to-back Mustang errors and complimented them with back-to-back kills to start the match with a 25-23 victory in the first set.
The Black and Gold found themselves behind again late in the second frame, but they chained five straight points to even the game at 23 behind two blocks assists from Mench and three kills from Jenna Gillean.
However, Cameron’s second set comeback fell short as the Mustangs got the edge with a kill and an Aggie error to win 25-23.
Game three saw the most set ties of the match, with the teams knotting up 20 times in addition to exchanging the lead six times. Level at 25-all, Western’s 20 kills on the set would not pay off as they committed two straight errors.
CU earned the 27-25 win behind the efforts of Joseline Caraveo and Paige Dixon, who blocked the second error.
The Mustangs were positioned at set point in the fourth game, but CU held steady for three straight points. Gillean knocked in the set- and match-winning point for the 26-24 victory.
Gillean and Dixon each earned a double-double on the match to lead CU. Gillean put down 15 kills and 20 digs for her eighth double-double on the season, while Dixon got her fourth career double-double with 14 kills and ten digs.
Mench contributed with a career-high 50 assists. Caraveo also turned in a career-high performance, aiding on nine of the Ags’ 11 team blocks.
Kelli McGhiey led the Mustangs with 15 kills as WNMU moves to 14-10 overall and 6-7 in the LSC.
The Aggies moved up to 3-20 on the season, 1-13 in the conference.
Eastern New Mexico
The Aggies could not stop a rallying Eastern New Mexico squad to fall in straight sets (25-21, 25-22, 25-21) on Oct. 29 afternoon in the Aggie Gym.
The Greyhounds put down 58 kills compared to the Aggies’ 27. Lauren Frye led ENMU with recorded 23 spikes and a .514 hitting effort on the match.
In the first set, Eastern took back an early 2-1 Aggie lead to break away, increasing their advantage to as much as five points.
CU would inch within one at 14-13 after a Kylee Quillin ace, but the Greyhounds continued adding to their lead.
With the ENMU up six points late in the frame, Cameron threatened to close in after two Greyhound errors and a CU kill put the Aggies close at 23-20. However, Frye would ignore a service error to close the game with two kills for the 25-21 advantage.
Set two saw four lead changes and 12 level scores in the closest game of the match. The final tie came at 21-all after a Jenna Gillean kill, but ENMU went on a 4-1 run, putting down kills from Frye and Courtney Lawson to keep their momentum at 25-22 heading into the locker room.
CU led only once in game three as ENMU opened the set with an attack error. From there, it was all Eastern, bringing the score to 24-18.
The Aggies knocked on ENMU’s door with three straight points, but Frye closed the set once again with the match-winning kill, 25-21.
Gillean lead Cameron with 14 kills with a team high .375 attack percentage. Quillin recorded a team high 10 digs, while Shelby Mench and Shelby Pohlmeyer each contributed 12 assists.
Cameron dropped to 3-21 overall and 1-14 in the Lone Star Conference, while Eastern New Mexico moved to 14-10 overall, 9-5 in the league.
Texas A&M Commerce
The Aggies closed out their home season with a 3-1 (25-13, 25-12, 22-25, 25-9) loss to Texas A&M-Commerce on Nov. 1.
Cameron could not find much success on offense, nearly canceling out 24 kills with 22 errors. Meanwhile, the Lions notched double-digit kills in each set for a total of 65.
The Black and Gold opened the match with Jenna Gillean and Joseline Caraveo teaming up on a block. CU extended their lead to two after another Lions attack error.
However, a seven-point TAMUC run brought the Lions the edge as they spurred ahead to win set one 25-13 after hitting a .500 clip.
Another Commerce run of seven catapulted the team to an 18-7 lead in set two. Later in the game, the Lions led 20-12 as Sydney Reyes put down four straight kills with a block assist to bring her team the 25-12 advantage.
Cameron held a 13-7 lead in set three, but the Lions knocked it down to just one point from tying the set. Errors plagued TAMUC during the frame, and the Aggies got eight consecutive points off these mistakes to maintain a 20-17 edge.
The Aggies held strong to win the third set 25-22.
The fourth set was all TAMUC as the Lions jumped to a 6-0 lead to start. Cameron only managed three kills receiving their other six points of the set from Lion errors.
CU dropped the match after losing the final set 25-9.
Gillean led the Aggies with seven kills. Shelby Mench contributed with a team-high 17 assists while Kylee Quillin added 22 digs to lead CU.
Taryn Driver led the way for Commerce with a 17-kill performance.
Cameron is now 3-22 overall and 1-15 in the Lone Start Conference. Texas A&M-Commerce moved to 16-11 overall and 10-6 in the league.
The Aggies will be on the road for their final regular season games.