By Matthew Hasley
In a five-set thriller, the Cameron University volleyball team won their first game of the season on Sept. 6, defeating the East Central Tigers in a come-from-behind victory in the last set. The Aggies played in front of a home crowd of almost 600 people who attended the special White Out event.
The first set started off with the Tigers taking over, quickly jumping up to take a 12-3 lead against the Aggies. The momentum continued for East Central as they went ahead by 10 points, leading 19-9. The Aggies attempted a small rally, however, scoring 7 to the Tigers’ 3 to bring the score to 22-16. Unfortunately, East Central was able to secure the first set after a ball handling error from Presleigh Roest, putting the Tigers up 25 to the Aggies’ 18.
The second set played much tighter. Both teams went back and forth scoring before the Aggies went on a small run with kills from Roest and Hailey Baker, and two attack errors from the Tigers. East Central marched right back, evening the score at 16. The crowd began to rally and the noise in the arena began to pick up as the student section cheered on the Aggies volleyball team. From there, the Aggies closed out the set on a 7-score run, with kills from Roest, and two service aces by Rachel White and Anastasija Andelic, ending the second set 25-18 in the Aggies’ favor.
Newly sworn-in President Shane Hunt was in attendance for the game and was thrilled with the turnout.
“Absolutely incredible atmosphere in here,” he said. “Our students, our alumni, our faculty and staff, just a packed house to watch such an exciting home opener.”
The third set continued as a back-and-forth affair until the scores hit the double digits. Both teams took turns going on runs before they tied at 24. In volleyball, a team must win by 2 points if the teams are tied, and the roar in the Aggie gym fueled the Aggies volleyball team to take the set, 28-26.
The fourth set didn’t fair well for the Aggies as momentum began to shift due to Aggies committed attack and service errors. This put East Central up 15-9. A short run in the later half by Cameron put them in a position to come back and seal a win, but two kills back-to-back by the Tigers ended the set at 25-20 and tied the match up, pushing it into a fifth set.
The fifth set began with Tigers taking a nice lead, going up 4-0 against the Aggies, however, the Aggies were resilient as they battled back. A ref timeout to review a call really changed the momentum of the match. For several minutes, both teams had to remain on the court as the referees reviewed footage. This seemed to take away the momentum the Tigers had built up because as play resumed the Aggies went on a run, going up 9-12. The Tigers didn’t hold off, marching right back to tie the game up at 15-15. One bad set from the Tigers and a service ace from Kayla Quintana put the match away and sealed the win for the Aggies.
Coach Melissa Avila was thrilled with the way her team played.
“I mean, it’s exciting. Our girls battled back,” she said. “After having a tough weekend on the road, we came home, ready to go get a win. They battled, they fought for each other, they fought for Cameron. I’m just proud of the way we showed up tonight.”