Lawton, Okla. -- Tarleton State warmed up for the Lone Star Conference postseason volleyball tournament with a three-set victory over Cameron University Nov. 6 in the regular-season finale for both squads.
Scores in the Aggie Gym were 25-12, 25-17 and 25-21.
The Stephenville crew will take a 22-9 overall record and an 8-6 league mark into Thursday’s opening round of the eight-team tournament.
Cameron, which says goodbye to seniors Valerie Ogle of Mustang and Amber Schroer of Strong City, Kan., concludes its season with 9-18 and 4-10 records.
Tarleton dominated at the net, hitting .273 to Cameron’s .055. Junior Irelis Ilarraza had 11 kills and hit .208, freshman Flynn Harrell had eight kills and hit .222, and junior Monica Hamel and senior Rachel Wolf had six kills each.
Freshman Jenna Keeler was Cameron’s top producer with seven kills and .400. Junior Sarah Corbett (.308) and freshman Megan Olivarez had five kills each.
Shea McBrearty had 18 digs for TSU. Adrienne Lawson had 13 for Cameron. Mariah Westlake had the Ags’ only service ace.
Cameron coach Brianne Lowe gave credit to the winners.
“They’re a really strong team,” Lowe said. “There’s no doubt why they’re heading on to the conference tournament. They took care of business defensively; they put it away offensively; just solid all around.
“Some things that had been working for us – our defense had really picked up recently. Unfortunately, it dipped today and balls that we normally dig up and do something with, we didn’t today. I think really that was what kept us from fighting a little bit harder in this, not digging up certain balls that we had been.”
Runs of 9-1 and 7-1 did most of the damage in the first set. Cameron scored the first two points before a kill by Harrell got the TexAnns on the board. Ilarraza and Harrell were dominating at the net and the Aggies committed nine errors.
The second set was nip and tuck until Tarleton used a three-point run to open a 15-11 lead. Ilarraza and Danielle Barker provided a kill and a punch-dink to highlight the run.
Olivarez had four kills for Cameron and Keeler three.
“We definitely weren’t on our game right at the beginning,” Lowe said. “I thought that we composed ourselves a little bit better, but we didn’t quite do enough to get it where we needed it to be.”
There were five ties and three lead exchanges in the third set. Tarleton took the lead with a three-point run and extended the advantage to 23-15 with an 8-1 spree.
“Their defensive system was really good for them,” Lowe said. “They put up a good block, they dug everything. You have to give Tarleton credit. They came out ready to play this final match and did a great job. We needed to have done some things better.”
Keeler and Corbett picked up their game in the last two sets.
“Both of them remained really aggressive,” Lowe said. “There’s never a doubt with them that they’re trying to get good kills for us.
“I think we had some good learning lessons. With a lot of kids coming back and getting this experience, I think it’s going to be valuable for us in the spring and leading into next year.”
