Lawton, Okla. (October 1, 2011) ¬¬— It didn’t start the way the Aggies had hoped, but after falling behind 0-2 to the University of Texas Permian Basin, Cameron put its foot down and reeled off three consecutive victories to push its record to 10-5.
“It was interesting,” said Head Coach Doug Tabbert. “We were in trouble after the first two (games).They had us in a difficult spot. You’ve got to give our kids credit for hanging in there.”
Cameron pulled ahead early in the fifth game, 5-0, and used that to its advantage, cruising in to a 15-8 victory. Freshman Kelle Carver led the way for the Aggies, with 30 kills in 62 attempts. Her 30 kills tied a single-game school record for Cameron. Junior Julisa Ocasio was a beast defensively with 27 digs to keep her team in each game, helping to push the contest to five.
The Aggies started off slow against the Falcons; losing the first two games, 25-22 and 25-16, but with a 25-22 victory in the third frame, Cameron kept its foot on the gas and never looked back. The Permian Basin kept it close in the fourth game, but the Aggies were too tough, pulling out a 25-23 win to push the match to a fifth game and a race to 15.
Cameron (10-5) began the day on a high note, exacting revenge on the University of Southern Arkansas (8-9), 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 25-20), for an L on day one of the 2011 volleyball season.
“When we played them the first time, they clearly won the serving and passing game,” Tabbert said. “We were much more competitive in that aspect (today). Once that was established, offensively and defensively, we were also competitive. It all added up.”
Carver went off in the match, hitting .615 with 26 kills. Cameron excelled as a team overall in the contest, finishing with 55 kills and a .326 hitting percentage.
Carver, who proved to be Cameron’s best weapon during throughout the day, combining for 56 kills in the two matches, was named the MVP in the tournament. Senior Adrienne Lawson was named to the All-Tournament Team.
“She (Carver) came up really big for us today,” the coach said. “Even in times she struggled, she didn’t struggle for very long. She kept coming back from difficult stretches with great play.”
The Aggies will travel to Wichita Falls Wednesday to take on Midwestern State, as it returns to Lone Star Conference play. Cameron will return home at 7 p.m Thursday for a match against conference leading Angelo State (18-1, 7-1).
“It was a good weekend for us,” Tabbert said. “Hopefully continue to develop as a program and weekends like this are a pretty good start to that.”
For more information on the volleyball team, visit www.cameronaggies.com.
