Lawton, Okla. (Oct. 20, 2011) ¬¬—Cameron defended its home turf Thursday night, defeating Texas A&M-Kingsville in a five set war, 25-21, 20-25, 18-25, 25-20, 17-15.

“We hung in there, even though at times we were our own worst enemies,” said Head Coach Doug Tabbert. “We left some digs out there, but I also think we made some plays at critical times.”

Cameron (12-10, 6-8) pulled ahead early in the fifth game; shooting to a 9-5 lead in the battle to 15, but the Javelinas (12-11, 5-10) would fight to hold a brief lead at 13-11. The Aggies would seize control from there, winning six of the next eight points and a very good conference victory.

“It (the win) is huge right now,” Tabbert said. “If we want to make the tournament, this home stretch is critical.”

Freshman Kelle Carver was provided the heat from the offensive side, hitting .367 with 24 kills, but it was Cameron’s service receive game against a very good serving team that impressed Tabbert.

“Our ball control was good and our serve receive held up really well,” he said. “Mariah (Westlake) anchored our service receive and gave us a big lift. “Kelle (Carver) also dominated down a stretch in game 5. She took the match over.”

Cameron will return to action at 2 p.m. Saturday against Incarnate Word (10-13, 6-9) and a chance to bolster its position in conference standings. The Aggies are currently in seventh place with home games and five road games left. The top eight teams will qualify for the conference tournament.

“These three home matches in a row (Kingsville, Incarnate Word and Eastern New Mexico) are very important to us,” Tabbert said. “These are games we need to win.”