ABILENE, Texas – Despite opening to an early 1-0 set lead against the Wildcats, Cameron would fall 3-1 (28-26, 23-25, 19-25, 25-27) at Moody Coliseum on Saturday morning.
The Aggies were also dealt a major blow with the loss of Annelise Carpenter who left the match with an ankle injury during the first set.
“The loss of Annelise in the first set hurt us offensively,” said head coach Doug Tabbert. “We were predictable after that for ACU. But overall we had chances throughout the match and if it weren’t for a few unforced errors here and there the match could have went differently for us.”
In the first set Cameron and ACU went toe to toe until the 14-16 mark where the Aggies went on a 7-2 run to take a 22-19 lead. The Wildcats would then get three straight kills from Sara Oxford to tie the match at 22.
Cameron then took the next two points pushing ACU to a set point. However, the Wildcats went on to score the next three points forcing the Aggies to take a timeout to regroup. The Aggies then shot back with a 3-1 run to win the set 28-26.
The battle continued into the second set with nether team taking more than a three point lead. ACU got some late momentum after a pair of CU attack errors and unlike set one the Aggies could not rally back as the Wildcats would take the set 25-23.
In set three, both teams alternated points back and forth until Cameron to a 15-13 lead. ACU then scored four unanswered points to force Cameron to take a timeout trailing 15-17. Following the break the Aggies managed to only score four more points as ACU went on to win set three 25-19.
With their backs to the wall Cameron got off to a slow start trailing ACU by six points midway through the set. The Aggies then went on a 7-0 run to take an 18-16 and making the Wildcats take a timeout.
From there, ACU rebounded taking the lead after a 21-21 tie to go on to win the set (27-25) and the match 3-1.
Offensively for the Aggies, Kathryn Evans lead the team with 17 kills, Shannon Dulaney had 14 kills, and Rebecca Green had 11. Jenna Risoli had another double-double match with 38 assists and 15 digs. Defensively, Julisa Ocasio led the team with 22 digs and Mariah Westlake had 20.
For the match Cameron hit .089 for the match compared to ACU’s .156. Additionally, the Wildcats did better at the net putting together eight blocks compared to CU’s four.
The loss for the Aggies (2-7 LSC) drops them behind one game behind the Wildcats (3-6 LSC) in the conference standings.
Cameron 3, UT-Permian Basin 0
Shannon Dulaney hit .250 with 19 kills and Julisa Ocasio’s 34 digs helped carry the Aggies to a 3-0 win over UT-Permian Basin in the second match on Saturday in Abilene.
The Aggies’ win snapped a three-match losing streak and improved their record to 7-13 overall.
Box Score
“It was a good win for us,” said Tabbert. “We were shorthanded throughout the match and had players in unfamiliar spots. The team responded well with good ball control and defense.”
“I’m just really proud of the way came out with the win against UT-Permian Basin considering everything that we went through today.”
In set one, both teams traded points back and forth until a 13-13 tie. The Aggies then went on a 4-2 run after an Evans kill and a pair of UTPB errors gave CU a 17-15 lead forcing the Falcons take a timeout.
UTPB would then go on to tie the set again at 18-18 but Cameron would get kills from Risoli and Dulaney to give the Aggies an edge that they would keep to win set one 25-22.
The Aggies controlled the second set leading out of the gates and winning the set 25-19 to give CU a 2-0 match lead.
In set three, UTPB got off to an early 9-4 lead after four attack errors by CU and a pair of service aces from Ariana Gallardo made the Aggies take an early timeout.
Cameron responded back with three kills from Dulaney and a kill from Evans to tie the set at 10-10. UTPB then went on a 6-2 run to lead 16-12 making Tabbert spend the Aggies final timeout.
The Falcons continued to keep the momentum going following the stoppage and pushed the lead 20-15. In spite of this, Cameron then went on a 7-2 run to tie the match at 22.
Both teams went on to trade points until both teams were locked up at 26. The Aggies responded with kills from Green and Evans to win the set 28-26 and sweeping the match 3-0 over the Falcons.
Cameron will have the next six off and will return to the Aggie Gym on Friday, Oct. 12 to host Tarleton State at 7 p.m.
