DURANT, Okla. – The Cameron University volleyball team kicked off the season by splitting their first two games of the South Central Classic in Durant, Okla. on Friday, falling to Southern Nazarene 3-0 in the opener and then bouncing back to beat Southern Arkansas 3-1 in the second game of the day.
In the first match against Southern Nazarene, the Aggies struggled on the attack early with just a .133 hitting percentage in set one and a .167 percentage in set two. CU did improve in set three with a .351 kill percentage and 16 kills, but they would not be able to make up for their slow start.
Cameron went back and forth through set one, but their poor hitting percentage caught up with them, as SNU used an 8-4 to close out the set 25-18. Set two started out close, but a 7-3 run by the Crimson Storm helped them pull away to another 25-18 win. The Aggies battled back from an 18-14 deficit in the final set, using a six point run to take a two point lead. After trading points, SNU used a 5-2 stretch to take the set 25-23, and the match three sets to none.
Paige Dixon led CU with nine kills, while
Ashleigh McFatridge had six and
Bristol Lewis and
Brandy Carr each had five.
Brook Conley had a team high five assists, and
Brittnee Altic had a Aggie best seven digs, with
Brittany Lawson chipping in six. In addition, Cameron had eight total blocks as a team with Carr and McFatridge each tallying four block assists.
The Black and Gold carried their momentum from the third set against SNU into their match against Southern Arkansas. CU hit .478 in the first set and .344 in the second. After a cold third set where they recorded 12 kills but had just a .069 attack percentage, CU responded with a strong final set by hitting .423 with 15 kills.
Cameron used small runs throughout the first set to take the 25-19 win in the opening frame, and then surged to a 7-0 lead in the second as they one set two 25-17. SAU battled back in the third set to make the match 2-1, but the Aggies responded with 9-1 run midway through the fourth game to help secure the set and match win.
Dixon again led the Ags on the offensive attack with 17 kills to go along with four blocks; she finished the day with 26 kills. Lewis added to her five kills from match one of the day by totaling 11 in match number two. Conley led the team with 16 assists, while Altic and
Reanna Ramnauth had 10 digs a piece.
With the split, CU opens the season with a 1-1 record, marking the first win of the
Tatiana Booth era. The Aggies will look to continue their momentum into day two of the South Central Classic on Saturday as they play later in the day with a match against Dallas Baptist at 5 p.m. and then one against Ouachita Baptist at 7 p.m.
