DURANT, Okla. – The Cameron University volleyball team were on both sides of a pair of three set matches on Saturday, losing to Central Oklahoma and beating East Central to close out the Southeastern Classic.

Against UCO, Cameron got off to a slow start as the Bronchos built up a 14-4 lead early in the first set. They used a .333 attack percentage and 16 kills to win the opening frame 25-13.

After going back and forth to start the second, UCO pulled away again with a 7-0 to give them a 13-6 advantage. Cameron came back and got to within two points multiple times, but the Bronchos held them off and went on a 6-1 stretch to close out the set, 25-18, and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Cameron battled early in the final set, and took a 13-10 lead thanks to a four-point rally that was fueled by a pair of Arianna Navarrete kills. The two teams traded blows with CU reaching 20 points first thanks to a pair of UCO errors that gave them a 20-19 advantage. The Bronchos answered with four straight to take a 23-20 lead before CU got back to within one via another opponent error and kill by Shantalle Demirjian. An Aggie error gave UCO match point, and, after another Demirjian kill, Kaeli Robinson ended the match with a kill of her own.

Navarrete led the Aggies with 12 kills and added nine digs on the defensive end. Katherine Manning recorded her fourth double-double of the season (15 assists, 10 digs) and freshman libero Sam Friedl set a career-high with 17 digs.

Cameron bounced back for a straight set victory over the Tigers in the final match of the weekend. They kicked things off by taking a 12-6 early lead in set one thanks to a 7-1 run. CU carried that lead throughout the first frame, and were just one point away from a win after a service ace by Riana Blount and a tiger error set the score at 23-15. ECU made the Aggies sweat stretch to get back to within four, but a Caitlyn Henderson kill closed out the frame.

The Aggies used another big run, six straight points, to take an early lead in set two. ECU came back to tie the frame at 11, before Cameron built their lead back up to five at 21-16. East Central fought back to get to within one, but after trading points, CU finally put them away thanks to a pair of kills by Demirjian and Walia Franklin.

A pair of 5-0 runs by the Black and Gold in the third set helped them jump out to a big 22-12 advantage. A 5-1 ECU stretch got the score a little closer, but a Blount kill and a block by Blount and Demirjian secured the 25-17 set win and 3-0 match victory.

Demirjian led the Cameron attack with 14 kills to go along with three total blocks and a pair of service aces. Navarrete added nine kills, four aces, and 13 digs to the winning effort, while Manning and Desiree Marmolejo combined for 32 assists and 13 digs at the setter position.  

The Aggies end the Southeastern Classic with a 2-2 record and are now 3-5 on the season. They will open up Lone Star Conference play with their home opener against Midwestern State next Friday, Sep. 20.