BETHANY – The Cameron volleyball team had plenty of chances to snap their losing skid on Tuesday night, but costly errors led to a four-set loss at Southern Nazarene.
The Aggies returned to non-conference play on Tuesday night for an in-state match against the Crimson Storm. Both teams entered the contest looking to snap a losing streak, CU entered the night having lost 14 straight and SNU had lost their last five matches. However, the home team who would break out of the slump for the hard-fought win.
All but one of the four sets on Tuesday night were decided by four or less points. On the attack, the Aggies hit .154, while on the other side of the floor the Crimson Storm posted a .265 hitting percentage. The home team also out-blocked CU 7.0-4.5, while the Aggies had the advantage at the service line 9-5.
Bergen Campbell led CU with 15 points, 14 of which came on kills. She hit .179, while freshman
Jacee Stelter added 12 kills and hit .290.
Arianna Navarrete added 11 points with eight kills and three aces to go along with a team-high 19 digs.
At the setter position, the freshman duo of
Anjolie Navarrete and
Noemie Narbonne recorded 23 and 19 assists respectively with Narbonne adding four aces and 12 digs in the loss.
Jessica Lipkit led the defense with three blocks added to her five kills on the attack.
Southern Nazarene came out in the first set and led the whole way, including by 11 at one point (20-9). Cameron was able to make the home fans sweat by coming back and forcing five set points, but after a Lipkit kill got it to 24-17, a bad by CU gave the Storm the 25-17 win.
The bad set did not stifle the Black and Gold's momentum as they opened the second set on a 7-0 run. SNU battled back and trailed by just one point late (20-19). Cameron scored three straight to cool the late rally and closed out the frame 25-21 on a kill by Campbell.
In the third, Southern Nazarene had the early lead and Cameron came back to get within one at 20-19 late. After SNU got to set-point 24-21, The Aggies scored three straight points to tie the frame at 24. After a storm error gave CU a 25-24 lead, a second one looked to give them the win, but a block error was called, giving SNU the point to tie the frame. They then scored the next two points to win 27-25 and take a 2-1 lead.
Cameron had another early lead in the fourth and led 17-11 midway through the set with hopes of tying up the match and forcing a fifth set. However, the home team had the comeback magic going, and before long the score was locked at 18. SNU used a 6-1 stretch to reach match-point but CU wouldn't go down quietly. Kills by Campbell and Stelter and an ace by Narbonne got CU to within one, but an error on the following serve ended it 25-23, giving SNU the 3-1 win.
The Aggies are now 1-16 on the season with their 15th straight loss and are still searching for their first road win. They are back at home on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 8 and 9, when they host No. 18 UT Tyler and A&M-Commerce.
