WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The Cameron volleyball team had multiple chances at winning the opening two sets against Midwestern State on Thursday night, but were unable to close out the win, falling in three for their final match of the season.
Cameron's final match of the 2021 campaign was a rivalry showdown with the Mustangs just over 40 miles south of Cameron University's campus. In a battle of teams with just one Lone Star Conference win this season, it was the home team Mustangs who claimed their second league win on their Senior Night.
The Aggies hit just .130 on the attack with 38 kills and totaled 12.5 blocks. After recording 12 aces in back-to-back matches last weekend, CU totaled just three points from the service line against the Mustangs.
Sisters
Arianna Navarrete and
Anjolie Navarrete combined for 22 kills in the loss, with the elder Arianna leading the way with 14.5 points, recording 12 kills, five blocks, and seven digs while hitting .267 on the attack.
Desiree Marmlejo orchestrated the offense with 22 assists to go along with eight digs in her final match as an Aggie, while
Sydney Bolin went out with 14 digs in her final collegiate match. Cailtyn Henderson led the block party with eight rejections with
Jessica Lipkit chipping in four.
Set one was the first of the close battles between the storied rivals. After battling back and forth throughout, the Aggies claimed a 23-21 advantage on a pair of kills by An. Navarrete, forcing a MSU timeout. They came out of the timeout and scored back-to-back points, and then after a CU stoppage, the home team scored again to take a 24-23 lead. Cameron answered with two of their own to get to set-point, but after trading scorers, the Mustangs took the match lead by going on a 3-0 run to win 29-27.
The Aggies led midway through the second set, but a 5-0 run by the Mustangs tied things at 16. Later in the frame, it was the Aggies who used a 5-1 stretch to reach set-point at 24-21 thanks to a kill by Ar. Navarrete. MSU battled back and tied the frame at 24. Again, the two teams traded points until the home team scored three straight to win 29-27 and take a 2-0 lead.
Midwestern State exploded for 15 kills and hit .323 in the third set. They used multiple runs to lead by 22-12 at one point in the frame. The Black and Gold surged late, scoring five of the final eight points, but the lead was too much as MSU closed the match out with a 25-17 win.
Cameron finishes the season with a 2-27 overall record and a 1-16 mark against league opponents after their loss to their rival on Thursday.
