LAWTON – With just two more chances to put on a show for the home crowd, the Aggie volleyball team did just that on Friday night, beating UAFS in four sets for their first Lone Star Conference win of the season.
Cameron entered their final homestand of the year still searching for the elusive first league win and looking to snap a long losing skid. They came out swinging against the middle of the pack Lady Lions and opened the match with back-to-back wins. CU then answered a tough third set with another dominant performance in the fourth for their second win of the fall.
As a team, the Black and Gold hit .175 on the attack, bookending two rough hitting frames with above .300 clip performances in the first and fourth sets. The opposition hit around the same (.173) and both teams each had 5.0 total blocks. Cameron also dominated at the service line, earning 12 aces compared to four for the Lady Lions.
The Navarrete sisters led the Cameron attack on Friday night. The elder
Arianna Navarrete totaled 17 points with 15 kills, six digs, two blocks, and an ace while hitting .225 on the attack. The freshman
Anjolie Navarrete added 16 points with 10 kills, 11 digs, and a team-high six service aces.
Desiree Marmolejo and
Kendall Kilchrist did a good job orchestrating the offense from the setter position. Marmolejo had a double-double with 21 assists and 11 digs to go along with two aces, while Kilchrist had 22 assists, seven digs, and one point from the service line.
Defensively,
Jessica Lipkit led the blocking efforts with three while Ar. Navarrete,
Caitlyn Henderson and
Natalia Araujo each added two. Senior
Sydney Boling got the start at libero, leading CU with 18 digs in the win.
The Aggies came out in the first set and caught UAFS sleeping, taking a quick 4-0 lead and then building that up to a 13-4 advantage before the road team scored back-to-back points. A big 5-1 stretch later in the frame allowed CU to take a 10-point advantage (20-10). The Aggies then scored five of the final six points to win 25-14.
Set two was the closest of the four, with three tie scores and two lead changes in the frame (there was just one tie score the rest of the match). After trailing early, The Aggies scored eight in a row to take a 11-6 lead. UAFS slowly mounted a comeback and finally tied it at 21 on a block by Hannah Holland. A Marmolejo ace was sandwiched in a 3-0 run that gave CU set-point, and after fighting off a two-point rally, the Aggies took the set 25-23.
In the third, UAFS used runs of six and five straight points to take an early 13-5 lead. They then closed out the frame on a 10-2 stretch, giving them the 25-10 win.
The loss woke the Black and Gold up as they opened the fourth on an 8-2 run. Cameron then scored five straight points to extend their lead to 22-8. The Lady Lions tried to mount a comeback, but CU got kills from Ar. Navarrete and Araujo to secure the 25-15 win and claim the match.
Cameron, now 2-25 overall and 1-14 in league play, will look to keep the momentum heading into their match on Saturday against Oklahoma Christian. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. and Aggie volleyball will recognize seniors Marmolejo and Bolin following the match.
