OKLAHOMA CITY – The Cameron University volleyball team needed five sets to earn their first victory of the 2021 spring season, beating Oklahoma Christian, 3-2 (26-24, 25-21, 18-25, 23-25, 15-8) to split the series.

In their opener on Tuesday night, the CU netters looked like a team who had yet to play a match against outside competition, but on Wednesday night the rust of the offseason was gone, and the Aggies were ready to compete.

The opening set was back and forth until the Eagles took ahold of the momentum thanks to a five point rally that gave them a 21-18 advantage. Cameron answered with a 6-0 run of their own fueled by blocks by JaLIsa Hollingshed, Arianna Navarrete, and Natalia Araujo da Silva. OC got three back to tie the set at 24, but a pair of Eagle errors in the next two points gave CU the 26-24 win.

Fresh off their first set win of the year, the Black and Gold showed their fight, bouncing back from a 4-0 early hole by using three point rally midway through the set to take a 16-13 lead. A few points later, CU went on a 4-0 run of their own that had a pair of Alanni Carter service aces mixed in there to go up 23-18. A kill by Arianna Navarrete gave Cameron a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-21 set victory.

Oklahoma Christian caught fire in the third and before CU knew it, they were down 20-9. The Black and Gold mounted a comeback, but the rally fell seven points short as they lost the fourth 25-18.

The Eagles continued the trend of fast starts into the fourth set, taking an early 7-1 lead. Cameron chipped away at that lead until a kill by Navarrete set by Desiree Marmolejo tied the frame at 15-all. The score was tied three more times in the set and after CU took a 23-22 lead on a kill by Hollingshed, OC scored the next three to force a fifth set.

In the fifth and final set, both teams weren't ready to give in to the other as they battled to a 7-7 tie early on. From there, it was all CU as a pair of Navarrete kills and one each by Araujo da Silva and Hollingshed powed an 8-1 run that was capped by a block by Caitlyn Henderson and Navarrete. The run gave CU a 15-8 set win and the 3-2 match victory.

Cameron hit .102 with 58 kills for the match, including a .154 attack percentage and 10 kills in the final set. The blocks were even at 13.0 for each team, while OC's six service aces edged out the Aggies by just one.

After scoring 9.5 points in the season opener, Carter followed that up with a 20-point outing on Wednesday with 14 kills, four aces, and three blocks. The junior also added 23 digs for one of four CU double-doubles in the match.

Walia Franklin added 18.5 points with 17 kills and three blocks, while Navarrete added a 12-kill, 19-dig double-dip. Marmolejo led CU with 31 assists to go along with 11 digs, and Katie Roberson notched her first collegiate double-double with 19 assists and 10 digs.

Sophomore Caitlyn Henderson was back to her dominant ways in the middle, blocking eight balls (seven assists and one solo), matching her career-high from last season. Navarrete got in on the block party as well, recording four stoppers for the Black and Gold. Additionally, Sam Friedl gave the Aggies 22 digs and an ace out of the libero spot.

Now 1-1 on the young season, Cameron will continue their division-only schedule next week with a pair of matches against Red River rival Midwestern State. The two matches are scheduled to be played in the Aggie Gym on Feb. 9-10, giving the Aggie faithful their first chance to cheer on this season's squad.