FORT SMITH, Ark. – The Aggies opened Wednesday's match with a 25-20 set one win, but were unable to upend the Lone Star Conference Division Champion UAFS, falling 3-1 in the season finale.

Cameron opened their final week of the 2021 spring season with a 3-0 loss against the Lady Lions. But, despite being swept in the previous three matches, Cameron put up a fight in their final test of the campaign. 

The match was pretty even on paper besides on the attack. The Aggies hit just .142 with 45 kills on the attack, while the home team Lady Lions hit .203 with 61 kills in the win. UAFS had just one more service ace than the Black and Gold (6-5) and recorded five more blocks than their opponent from Lawton (12-7). 

Like they have all season, Alanni Carter and Arianna Navarrete led the CU attack on Wednesday. Carter finished the match with a team-high 14 kills to go along with 13 digs, and did record an error until the third frame. Navarrete finished with 12 kills and 11 digs to go along with a pair of blocks. 

Walia Franklin added to the Cameron attack with nine kills, she had four on four attacks in the opening set, while adding three blocks and eight digs. Caitlyn Henderson led CU with four blocks and added seven kills on a .278 attack percentage. 

Freshman setter Katie Roberson finished with a career-high 35 assists to go along with 12 digs, two aces, and three blocks for Cameron. Additionally, freshman libero Presley Shearin led the squad with 20 digs and added four helpers. 

Cameron began the opening set with a 4-1 lead and then after withstanding a rally by the Lady Lions, used a 5-0 run to take a 12-6 lead early on. The Aggies lead stretched out to eight, 20-12, before the home team was able to get back within three following an 8-3 stretch. A kill by Franklin and a block by Henderson and Carter capped a 3-1 stretch to end the frame 25-20. 

UAFS came out firing in set two, opening it up with an 11-2 run. A few points later, CU was able to use an 8-1 stretch to set the score at 13-11. A Lady Lion kill broke the rally, but Cameron responded with a 4-1 run capped by a Roberson ace to tie the frame at 15. The two teams went back and forth down the stretch, but UAFS closed out the set on a 3-1 swing that earned them the 25-22 win to even up the match. 

In the third, the Black and Gold battled UAFS back and forth early on until a kill by Natalia Araujo da Silva gave Cameron a 10-9 lead. The home team responded with a 7-0 run to give them a 16-10 advantage. They held the lead the rest of the way and then a 6-2 stretch closed things out 25-16. 

UAFS carried their momentum into the fourth by taking a 6-0 lead before CU was able to get on the board. That first point for the Aggies kicked off their own six-point rally to tie the frame. The middle of the set was back and forth as there were 10 even scores from a tie at six points to a tie at 17 points. The Lady Lions then used a 7-2 rally to gain a 23-19 advantage that they never gave up, winning 25-21 and taking the match. 

Cameron ends a difficult season filled with adversity with a 2-10 mark, with all of those matches coming against conference opponents. UAFS moves on to compete in the LSC Tournament next week, finishing with a 10-2 mark.