CU battles No. 21 Texas A&M-Commerce in five
October 23, 2018
Cameron University Athletics
Kenton Means – Sports Information Director
LAWTON, Okla. — The Cameron volleyball team gave No. 21 Texas A&M-Commerce a run for their money, but could not complete the upset, falling in five sets on Tuesday night.
CU continued their strong blocking streak, recording 13 against one of the top attacking the conference. However, the Lions did manage to hit .252 with 65 kills, while the Aggies totaled 51 kills on a .176 attack percentage.
Shantalle Demirjian led a balanced Black and Gold attack with 12 kills on a .214 clip, while Paige Dixon and Brandy Carr each chipped in 10 kills. Jazmin Luster led the block barrage, taling a career-high 10, while Demirjian added five rejections. Additionally, Katherine Manning and Bailee Smithcombined for 44 assists, while Brittnee Altic had 14 digs and three service aces and Smith had 10 digs for her second career double-double.
Cameron held an early lead in set one, but a five point rally by the Lions gave them a lead that they would not give up through the rest of the set winning 25-19.
In the second, CU opened up to a 5-1 lead thanks to three straight aces from Altic. However Commerce battled back and looked to take the set with a 24-23 lead, but the Aggies responded with three straight points to win 26-24 and even up the match.
After battling back and forth early in the third, Texas A&M-Commerce powered their way to an 11-2 run to hit set point at 24-15. Cameron was able to take one back on a Brittany Lawson kill, but TAMU closed it out with a kill of their own to win 25-16.
The Black and Gold trailed early in the fourth, but then went on an 11-0 run fueled by five CU blocks. CU carried that momentum through the rest of the set and won 25-17 to tie the match at two.
In the fifth, the two teams battled early on, with CU tying the set at four thanks to a Lion error, but Commerce would take control at about the midway point, going on a 10-1 stretch to go up big. Cameron was able to take two back on a pair of TAMUC errors, but the No. 21 ranked Lions closed out the match with back-to-back kills.
Shelley Chapron led Commerce with 15 kills and seven blocks, while Celeste Vela had a triple-double with 11 kills, 23 assists, and 20 digs.
Cameron now sits at 3-23 overall in 2018 and 1-15 in Lone Star Conference matches, while the Lions move to 21-5 and 13-3 against league opponents.
The Aggies will continue their tough week on Friday and Saturday, as they visit Angelo State on Oct. 26 and No. 11 Tarleton State on Oct. 27.
Kenton Means
Sports Information Director – Cameron University
2800 W. Gore Blvd., South Shepler 512
Lawton, OK 73505
Office – (580) 581-2303
Cell – (580) 583-2210
Fax – (580) 581-5537