October 23, 2008

Aggies sweep Zias out west

PORTALES, New Mexico (October 23) – With a 3-0 sweep of the Eastern New Mexico Zias (6-22, 0-7 LSC) tonight in Portales, New Mexico, the Cameron Aggies (12-9, 4-4 LSC) won consecutive matches for the first time since late September. This evening’s match was scored 25-14, 25-23, 25-16, and lasted just over an hour. CU’s victory puts them in a tie at 7th place with Abilene Christian and Angelo State in the Lone Star Conference standings.

“I think we came out and played very well tonight,” Head Coach Brianne Smedley said. “Every win is great and we are really getting to that point in the season where every match is crucial. This was a nice win, and for the most part we worked the ball around well.”

Cameron gained control of the match early on and never looked back. Eastern New Mexico battled hard in the second set, but CU was strong enough to stop any comeback attempt. As a team the Aggies posted an impressive .315 attack percentage and recorded better numbers than the Zias in nearly every statistical category.

“In the second set we were playing well but Eastern New Mexico really stepped up their defense,” Coach Smedley said. “We let that get to us a bit and made a lot more hitting errors than we did in the rest of the match. We only had hitting 2 errors in the first set and 3 in the third, then 7 in the second set which was more than we had in sets 1 and 3 combined. Our offense did a nice job of not getting frustrated though.”

Senior libero Veronica Reeks led the team defensively tonight with a team-high 16 defensive digs. Tonight’s total gives Reeks 175 digs for the season. She also recorded a service ace tonight.

Also getting in on the defensive action was senior Haley Hatch who recorded 13 defensive digs. Additionally, she contributed a kill on a single attack for a perfect 1.000 attack percentage, as well as 3 assists and a match-high 2 service aces.

Offensively, freshman outside hitter Malyssa Acton and junior right-side hitter Lindsay Paziuk both played very well on their way to recording more than 10 kills. Acton recorded 15 kills (3 errors) on 35 attacks for a .343 attack percentage while Paziuk posted 13 kills (1 error) on 28 attacks for a match-high .429 attack percentage.

Acton also contributed 4 defensive digs, 2 block-solos, a block-assist, and a service ace. Paziuk also recorded 3 defensive digs. As a team, the Aggies committed a mere 21 errors tonight and did not give up a single service ace.

Cameron stays on the road this weekend to take on the nationally-ranked #3 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs. The match begins at 2:00pm this Saturday (October 25) in Canyon, Texas.

“Our offense will be crucial for us against West Texas; they are a solid team,” Coach Smedley said. “We need to work the ball around well. We have to take care of our side and can’t worry about theirs."

CU has just six matches left on the season, three of which are at home. Cameron’s final three home matches are all scheduled for next week. Aggie fans can visit the Cameron Athletics website at goaggies.cameron.edu for scheduling information.