Aggies bounce back at Colorado Premier

     DENVER, Colo. (Sept. 6) - Cameron's women's volleyball team picked up a pair of critical victories against regional opponents on Saturday, dispatching Mesa State and Regis University in Bronze Division bracket play at the 2003 Colorado Premier Challenge.
     Coach Kim Vinson's Aggies turned away Mesa State by scores of 30-23, 30-26, 30-20, then capped the day by beating Regis by a 30-26, 30-21, 30-28 count. The wins improved the Aggies to 4-4 on the season.

Cameron 3, Mesa State 0
     A solid offensive perfomance that produced a total of 51 kills against Mesa State, advanced Cameron to the championship match in the Bronze Division of the 12-team Premier Challenge.
     Cameron started off strong, never trailing in the opening set. The Aggies were unable to pull away, however, until a 6-0 run late in the frame made it 25-18. Kelsey Kosick tallied four kills, including two key spikes during the late run, with a service ace and a solo block to stake the Aggies to a 1-0 lead in the match.
     After leading virtually the entire first set, it took Cameron a while to gain the upper hand in the second frame. Mesa State jumped ahead early and continued to hold off each Aggie charge. Cameron had short-lived leads at 10-9 and 14-12, but each time Mesa State answered back. But with the Aggies holding a slim 23-22 advantage, a block by Jennifer Landry and Tayler Turner gave the Aggies some breathing room. Back-to-back hitting errors by Cameron let the Mavericks back in the game at 25-25,
but following a Cameron timeout the Aggies closed on a 5-1 run to take command of the match.
     Trailing 0-2 in the match score, Mesa State showed little resemblance to the team that took ninth-ranked West Texas A&M to a fifth set the day before. Cameron used a 4-0 run to take a 14-10 lead in the third frame and condinued to hold off the Mavericks. Morgan Meyer put the Aggies up 23-16 with a kill down the line and added two more kills late to push the Aggie lead to 26-18. After a pair of Mesa State errors, Kosick put a punctuation mark on the match with an unassisted kill down the middle, closing out the contest in straight sets.
     Kosick led all players in the match with 19 kills, while Meyer chipped in a double-double with 15 kills and 12 digs. Junior libero Jenny Head led the match with 13 digs and freshman setter Vicki Ibarra recorded a match-high 40 assists. Mesa State failed to produce a double-digit individual kill total in the match. Stacey Vogel led the Mavericks with eight kills.

Cameron 3, Regis 0
     The Aggies' second match of the day began with the team trading point-for-point with Regis through the first half of the opening set. The score was tied at every point from 1 to 14, before the Aggies finally broke the game open with a 6-0 run, thanks to strong blocking up front by freshman Tayler Turner. Kosick continued her offensive onslaught with seven kills in Game 1, as the Aggies jumped out to a 20-14 advantage. Regis closed to within two at 25-23, but Kosick answered with a trio of late kills to help give the Aggies the early advantage with a 30-26 Game 1 win.
     Cameron sprinted to a 14-2 lead early in the second set and looked to be well on its way to an easy win in Game 2. But Regis stromed back with a 13-3 run that had the Aggies clinging to a slim 17-15 lead. From there the Aggies turned it back on, using a 6-1 run to regain command. Key kills by Landry sparked the run and Cameron benefitted from late Regis errors to take Game 2 by a 30-21 count.
     The Aggies' revamped blocking front continued to pay dividends in the final set. Solo blocks by Kosick, Meyer and junior transfer Nicole Reinhart set a tone for the Cameron defense and helped force Regis into several attacking errors. The Rangers threatened to send the match to a fourth set, taking a 21-20 lead. But a kill by Kosick and back-to-back Aggie blocks put Cameron back ahead for good. Reinhart's solo stop late in the frame put the Aggies at match point and Meyer closed out the match with a kill to give CU a 30-28 win in Game 3.
     Saturday's wins evened the Aggies' record at 4-4 on the season. Cameron will look to continue its winning streak and get back above .500 on Wednesday, when the Aggies play host to Dallas Baptist University in a contest set to begin at 7 p.m., at Cameron's Aggie Gym.