Cameron falls in LSC semifinals

     CANYON, Texas (Nov. 14) -- Cameron's seven-match win streak, along with the Aggies' hopes for a second Lone Star Conference championship came to an end here Friday evening. Needing a victory to keep their season and title hopes alive, the Aggies fell to rival Central Oklahoma in the semifinals of the LSC postseason tournament.
     UCO won by scores of 30-24, 24-30, 30-23, 30-23, advancing to the LSC title match with its ninth-straight victory. Cameron, meanwhile, finished the season with a 21-12 record.
     Coach Kim Vinson's Aggies matched the Bronchos in nearly every statistical category on Friday, hitting for a slightly lower attack percentage, but out-blocking UCO 10-7. The difference, however, came in the passing department. Cameron committed 14 reception errors in the match, including five in the first set, and had freshman setter Vicki Ibarra scrambling to try to direct the Aggie offense. Ibarra, who earlier this month became Cameron's single-season assist leader, still managed 51 assists in the match.
     Senior Kelsey Kosick closed out her stellar Aggie career with another 20-kill performance. The Fort St. John, British Columbia, outside hitter registered 20 kills, extending her single-season school record kill total to 644. Junior Morgan Meyer added 17 kills, while freshman Taran Turner had 11. Ibarra and junior Nicole Reinhart each recorded five blocks for the Aggies. Junior Jenny Head led all players in the match with 26 digs.
     Kosick's effort bettered the total by UCO's leading hitter Tori Walker, who had 19 kills, but the Aggies had no answer for UCO's Emily Whiteley, who recorded a season-high 16 kills with just one error in the match.
     UCO jumped out to the early lead, winning the opening set 30-24. But Cameron returned the favor, using a late 8-0 run in the second frame to steal the momentum and even the match at one game apiece.
     But Aggie mistakes down the stretch, coupled by the solid play of Whiteley, spelled disaster for the Aggies. UCO had a combined team hitting percentage of .310 over the final two games, giving the Bronchos their fifth victory over the Aggies in six tries over the past two seasons.
     Friday's loss closed the book on Kosick's stellar career with the Aggie volleyball program. In three seasons at Cameron, Kosick collected a staggering 13 school records and finishes her career as the Lone Star Conference's all-time leader in career service aces per game.
     Kosick, who was named the 2002 Player of the Year in the Lone Star Conference North Division as a junior, is expected to earn all-conference honors for the third consecutive season when the league announces its 2003 all-conference teams on Nov. 17.