LAWTON, OK – Texas Woman's persevered through a challenging conference match Tuesday against Cameron University, eventually taking victory in four sets (25-12, 19-25, 26-24, 27-25).
"Credit to our kids, they're always in support of each other and ready to go and they have to be," Huebner said. "Wins on the road are hard to come by in the Lone Star Conference."
TWU (13-8, 5-6 LSC) started off strong, quickly taking a lead in the first set while Cameron (2-19, 0-11 LSC) had difficulties controlling their errors and defense. The first frame proved to be TWU's best offensive set as they hit .182 to CU's -.167. A set from junior Katy Ranes to freshman Taylor Frederick ended in the kill that soared right over the Aggies' fingers for the 25-12 for the Pioneers.
"I think that everybody normalized after the first set," Head coach Jeff Huebner said. "We played great and they struggled a bit. We talked about it after the first set. Cameron is a good volleyball team and we knew they'd recover."
The second set saw the Pioneers racking up errors and meeting a brick wall from the Aggies' defense, ending with a hitting percentage of .116 to the Aggies' .294. TWU fought back at set point, but could only make it to 19 after junior Maggie Pyles was blocked at the net by Shantalle Demirjian, giving the set to the Aggies, 25-19.
"I was proud of our kids in the second set," Huebner said. "We were down by a lot of points a few times but we came back from it. I was impressed by the effort and the enthusiasm in the second set."
Regaining their footing, the third set saw both teams playing at their peak and freshman Trixie Oche picked up several early blocks along with Ranes and freshman Elizabeth Ugbaja. As the set wore on with neither team taking a significant lead, some adjustments to the Pioneers' lineup helped push things over the edge and a final kill by Pyles that sent the Aggies stumbling to the floor and ended in the positive for the Pioneers, 26-24.
The fourth set proved to be just as difficult a battle as the third, with frequent ties and lead changes leading to a back and forth set point that ended after a contentious kill from junior Courtney Noel that drew a challenge from the Aggies' coach. After some debate, the call stood and the set went to the Pioneers, 27-25.
"One of our team principles is to be ready and to stay ready," Huebner said. "We truly believe that it takes everyone pulling their weight and working really hard, and tonight was no different."
Three Pioneers recorded double-digit kills – Ubgaja (10), Vega (10) and Courtney Noel (13) – thanks to the efforts of Ranes, who had a double-double with 52 assists and 12 digs.
"Isabel Vega played amazing against Cameron the first time around, so I think it was a good fit for her to get off the bench tonight," Huebner said. "Paris Cosley came in and played five really important points, and Caroline Noel seemed like a good fit, because they struggled to play against her sister."
For the match, TWU hit .151 to CU's .092, and with the win stay in a four-way tie for fifth place in the Lone Star. The Pioneers return home Friday to play Angelo State (17-4, 10-1 LSC) in league competition at 6 p.m.
