DESPITE LOSS TO CAMERON, PIONEERS SHARE FIRST
NORTH DIVISION TITLE SINCE 1997

LAWTON, OK—Texas Woman’s University (15-18, 8-2 LSC) struggled offensively with a .138 attack percentage and lost their second straight conference match in as many days, 1-3 (26-30, 30-25, 29-31, 22-30) to Cameron (20-11, 8-2 LSC). With the loss, TWU finishes the regular season with a three-way share of the Lone Star Conference North Division Championship with Central Oklahoma and the Lady Aggies, all with identical 8-2 records. Due to tie-breaker rules, UCO will be the North Division’s number one seed in the conference tournament because they won more games against conference opponents than TWU or CU. The Pioneers will be the No. 2 seed and will face Eastern New Mexico, who is the No. 3 seed from the South Division, in the first round.

"The team played hard again today, but we came out on the short end of the stick again. We had a lot of pressure on us this weekend because these were two really tough road games to win," head coach Shelly Barberee said. "I am really proud of how this team played during the regular season, because this is not our last match of the season and for a lot of teams, it is. I couldn’t ask for anything more in my first season than to have a chance to play in the conference tournament. We just have to step up our play and give it our best next week in Canyon."

TWU jumped out on Cameron early in game one as they built an 8-2 lead with three kills coming from Courtney Lewis (San Antonio, TX), Carley Messmer (Garland, TX/UT-San Antonio) and Marci Brinkman (Carrollton, TX/Newman Smith H.S.). The Lady Aggies battled back to take the lead when Kelsey Kosick started a 10-1 run with four straight kills, making the score 12-9. CU extended their lead to eight points, 17-25 with kills from Kosick and Nicole Reinhart, and held on for the 26-30 win. Jenny Madrid (Panama City, Panama/Hill College) led the charge for TWU in game two as she recorded two kills and a service ace to give the Pioneers a 6-1 lead. TWU led throughout, but CU closed the gap to 17-15 when Morgan Meyer recorded a kill and a block in back-to-back points. The Pioneers answered back and moved out to their biggest lead of the match, 23-17, when Madrid added two more kills. A kill by Melanie Pabalate (Fort Worth, TX/Navarro College) and a service error by the Lady Aggies gave TWU the win, 25-30, and evened the match at 1-1.

Game three was the closest contested frame during the match and proved to be the momentum changer as each team exchanged the lead eight times from 16 ties. After the game was tied at nine, TWU moved to their biggest lead of the frame when Brinkman and Heather Smith (Chino Hills, CA/Ayala H.S.) teamed up for three kills, making the score 14-10. After four straight attack errors by the Pioneers, CU had the lead back at 15-17. Both teams played side-out volleyball for the rest of the game, with Madrid recording a kill to tie the game at 29-29. After a kill by Kosick and an error by Madrid, the Lady Aggies had a 2-1 advantage in the match with a 29-31 win. CU clearly had the momentum in the final frame as they jumped out to a 1-5 lead. TWU tried to battle back, closing the gap to 7-9 when Smith added one of her 11 kills, but that was as close as they would come. With the score sitting at 12-15, the Lady Aggies went on a 7-3 run to put the match out of reach. CU won the game when Kosick slammed down her 22nd kill of the match, making the score 22-30.

TWU finished the match with 54 kills and 28 errors on 189 swings for an attack percentage of .138. Lewis and Smith both recorded 11 kills, but Madrid finished with a team-high 16. Paz Diaz (Truth or Consequences, NM/N.M. Military Institute) and Messmer led the team with 18 digs apiece. Messmer also finished with 41 assists to record her second double-double in as many days.

Up next, the Pioneers travel to Canyon, Tex. to participate in the Lone Star Conference Volleyball Tournament from Thursday, Nov. 13 through Saturday, Nov. 15. They will play Eastern New Mexico at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in the first round. If they win, TWU will face West Texas A&M at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14.