Greyhounds need four sets to best Cameron

STAFF REPORT

After a heartbreaking five-set loss to Midwestern Friday, the Eastern New Mexico volleyball team bounced back with a 3-1 win over Cameron University to grab their first Lone Star Conference win 25-16, 25-22, 25-27 and 25-18.

“You’re supposed to win your home games, or at least try to, and then go on the road and battle. To get that first one, especially after last night, is really big for us,” said head coach Sia Poyer.

Staff photo: Matthew Asher

Greyhound senior Lauren Frye goes for a successful kill in the first set of ENMU's match against Cameron Saturday evening. Fry finished with 28 kills and ENMU won in four sets.

Lauren Frye led the team with 28 kills, tying a career high for single match kills, followed by Brooklyn Biel and Courtney Lawson with 17 and 10 kills, respectively.

Another career milestone made during the match was junior Andrea Aguilar reaching 1,000 career digs. The Clovis native had missed the last few Greyhound matches due to injury, but in her return posted 17 digs and played all four sets.

“I think just for me it’s a big accomplishment, but I could never have done it without them (her team),” said Aguilar. “For myself, I was getting kind of anxious because I felt the longer I was sitting out the more I was hurting my team. But I was comfortable and let go of the little anxiety really quick.”

The win moves the Greyhounds to 6-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play. The Aggies are now 2-11 with a 0-5 LSC record.

A big difference in this year’s Greyhound team is the depth.

Last year, the team relied heavily on Lawson, Frye and Biel to carry much of the load, especially on offense.

Now the team has a promising crop of underclassmen, with Jennifer Martinez and Sarah Tuioti-Mariner headlining the group.

Martinez finished the night with seven kills.

“It definitely makes a big difference,” Martinez said. “Last year we just relied on Lauren a lot and it made it so teams could really focus on just stopping her. This year we have a lot more variety and with everyone working so hard, it makes us a lot more unpredictable against other teams.”

Men’s soccer — At Laredo, Texas, Texas A&M International held ENMU to just one shot on goal in the match and the Dustdevils registered a 4-0 Heartland Conference victory over the Greyhounds on Saturday.

Yair Hernandez scored in the 31st minute to give International (3-4, 2-2 Heartland) a 1-0 halftime lead. The Dustdevils broke the contest open with a pair of goals in the final 20 minutes.

The next outing for the Hounds (2-4-1, 1-3-1) will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday when they host Texas-Permian Basin at Greyhound Field.