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Sports
November 19, 2012 www.aggiecentral.com
Aggies take on Knights in season opener Tyler Boydston Sports Editor
Cameron University’s men’s basketball team started off their season at 3 p.m. on Nov. 11 against Southwestern Adventist, playing at home in the Aggie Gym. The Aggies defeated the Southwestern Adventist Knights in the game with a final score of 77 to 49. Senior Andrew Thomas led the men’s basketball team during the game, scoring 16 points and grabbing six rebounds throughout, while junior Asaad Robinson scored 15 points during his 26 minutes against Southwestern Adventist. Junior Aaron Thompson ended the match with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while junior Jonathan Patino had 10 points within his 24 minutes of play. According to Men’s Head Basketball Coach Wade Alexander, despite the team’s win against the Knights, they still have room to improve over the course of their season. “We really rebounded the ball and took care of it well,” coach Alexander said. “Shot selection was not as good as we would have liked, but not terrible. Defensively, we could have done a whole lot better. We just lost focus for three or four minutes, and they were able to get 10
Photo courtesy of Sports Information
Slam dunk: Junior Asaad Robinson dunks against Southwestern Adventist during the game Nov. 11. The Aggies won the match 77 to 49. Their next home game will be against Oklahoma Panhandle State on Nov. 20. or 12 shots.” The day before their season opener, the current men’s basketball team played against past members of the team in an alumni match. At the end of the first half, the current team found themselves ahead 39 to 34, but managed to further their lead by the end
of the game when they won 82 to 65. Head coach Alexander said the alumni game managed to help the Aggies prepare for their season by making the team explore options they normally would not resort to in their games. “It got those first-game
jitters out of their system,” coach Alexander said. “With the alumni, some of them knew our plays so when we called one out, they knew how to attack it and made us use our other options.” According to coach Alexander, the amount of time the team has to
practice has increased by 12 hours once their season began. “Oct. 15 was the first official day of practice,” coach Alexander said. “We can have pre-season practice, but you only have eight hours a week with the players. During the season we have 20 hours a week.”
With the season now in session, coach Alexander said the team is focusing on being prepared for what other teams can bring to the table, as well as the individual focus. “Early in the year you have to worry about yourself,” coach Alexander said, “so you have to get yourself ready, execute your offense, be ready for anything they may throw at you and trust that you’re going to outperform the other team.” According to Alexander, the new players to the team are still in the process of enhancing their game. “We’re still trying to implement some of our stuff with the new guys and get a little sharper at what we are supposed to do both defensively and with some of our plays,” he said. “We still have a lot of things that we can work on every day, and it probably gets boring to them, but it’s pretty much the same thing every day for right now.” Coach Alexander said that with the season now begun, the team is trying to work together more. “Everyone is competing for spots right now, and at the same time we are trying to gel as a team,” he said. The men’s basketball team is next set to play against Oklahoma Panhandle State at 8 p.m. on Nov. 20.
Volleyball ends fall season against Abilene Christian CU Sports Information
out back and forth and the Aggies were able to put the lead at 10-6. They kept the lead through the rest of the For the last time set until Abilene Christian this season the Aggie University had a five point volleyball team took the rally to give them the lead court at the Aggie Gym 23-21. After an Aggie kill to go against the Abilene Christian Wildcats Nov. 9. by freshman Shannon Unfortunately the Cameron Dulaney, the Wildcats seniors did not go out with were able to score two more a win as the team lost three points to win the set 25sets to one to the Wildcats. 22. Cameron took revenge in Cameron was able set two and started out with to honor its two senior a 10-4 run. After that they volleyball players, Joanie Dubberly and Julisa Ocasio, never gave up the lead or let the Wildcats tie it up in the Nov. 9 at the beginning of rest of the set. CU won set the match. Dubberly has two 25-23. been at Cameron all four Sets three and four were years of her college career very similar. A barrage of and has been the ultimate team player for the Aggies. ACU attacks and multiple Ocasio has been one of the Cameron errors gave Abilene Christian multiple best in the conference at rallies in each set. Cameron digging at balls as she has was able to get within two over 1,000 in her career points in the third set but at Cameron and holds the record for digs in a game at for every CU point there would be multiple ACU CU. points. Cameron lost set The first set started
three 18-25 and set four 15-25. The Aggie attack was able to stay balanced but costly errors hurt them down the stretch. Freshmen Kathryn Evans and Shannon Dulaney both had 13 kills and fellow freshman Annelise Carpenter had 11 kills. Junior Jenna Risoli was able to end the season with a good game as she put up her 15th double double of the season with 39 assists and 14 digs. Ocasio also ended the season in her own style by racking up a 26 dig game. With this loss the Aggies end the season with a 10-22 overall record and a 4-16 record against Lone Star Conference opponents. The Cameron University volleyball team later earned two all-conference awards at the Lone Star Conference Awards Banquet held in San Angelo Nov. 14.
Ocasio was named Second Team AllConference. She recorded 505 digs in 76 sets played, averaging 6.64 per set. She also broke the alltime program high for digs in a match with 44 on Nov. 3 against Eastern New Mexico. The 44 digs were the second highest total recorded in NCAA Division II this season and the highest in the LSC. Meanwhile, Kathryn Evans was given Honorable Mention by the LSC for her performance in the 2012 season. Evans led the LSC with 437 total kills and was fourth in average kills per set (3.67). On Sept. 29 against St. Mary’s, she recorded a career high 24 kills. Photo by Matthew Berberea Both Ocasio and Evans earned Lone Star Over the net: Sophomore Rebecca Green fights Conference Player of the against Southeastern Oklahoma State during their Week Awards during the match Oct. 30. The volleyball team’s final match of the fall 2012 season. season took place against Abilene Christian Nov. 9.