Sept. 1, 2006
Box Score
FAIRFAX, Va. - The Lamar University volleyball team notched their first win of the 2006 season, taking out the Campbell Fighting Camels 3-1 at the Brion's Grille/Patriot Invitational, hosted by George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.
The Lady Cards dropped their opening game 31-29, but rebounded to take the final three games 30-17, 30-27, 30-18. The win gives Lamar a 1-3 record on the season, and drops Campbell to 2-3 on the year.
"We started out slow and lost the first game, so we put in a different line up and blew them away in the second game," head Justin Gibert said. "In game three we were a little flat but we played hard, turned it around and played well. Overall we are still a little bit inconsistent, but you can see the talent there, and that we're starting to get closer to where we need to be."
Buchi Okoh led the way for the Lady Cards, picking up her first double-double, with 16 kills and 10 blocks, while Courtney Mitchell narrowly missed a double-double with 10 kills and eight blocks.
"Buchi and Courtney played really well tonight," Gibert said. "Buchi was unreal tonight picking up a double-double and Courtney just missed it. The two of them really intimidated the other team at the net, and we had the best blocking I've seen us have. I am very pleased that we were able to stop them at the net."
Setter Ashley Todd led Lamar with 32 assists, while Andrea Hamilton collected 17 digs to bolster the Lady Cards defensive effort.
Lamar also received a strong performance at the service line, with Lauren Rush posting six service aces.
"Rush did a great job of getting us into some scoring runs with her serving tonight," Gibert said. "We still struggled with our serve/receive, but we were able to overcome it with our own serving."
Gibert said the win is an important one for the Lady Cards, who lost their first twelve matches of the 2005 season. They opened this season 0-3, dropping their three matches at the Tulane tournament last weekend.
"It's our first victory, so we're really excited about that," he said." It's good to get that first win under our belt, now we have to come out ready to play tomorrow."
