Lady Yoe suffers opening loses

Cameron’s opening two matches the 2018 season did not go as planned, as the Lady Yoe dropped back-to-back contests to Lago Vista and Thrall on Monday.

The ladies were swept by the Lady Vikings, 25-22, 25-20 and 25-13, before falling to Trall, 25-18, 18-25, 20-25, 22-25 to begin the season with an 0-2 mark.

The ladies struggled most of the their opening match with Lago Vista, but picked things up with Thrall, taking the opening set in convincing fashion.

Dach was key at the service line, stringing together 6 consecutive Lady Yoe points to build a 17-14 lead, forcing a Thrall timeout. The lead grew to 19-14 before Dach finally ended her run with a serve into the next.

Carley Tucker, Cameron’s leading returning attacker, had 11 attacks and 7 kills in the first set alone. However, the ladies started to commit errors from that point forward and that was the difference in the end.

“We were in the game in both matches,” said Lady Yoe coach Kamol Nohe. “The only difference was about five or six points. There were some errors and the timing in which we made those errors and such. I feel like we can change that. We overthink it sometimes and we just try to force it. The kids just to keep it simple and keep it moving.”

Cameron led 11-8 in the third, but Thrall went on a run with two aces to go along with 6 Lady Yoe errors to take the 16-12 lead.

Cameron tried to force a fifth and final deciding set, going up 22-21 in the fourth. However, a kill followed by three untimely errors ended the rally there. Miscues are expected early on for any team, but Nohe feels this group is certainly ahead of where they have been in the past and has the potential to make some noise later in the season.

“We are far ahead and where we were the past two years and we are competing against tough teams,” said the coach. “There are just certain things we need to clean up and we just have to stay focused this year. It’s going to be up to the kids. I will push them and challenge them and all of that, but it will be up to them to make it happen. I believe they will.”

Tucker ended the match with 42 attack attempts and 19 kills. Gracen Dach had 3 kills, while Darci Denio and Kenzie Wimmer each came in with 2. Tucker also led the teams in aces with 3.

Cameron will next be in action in their own tournament this Thursday and Saturday.

Thursday matches include Milano Vs. La Vega (10:00, court one), Mumford Vs. Marlin (10:00, court two), Mumford Vs Milano (11:30, court one), Cameron Yoe Vs. Marlin (11:30, court 2) and Cameron Yoe Vs. La Vega (1:00, court one).

Saturday games will see Milano Vs. Marlin (10:00, court one), La Vega Vs. Mumford (10:00, court two), Cameron Yoe Vs. Milano (11:30, court one), La Vega Vs. Marlin (11:30, court two) and Cameron Yoe Vs. Mumford (1:00, court one).

This is a complete round robin style tournament and will feature no bracket play. Cameron is also set to compete in the Jewett Leon tournament on August 16-18 and the Robinson tournament on August 23 and 25.

Cameron will travel to Vanguard Preparatory (Waco) for their next regularly scheduled matchup on August 14. Starttime is set for 5:00 pm with the varsity to follow shortly thereafter.