Entering the high-caliber Lone Star Conference, no opponent can ever be overlooked, regardless of record.

On Friday night, the Sul Ross State volleyball team had to dig deep during its match against the Cameron University Aggies.

Overcoming a heart pounding win in the second set, the Lobos held off the Aggies for a straight-set sweep, 25-18, 37-35, 25-15, at the Pete P. Gallego Center to improve to 2-1 at home.

>> HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Lobos took advantage of some Aggie attack errors to go on a 3-0 run to take a five-point lead in the middle of the opening set.

Cameron University then used a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to one point.

The Aggies used another 4-0 run to take a short-lived 17-16 lead.

Sul Ross State went off on an 8-0 run to flip the script by taking a 24-17 lead. Natalie Hernandez and Cassandra Espinoza each had a kill while Brylee Sweeten tallied three service aces during the run.

Hernandez dealt the final kill of the set to put the Lobos up in the match.

The momentum carried over into the second set as the Lobos went on an early 6-0 run to take a 6-1 lead. Espinoza had two kills during the run.

Cameron University crept back into the set, using a 4-0 run to tie the score at 14-all.

The lead changed 16 times throughout the set.

As the pendulum began to swing back and forth, the Lobos regained some momentum by using a 3-0 run to take a 21-17 lead.

Sweeten served up another ace while Hernandez had another kill during the stretch.

Using a 5-0 run, the momentum shifted back to the Aggies as they took a 22-21 lead.

Cameron University was a point away from tying up the match with a 24-22 advantage.

Sarah Chavez and Espinoza had each got a kill to help fuel a 3-0 run that gave Sul Ross State a 25-24 lead.

The lead changed 11 times during the final moments of the second set as each team exchanged blow after blow, but the Lobos were still standing in the end.

Chavez had two kills while Espinoza had one to deal the knockout to the Aggies with a 3-0 run that gave the Lobos the two-point win to lead the match 2-0.

Going on a 7-0 run early in the third set, Sul Ross State took a 9-3 lead.

Cameron tried to keep it close, but the Lobos prevailed by using another 7-0 run to take a 23-14 lead that helped secure the sweep.

>> RECORDS: Sul Ross State (2-9, 2-3); Cameron University (1-15, 1-5)

>> GAME NOTES:

• Espinoza led the way with 12 kills while she also had eight digs.
• Angelli Sanchez, Chavez and Hernandez each had seven kills.
• Chavez also had three block assists.
• Anna Kasper finished with five kills.
• Sweeten served up seven aces while also recording 16 assists and six digs.
• Dating back to 2012, Sweeten's seven aces are the most by any Lobo in a single game. The previous high mark was six service aces tallied by Tatyana Colon and Faith Hernandez in 2022.
• The Lobos served up 12 aces. This marks the first time SRSU has tallied 10 or more aces in a contest since Oct. 6, 2023 when it had 12 aces against Concordia University.
• Eliana Mata had a double-double with 10 assists and 10 digs.
• Mata has now tallied 250 assists this season.
• Miranda Acosta led the defense with 27 digs.
• Colon finished with 12 digs.
• Colon is 27 digs away from reaching 1,000 career digs. She is sitting at 973 career digs.

>> WHAT THE COACH SAID:

"The girls worked really hard in practice and they pushed themselves. They are always challenging themselves. When the challenge arose, it was nothing new. They just pushed through it and I think the team did a good job of supporting each other and picking each other up. They trusted each other. I think that helped in the long run. Being on the road is tough sometimes, so to get home and play in front of the home crowd is a lot of fun. Our defense worked hard today. It definitely showed. A lot of balls that could have gone the other way, our defense saved us. They gave us a chance to do something on offense." — Head coach Annika Canaba on the big team win

"Cassie's always been one of our most consistent hitters, one of our strongest hitters and I think she rose to the challenge. She's always ready to step up." — Annika Canaba on Cassandra Espinoza

>> PLAYER INTERVIEW:

"I feel like everyone has to adjust. If we weren't as good of a team, as good of a family as we are, we wouldn't have gotten that. We just all had to push through. We had to be comfortable with being uncomfortable in that second set. That's the best set we've ever played. We all had heart. Usually we just get afraid of the block. I know my teammates are swinging, getting those digs and trying to push that set to me, so I'm just going to try to swing for it. Everyone's just going at it. It was a lot of fun." — Cassandra Espinoza

>> UP NEXT: The Lobos host Oklahoma Christian at 12 p.m. CST Saturday, Oct. 12.