A&M-Commerce | Volleyball
COMMERCE — The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team lost a heartbreaking five-set match to Texas Woman's on Thursday night. After falling behind 2-0, the Lions caught fire late but could not get enough push in the final set to pull out the comeback. The set scores were 21-25, 15-25, 25-18, 25-19, and 8-15.
The loss brings the Lions to 24-6 on the season and they are eliminated from the LSC Tournament. TWU improves to 17-14 on the year and they advance to the semifinal round.
The Lions now await their fate in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament. The NCAA Division II Volleyball Selection Show will air on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Sydney Andersen (Placentia, Calif.) had a career night, recording a career-high 24 kills in the match, hitting .321.
Keziah Williams (Branson, Mo.) and Nicki Gonelli (Round Rock – Stony Point) both provided sparks off the bench, recording eight kills apiece.
Shelle Chapron (Houston – St. Pius X) had seven kills and a pair of blocks.
Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) recorded a career-high 44 assists in the match, while also recording a double-double with a team-high 17 digs.
Riley Davidson (Commerce) had 16 digs while Savannah Rutledge (The Woodlands College Park) had 14.
The Lions were held to a .169 hitting percentage while TWU hit .262 in the match. TWU had 11 blocks in the match.
A&M-Commerce had 16 kills in the third set and 17 in the fourth set but could not find rhythm early or down the stretch.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was back-and-forth to start the match as there were 10 ties and four lead changes in the first set. The teams traded mini runs and were tied at 14 midway through the set. With the match tied at 18, TWU began to pull away, going on a 4-0 run, which the Lions could not match. A&M-Commerce fell 25-21 in the first set.
TWU got off to a hot start in the second set, recording two different 4-0 runs to establish a lead early. The Lions could not find their counter punch, trailing by as many as 10 in the set, falling 25-15.
The third set again was back and forth to begin, before the Lions began to find their rhythm. Andersen had multiple kills and Williams and Gonelli provided a spark off the bench to get the Lion offense off the ground. It was close until a late Lion 5-0 run gave A&M-Commerce the 25-18 set win.
The Lions exploded out of the gate in the fourth set, winning the first four points, including a pair of aces from Vela. A&M-Commerce eventually pushed their lead to seven points in the early part of the set. TWU pushed back, cutting the Lion lead to three points before a 6-0 run, including three consecutive kills from Andersen, put the set out of reach. The Lions won the set 25-19.
A&M-Commerce scored the first 3 points of the final set and with the crowd support, looked like they would pile on. However, TWU then scored 7 points in a row to take control of the final set. The Lions cut the TWU lead to 10-8 but gave up the final 5 points to lose the match.