October 23, 2012

A&M-Commerce Lions at Abilene Christian Wildcats
Tuesday, October 23 • 7 p.m.
Moody Coliseum • Abilene, Texas
Records: A&M-Commerce (16-7, 7-6 LSC); Abilene Christian (9-14, 5-8 LSC)
Live Stats: ACUSports.com

Opening Serve
A&M-Commerce closes out its three-game Lone Star Conference road trip this evening with a visit to Moody Coliseum, taking on Abilene Christian at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening. It marks the first meeting of the season between the two as the Lions and Wildcats will meet twice in the next two weeks.

Scouting the Wildcats
2012: 9-14 overall, 5-8 Lone Star Conference (T-6th), 5-4 home
Last Three Matches: L at Tarleton State (1-3), L at Angelo State (3-0), W vs. West Texas A&M (3-0)
Head Coach: Kellen Mock (Abilene Christian, 2005). Seventh season at Abilene Christian (145-74, .662)
Key Players:
• #11 Sara Oxford (So., MB): 252 kills, .125 hitting pct., 8 aces, 192 digs, 40
• #9 Jennie Loerch (Fr., OH): 220 kills, .136 hitting pct., 142 digs, 15 blocks
• #5 Rachel Riley (So., OH): 180 kills, .211 hitting pct., 58 digs, 23 blocks
• #8 Corrie Reeder (Fr., MB): 148 kills, .172 hitting pct., 63 blocks
• #2 Sarah Siemens (Fr., S): 813 assists, 51 kills, .190 hitting pct., 12 aces, 169 digs, 45 blocks
• #14 Madison Hoover (Fr., L): 354 digs, 43 assists, 14 aces
Synopsis: Abilene Christian sits at 9-14 on the year and 5-8 in Lone Star Conference play following a pair of road losses at Angelo State and Tarleton State. The Wildcats did notch one of the biggest wins of the conference season, sweeping eighth-ranked West Texas A&M at home on October 13, but have struggled to find consistency, starting off the LSC season losing six of their first seven matches.

Series Information
Tonight's match marks the 54th meeting between A&M-Commerce and Abilene Christian with the Lions holding a slim 27-26 lead in the all-time series. The Wildcats have had the upper hand in recent years, however, winning the last four meetings and seven of the last eight against the Lions, whose last victory was a 3-1 win in Commerce in 2008. A&M-Commerce is 8-12 all-time in Abilene but has not seen success at Moody Coliseum in quite some time, notching their last victory in Abilene in 1995, a span of eight matches.

The Week That Was
A&M-Commerce opened up its final extended road trip of the season by splitting a pair out west last weekend, starting with a 3-1 win over Eastern New Mexico in Portales, N.M. Three Lions notched double-digit kill totals, led by 18 from Rachel Robertson and 13 from Ezon Onditi, with Jordan Neal dishing out 50 assists and Michaela Spicer contributing 28 digs. The following night, the Lions battled 11th-ranked West Texas A&M but fell 3-0 to the Lady Buffs in Canyon. Robertson again led the way with 10 kills while Neal notched a double-double with 25 assists and 15 digs.

Lions Setting Sights on Postseason
One of the major goals heading into the 2012 season was to earn a spot in the Lone Star Conference tournament, and the Lions are setting themselves in prime position to do so. Heading into this week, A&M-Commerce is fifth in the LSC standings at 7-6, two and a half matches back of fourth-place Texas Woman's and two matches ahead of Abilene Christian, Incarnate Word and A&M-Kingsville in a three-way tie for sixth. The top eight teams qualify for the tournament, which will be hosted by the number one overall seed November 15-17.

Lions Among the National Leaders
With the 2012 season beginning to wind down, a handful of Lions continue to make noise on the national landscape. Senior middle blocker Rachel Robertson ranks among the national leaders in three categories, sitting 19th in hitting percentage (.371), 22nd in points per set (4.42) and 37th in kills per set (3.70). Libero Michaela Spicer is 22nd nationally in digs per set (5.28) with setter Jordan Neal sitting 23rd in assists per set (10.7). All three rank among the top-three of the Lone Star Conference leaders in their respective categories as well.

Looking Ahead
Following tonight's road tilt at Abilene Christian, A&M-Commerce prepares for the stretch run of the 2012 Lone Star Conference season and knows it controls its own destiny, as five of the remaining six matches of the season will be at the Field House. A&M-Commerce opens things up with a pair of Homecoming Week matches as the Lions welcome Cameron for a 5 p.m. opening serve Friday, followed by another key match against Midwestern State at 7 p.m. Saturday.