No. 14 West Texas A&M 3, A&M-Commerce 0
Location: WTAMU Fieldhouse * Canyon, Texas
Records: A&M-Commerce (5-11, 1-8 LSC); West Texas A&M (18-2, 9-1 LSC)
Up Next: at Eastern New Mexico * Saturday, October 8 * 8 p.m. CT
CANYON, Texas – Playing in one of the toughest venues in the Lone Star Conference, A&M-Commerce dropped a 16-25, 14-25, 25-27 decision to 14th-ranked West Texas A&M Thursday night at the WTAMU Fieldhouse. The Lions drop to 5-11 on the year and 1-8 in conference play.
Rachel Robertson once again paced the Lion offensive attack, notching 10 kills for her sixth-consecutive match of double-digit kills while adding five blocks on the night. Kayla Bond and Breanne Snyder both added six kills for A&M-Commerce with Bond notching three blocks as well.
Jordan Neal dished out 31 assists with three kills and six digs for the Lions with Ezon Onditi finishing with four kills and five digs. Dakota Crockett led the Lions in digs with 12 on the evening.
A&M-Commerce was searching for its first win at "The Box" since 1994, but after battling West Texas to an 11-9 mark early in the set, the Lady Buffs began to pull away, outscoring the Lions 14-7 down the stretch, leading by as many as eight before taking the opener 25-16.
The early momentum gained by West Texas as the Lady Buffs notched the first four points of set two and never looked back. WTAMU would extend that lead to as many as 11 at 22-11 before closing out the wire-to-wire set with a 25-14 decision.
But despite trailing the 14th-ranked team in the country 2-0 at intermission, A&M-Commerce gave West Texas all it could handle in the third. The Lions opened up a four-point edge at 11-7, only to see the Lady Buffs pull even at 15-15. The two teams then combined for eight ties and three lead changes as A&M-Commerce was serving for set point at 24-22. But the Lady Buffs fought off three set points and outscored the Lions 5-1 over the final six points to close out the match with a 27-25 victory.
West Texas had three players record double-digit kill totals on the night, led by 17 from Ashley Davis with Stormi Lancaster recording 15 and Erin Doughtery notching 12. Lacy Hayes finished with 43 assists as well for the Lady Buffs.
A&M-Commerce closes out the first half of the Lone Star Conference schedule this Saturday, traveling to Portales, N.M. to face Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, October 8. Opening serve against the Zias is set for 8 p.m. CT.
