A&M-Commerce 3, William Jewell 1
Location: Wisdom Gym · Stephenville, Texas
Records: A&M-Commerce (6-1); William Jewell (3-4)
A&M-Commerce 3, New Mexico Highlands 0
Location: Wisdom Gym · Stephenville, Texas
Records: A&M-Commerce (7-1); New Mexico Highlands (3-5)
Up Next: at Incarnate Word · Friday, September 14 · San Antonio, Texas · 7 p.m.
STEPHENVILLE, Texas – A&M-Commerce regrouped from its first loss of the season to notch a pair of convincing victories over the second day of the 2012 Tarleton Volleyball Invitational in Stephenville. The Lions opened up the day with a 3-1 victory over William Jewell, then closed out the weekend with a 3-0 sweep of New Mexico Highlands, improving to 7-1 on the year.
Senior middle blocker Rachel Robertson continued her impressive start to the 2012 season, finishing the weekend with 70 kills in four matches, averaging 4.11 per set, and was named the MVP of the Tarleton Volleyball Invitational. She upped her career kill total to 1,069 and moved into fourth on the all-time Lion kills list. Her teammate, junior setter Jordan Neal, was also named to the All-Tournament team.
In the opening match of the day, A&M-Commerce jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on William Jewell, outscoring the Cardinals 25-21 and 25-22. William Jewell dominated the third set, routing the Lions 25-12, but A&M-Commerce responded in the fourth, taking the 25-18 decision to close out the match.
Robertson once again led the way with 17 kills, a .438 hitting percentage, three digs and a pair of blocks as she was the only Lion to finish in double-figures in kills. Sophomore Breanne Snyder added eight kills and 10 digs while junior Ciara Holmes finished with seven kills and five digs for A&M-Commerce.
Neal dished out 42 assists while notching another double-double with 10 digs and four kills as sophomore Michaela Spicer led the way on the back row with 29 digs for A&M-Commerce. Senior Morgan Moeller had five kills and 11 digs while Savanah Neal added 10 digs defensively for the Lions.
Looking to match the program's best start since 2002, A&M-Commerce proceeded to make quick work of New Mexico Highlands in the final match of the weekend. Each of the sets were competitive down the stretch, but the Lions were able to pull ahead at just the right time, taking the 25-22, 25-22, 25-22 victory to improve to 7-1 on the year.
Robertson and junior Kayla Bond paced the Lion offensive attack with 11 kills each as Bond hit a blistering .579, recording no errors on 19 attempts with a pair of blocks. Robertson hit .320 while notching three blocks at the nets for the Lions. Snyder matched her kill output from the earlier match with eight as Moeller and sophomore Ezon Onditi added five kills a piece for A&M-Commerce.
Neal closed out a solid weekend with 33 assists and eight digs while Spicer led the way once again in digs,recording 14 on the afternoon. The Lions were solid at the nets all afternoon against New Mexico Highlands, recording just 10 hitting errors and hitting .318 for the match.
It's now time for A&M-Commerce to turn its sights to Lone Star Conference play as the Lions open up their 2012 conference slate on the road, beginning with a trip to San Antonio to battle Incarnate Word at 7 p.m. Friday, September 14. The Lions then head to Kingsville for a 1 p.m. showdown with the Javelinas on Saturday, September 15.
