Box Score

A&M-Commerce 3, Eastern New Mexico 0
The Field House • Commerce, Texas
Records: A&M-Commerce (22-7, 9-6 LSC), Eastern New Mexico (8-18, 4-10 LSC)
Up Next: vs. #6 West Texas A&M • Saturday, Nov. 16 • 7 p.m. • The Field House

COMMERCE, Texas – The A&M-Commerce volleyball team won their fifth in a row with a three-nothing sweep of the visiting Eastern New Mexico Zias at The Field House. The Lions have now all but assured themselves of a fourth place finish in the Lone Star Conference this season with the win.

"I'm happy with it. I think Eastern New Mexico is an incredible well-coached team. I have nothing but respect for that team. Excited to see what they keep doing", said Craig Case post game. 

Case continued, "We are concerned about letting teams go on runs. We have to stop getting into position to win and open up the door a little. We have to close out sets and matches better."

The Lions hit .296 as a team on the night with 52 kills compared to 18 errors. Breanne Snyder led the attack with 13 kills and a .588 hitting percentage. Snyder also added three aces and three total blocks.

"Bre is a competitor. This is the most competitive time of the year and she is going to keep pushing and trying to win. That is why we need her on the floor. We are going to try and keep getting her the ball", said Case.

Ciara Holmes also posted double digit kills with 11. Amy Davault had nine kills and 15 digs, tying her for the team lead with Michaela Spicer for the team lead on the evening.

Ezon Onditi added seven kills and Kayla Bond has six for the Lions. Li'i Etimani posted 11 digs, a kill, and three assists on the night. Jordan Neal did what she always does in posting another 40-plus-assist night with 41 helpers.

A&M-Commerce came out clicking in the first set, hitting .400 with just five errors. After Eastern took a 6-4 lead an Onditi kill sparked a 12-1 run for the Lions to take a 15-7 lead. An ace from Bond capped the scoring run.

The Zias tried to recover but another 4-0 run by the Lions, featuring two aces from Snyder, gave the Lions their largest of 12, 24-12. A kill from Holmes ended a three-nothing run for the Zias and got the Lions the set win.

Eastern New Mexico won four of the first five points in set two to take a 4-1 lead. The Lions then tied the score at five with a kill from Holmes. Like set one, the Lions used a mid-set run to take control of the set.

With a 13-12 lead the Lions scored seven of the next eight points with kills from Snyder, Holmes Onditi and Davault. The Lions then scored four straight to take a 24-14 lead but the Zias were not done. Eastern scored four straight before the Lions got the set win with a kill from Bond.

The third set was the most hotly contested set of the night. The set saw nine ties and six lead changes.

With the Lions trailing 5-4 early an ace from Bond and three attack errors from the Zais let Lions take an 8-5 lead. A kill from Holmes made it 13-8 in favor of the home team.

Then Eastern went another run, this time an eight to nothing run take a 16-13 lead. A kill from Snyder tied the score at 18 then a kill from Davault broke the tie to make it 19-18 Lions. Another kill from Snyder tied the score at 21 before the Lions scored four of the last five points to seal the three-set sweep.

The Lions now turn their attention to the regular season finale versus West Texas A&M tomorrow night at The Field House. A&M-Commerce will look to be the first conference team to beat the Lady Buffs this season as West Texas has already clinched the regular season title with their undefeated record.

Case is looking forward to the opportunity, "We want to win. The conference tournament is important but I think we are better off taking our best shot at WT and pulling for an upset then we are resting and going through the motions tomorrow night."

A&M-Commerce will travel to Canyon, Texas next weekend for the LSC Tournament and will compete for berth into the NCAA Tournament.