DALLAS, TEXAS- The Lions volleyball (4-16) team looks to keep the momentum going after a thrilling 3-1 win over Angelo State. A&M-Commerce travels to Dallas, Texas for a showdown with Dallas Baptist (8-8). The Lions and Patriots met earlier this year in the A&M-Commerce classic. The Lions fell 3-2 in heart breaking fashion.
A&M-Commerce is coming off a Lone Star Conference spilt this past weekend. The Lions were swept by Tarleton State and had an upset win over Angelo State, a team that had been receiving votes in the national poll.
Offensively the Lions are led by
Amy Davault who as of October 5 was ranked third in the nation in total kills with 275.
Courtney Tate leads the Lions in assists with 729 tops in the Lone Star Conference. Defensively
Ashley Mireles has tallied 356 digs and is averaging 4.68 per set, which currently ranks fifth in the LSC.
The first meeting this season was a five set thriller that the lions lost 3-2. In the match Tate recorded a triple-double with 10 kills, 63 assists and 13 digs.
Veronika Baric contributed 20 kills and Davault had a double-double with a match high 26 kills and 24 digs for A&M-Commerce. Krystal Wunderlich provided a double-double for the for the Patriots with 25 kills and 20 digs and Kaycie Bird had a match high 64 assists.
Dallas Baptist has won two matches in a row and four of its last five. The Patriots only slip up was a 3-1 road loss at Tarleton State. During this stretch DBU has wins over Heartland conference foes Texas A&M International, St. Mary's, Oklahoma Panhandle State and Newman University.
The Patriots are led by senior middle blocker Tiara Gipson who has a team high 217 kills and a hitting percentage of .370. Red shirt junior setter Kaycie Bird is averaging 10.77 assist per set and has racked up 560 so far this season. Defensively junior outside hitter Tadam Mergener leads the Patriots with 328 digs an average of 6.31 per set.
The Lions have dropped the last two matches against Dallas Baptist, but lead the overall series 18-7 and have a record of 6-3 when playing at Dallas Baptist.
First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. A&M-Commerce stays on the road with a match on Saturday, October 18 against LSC rival Texas Woman's .
