COMMERCE— The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team picked up a conference win and a non-conference loss Saturday. The Lions beat the University of Texas of the Permian Basin and lost to the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. The games brought the Lions to 12-9 on the season and 6-4 in the Lone Star Conference.
 
UTPB fell to 6-14 on the season and 2-8 in the LSC, while UAFS went to 14-5.
 
The Lions go out on the road to face Midwestern State University on Tuesday. The game is set for 6 p.m. at D.L. Ligon Coliseum in Wichita Falls.
 
A&M-COMMERCE 3, UT PERMIAN BASIN 0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-19)
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions served nine aces while not allowing any. They had a .226 hitting percentage and had five blocks.
- The Wacker sisters were the leading scorers for the Lions. Jaryn Wacker had 10 kills while Jaslyn Wacker had eight.
- Freshman Rylie Fuentes led the Lions with 21 assists. She also made seven digs and had four service aces.
- Senior Ashley Mireles led both teams with 13 digs. She also had two service aces.
- Falcon junior Caitlyn Guajardo had ten kills for UTPB. Freshman Mallory Nicholson had 17 assists. Freshman Sarah Vazquez had 10 digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sydney Reyes was off to a hot-hitting start for the Lions, recording three kills in the first five points for the Lions. She was also a fiend on the block, knocking away two Falcon hits.
 
The Lions jumped out to a quick 13-2 lead in the set. The Falcons responded with a run of their own, cutting the lead to just two midway through the set. Guajardo recorded four kills in the set. The Lion defense tightened and a couple of service aces helped the Lions score eight of the last 11 points to win the first set 25-18.
 
The Falcons were the aggressors in the second set, jumping out to a quick lead with a slew of kills. The Lions showed their resiliency and fought back to even up the score midway through the set. The teams traded points throughout the second half of the set, with neither team holding a lead of more than two. With the score tied at 23, the Lions scored the final two points to win the set 25-23.
 
Layne Little made her mark in the second set, posting four kills. Mireles also made her presence known with multiple digs to save points and to set up her teammates.
 
The teams again traded points in the first half of the third set, with neither team gaining a significant lead. That all changed late in the set. With the score at 19-16, the Lions capitalized on multiple kills and were aided by costly errors by the Falcons. Jaslyn Wacker served an ace to finish the match. A&M-Commerce scored six of the final nine points to seal the sweep.
 
"I was really pleased with how we came out after a big win last night and played at a high level," said A&M-Commerce head coach Craig Case. "UT Permian Basin has some really talented players and we were ready. They made some good runs and did some things that we struggled to defend and score on. I was glad we were able to sort those things out and earn the 3-0 win. This was a critical home match for us in the LSC standings landscape."
 
ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH 3, A&M-COMMERCE 2 (20-25, 25-15, 29-27, 15-25, 10-15)
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- It was the Lions' first home loss of the season. They are now 7-1 at the Field House.
- TAMUC served six aces while UAFS served five.
- TAMUC senior Taryn Driver had 15 kills. Fuentes had 21 assists and freshman Savannah Rutledge had 20. Mireles had 24 digs.
- UAFS senior Kennedi Coleman had 22 kills. Freshman Erin Black had 33 assists and senior Emily Tripp had 24 digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the second game of the doubleheader against UAFS, A&M-Commerce was a little off to begin. They sailed several swings high and out-of-bounds to give UAFS the early advantage. TAMUC regrouped after a timeout and scored four of the next five points to close the gap to 19-18. UAFS scored six of the final eight points to take set one, 25-20.
 
UAFS jumped out to an early lead in the second set. But A&M-Commerce answered back with a mini run of its own and took the lead for the first time in the match midway through the set, 12-11. Behind two successive service aces by Rutledge, the Lions scored five consecutive points and pushed their lead to 17-13, taking control of the set. Commerce scored 12 of the final 14 points to win the set 25-15.
 
The Lions scored the first four points of the third set, carrying over the momentum they had in the second. UAFS made a comeback to bring the A&M-Commerce lead to just one. The Lions answered back to push their lead back to five, but UAFS wouldn't be put away easily. The guests scored six of the next seven points to level the set at 21-all. The set had to go into extra points, as neither team would say die. But it was A&M-Commerce who finally strung together three consecutive points to win the set, 29-27.
 
UAFS jumped out quickly in the fourth set to take a nine-point lead early. A&M-Commerce put together a string of five consecutive points to keep the set within reach. However, UAFS answered right back to take their lead to double-digits. UAFS won the fourth set 25-15.
 
UAFS again came out firing, scoring five of the first six points of the final set. The Lions couldn't recover, losing the fifth set 15-10.
 
"Fort Smith is easily one of the best teams in our region," Case said. "To be able to push them to a thrilling five-game set is a great sign. We now have to figure out how to make that a five-set win.  They have some great players and do some great things both offensively and defensively. I thought we had some stretches where we did some good things to disrupt UAFS.  Now, we have to focus on limiting runs that great teams like UAFS go on while lengthening our own runs more."