DENTON - The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team picked up a four set win over Texas Woman's University on Tuesday night. The Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead and won the match in the fourth set. The set scores were 25-20, 25-23, 27-29, 25-16. The win was the first time the Lions have defeated TWU in Dention since 2011.
 
The win brings the Lions to 14-11 on the season and 8-6 in the Lone Star Conference. TWU falls to 7-16 on the season and 3-11 in the Lone Star Conference.
 
The Lions continue their road trip Friday night as they take on Texas A&M University-Kingsville. The match begins at 7 p.m. at The SPEC in Kingsville.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions had a balanced attack against TWU. Six different players had at least eight kills. Taryn Driver and Neka Nelson each had 11 kills to lead A&M-Commerce. Layne Little had 10 kills, Sydney Reyes and Shantel Norton both had nine and Jaslyn Wacker added eight.
- Reyes hit .500 on 14 attacks. Both she and Jaslyn Wacker had six blocks to lead the Lions.
- Ashley Mireles had 23 digs in the match to eclipse the 500 dig mark this season.
- Setter Rylie Fuentes had 28 assists while teammate Gabriela Rosa added 27 assists.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions jumped out to a quick lead with back-to-back kills by Driver to start the first set. Sara Oxford had the hot hand early for the Pioneers. She had three early kills to keep pace with the Lions.
 
The set went back and forth until the very end as both teams traded kills. In the middle of the set, Jaryn Wacker had three of the four points for the Lions, going on to tally four kills in the set. But the Pioneers kept pace, trailing 20-19 late.
 
The Lions took over at the end of the set behind the serving of Jaslyn Wacker. She had a service ace and added a kill to help the Lions take five of the final six points and win the set 25-20.
 
Driver had four kills in the first set. Oxford had five kills for the Pioneers in the first set.
 
The teams continued trading points early in the second set. However, a service ace by the Pioneers turned the momentum in their favor. TWU had five aces early in the second set, including three consecutive aces by Ranes to give the Pioneers a 16-9 lead.
 
The Lions took a timeout to regroup and their attack again awakened. They scored six unanswered points to cut the Pioneer lead to one. Jaslyn Wacker again had the hot hand on the serve, recording another ace in the six-point rally.
 
The Lions had a balanced attack in the second set, with five different players recording a kill. Norton was a force, recording five kills in the set. Little and Driver each added three.
 
The Pioneers had a two-point lead and needed just two points to take the set before the Lions rallied late. A&M-Commerce scored the final four points of the set, aided by two attacking errors by TWU to take the second set 25-23
 
The third set was a nail biter and was tightly contested throughout. TWU scored the first three points of the set, but that was as big a lead as either team would have in the set. The Lions tied the game at six and neither team would lead by more than two through the rest of the set.
 
Reyes had three early kills and had five overall in the third set. Nelson also had five kills in the set. Overall, seven different Lions had a kill in the third set. But the Pioneers answered every rally the Lions had. Oxford had four kills in the set and Jenkins added five to keep the Lions at bay.
 
The set went into extra points, as neither team would succumb to the other's will. However, trailing by one, the Pioneers were able to put together a small rally, scoring the last three points to take the third set 29-27. The set tied the longest the Lions have had in conference play this season.
 
The fourth set looked to be another tightly contested affair early on. Nelson had three kills early in the set to keep the set close. With the frame tied at 11-all, the Lions made a furious rally to blow away the Pioneers.
 
Little had three consecutive kills and Nelson and Jaslyn Wacker each added two late to put the Lions ahead for good. A&M-Commerce scored 14 of the final 19 points, including seven of the last nine points to cruise to a 25-16 set win, taking the match in four.