SAN ANGELO – The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team lost in straight sets to Eastern New Mexico in the first round of the Lone Star Conference postseason tournament. The set scores were 20-25, 18-25 and 22-25.
 
The loss brings the Lions' record to 19-13 for the season. The Greyhounds improve to 19-12 and move on to the second round of the tournament.
 
The Lions entered the week ranked eighth in the South Central Region. Eight teams from the region will be selected to play in the NCAA tournament beginning the first week of December. The field will be announced Monday at 5:30 p.m.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Neka Nelson led the Lions with 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .600. Layne Little had eight kills and Sydney Reyes and Taryn Driver each added six kills.
- Recently named Offensive Player of the Year Lauren Frye of ENMU led all players with 18 kills. Brooklyn Biel had 12 kills and Courtney Lawson had 10 kills for the Greyhounds.
- Gabriela Rosa had 20 assists to lead A&M-Commerce. Rylie Fuentes added 17 assists. Recently named Libero of the Year Ashley Mireles led the Lions with eight digs.
- The Greyhounds had six service aces in the match. A&M-Commerce was held without an ace for the first time this season.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions found themselves in an early hole in the first set. After scoring the first point of the match, they gave up six straight points to ENMU. Frye had two early kills for the Greyhounds.
 
The Lions began to chip away at the ENMU lead. Reyes had two early kills in the set and Nelson also had an early impact, getting three kills in the first nine Lion points.
 
The Lions took the lead midway through the set, taking advantage of multiple Greyhound errors and blasting balls past the ENMU blockers. Nelson again had two consecutive kills as the teams stayed neck and neck throughout the set. The game was tied at 19-all, with neither team gaining advantage after the early rally by both teams.
 
The Greyhounds began to pull away at the end of the set. They scored six of the final seven points. Frye had two kills late to give the Greyhounds a 25-20 win in the first set.
 
Nelson had six kills in the first set. Little added four for the Lions. Frye had five kills for the Greyhounds in the first set.
 
Frye continued to hit well in the second set for ENMU. She had three early kills. But the teams traded points early on. The game was tied 6-6 after 12 points. The Greyhounds started to pull away, scoring three consecutive points. Lawson had two kills as ENMU pushed their lead to four midway through the set. The teams traded points before the Greyhounds began to pull farther away, winning the set 25-18.
 
The Greyhounds again took an early lead in the third set. They scored six of the first seven points. Frye continued to rack up kills in the third set, pushing the ENMU lead to 16-9. Nelson had another flurry of kills for the Lions to get them back into the set. The defense picked up, with multiple players diving for balls to keep rallies going.
 
The Lions cut the Greyhound lead to one point late in the set, 21-20, scoring four out of five points on a run to get back into the game. However, the Lions were unable to bridge the gap and lost the third set 25-22.