DALLAS – A strong hitting performance and clutch performances late in the second and third sets pushed the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team to a sweep of the Dallas Baptist University Patriots at the Burg Center on Monday night.
 
A&M-Commerce won by set scores of 25-17, 27-25, 27-25.
 
With the win, the Lions move to 5-4 on the season, while dropping DBU to 2-8 on the year. The Lions start Lone Star Conference play this weekend with a match at Tarleton State on Friday and a match at No. 8 Angelo State on Saturday.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions hit .220 for the night compared to a .104 mark for DBU. Both times the Lions have hit over .200 in a match in the early part of the season have resulted in sweep victories.
- Jaryn Wacker registered 11 kills on a .421 hitting percentage as the only Lion with double-digit kills.
- Ashley Mireles was one of two Lions with double-digit digs with 19. Setter Rylie Fuentes notched her third straight double-double with 20 assists and 12 digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions surged out to an early 8-3 lead in the first set before the hosts clawed back to tie the set at 12-all. A&M-Commerce took advantage of wayward hitting by the Patriots and scored seven of the set's final eight points to pull away for the 25-17 set win.
 
A&M-Commerce hit .182 in the set while DBU hit an even .000. Taryn Driver and Jaryn Wacker each had four kills in the set for the Lions.
 
An evenly played second set saw two strong individual performances, as the Lions' Daisge Smith threw down six kills, as did DBU's Sidnee Fitzpatrick. Strong defensive performances by Mireles, Fuentes, and Driver saw each player earn five digs in the set.
 
The Lions hit .208 in the set to overcome an early four-point disadvantage. With the set tied at 25-all, Fuentes and Sydney Reyes teamed up for a block and a DBU hitting error handed A&M-Commerce the second set.
 
Jaryn Wacker had four kills in the third set with three other players throwing down three kills as the team hit .262 in the set. The key was five blocks in the set, including four by Jaslyn Wacker.
 
The Lions held a big lead at 18-11, but DBU stormed back to tie the set at 20-20.  The Patriots had set point at 25-24 before the Wacker twins put away three straight kills – two by Jaryn and the match-clincher by Jaslyn – to earn the Lions' second sweep of the season.