COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team played in front of its home fans for the first time in the 2016 season and used the Field House advantage to pick up a 3-1 win over Texas Woman's University on Tuesday night.
 
With the win, A&M-Commerce is now 6-6 overall and 1-2 in the Lone Star Conference, while TWU falls to 3-8 overall and 0-3 in the league.
 
This was the first of five straight home matches for the Lions, who host Texas A&M-Kingsville at 5 p.m. Friday.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions' fans welcomed them home with gusto, as 678 supporters enjoyed the match.
- A&M-Commerce won by set scores of 25-20, 21-25, 25-12, 25-19.
- The Lions hit .175 in the match and limited the Pioneers to a .051 hitting percentage.
- Layne Little and Daisge Smith tied for the team lead with 12 kills apiece. Smith hit .300 in the match and Little earned a .238 hitting percentage.
- Ashley Mireles continued her strong run of defensive performances with 22 digs.
- Gabriela Rosa had a double-double with 16 assists and 10 digs, while Rylie Fuentes passed out a team-best 21 assists.
- Jaslyn Wacker hit .438 in the match with eight kills and four blocks. Neka Nelson hit .375 in the match with seven kills and a block.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Smith hit .500 in the opening set with six kills as a late Lion run pushed the hosts to a set win. Neither team pulled away early and the hosts led 20-19 before taking a timeout. TWU's Sara Oxford put away a kill to tie the set at 20-20.
 
The Lions roared from there, scoring the final five points of the set on a pair of Jaslyn Wacker service aces and a pair of Smith kills to put it away. A&M-Commerce hit .179 in the set to TWU's .146 and also threw up three blocks and notched three service aces.
 
Neither team hit particularly well in the second set, allowing the guests to get ahead by a 19-10 count. The Lions went on a run to claw back to within 22-20, but were unable to claim the set, tying up the match at the halftime break. A&M-Commerce hit .081 in the set, with the Pioneers putting up five blocks in the set.
 
After the break, the Lions came out on fire, jumping to a huge 9-1 advantage early.  The Pioneers hit minus-.135 in the set and could not stop Little, who had four errorless kills in the set. A&M-Commerce clinched its second set of the night on a Lacie Jessup service ace. Mireles had nine digs in the set.
 
The fourth set was tight early before A&M-Commerce took the momentum for good and picked up the win in front of the home crowd. TWU led 15-14 before a Nelson kill instigated the big run.  The Lions scored seven straight points on the serve of Fuentes to get out to a 21-15 lead and hold on for the win. Little had four error-free kills in the set and Jaslyn Wacker put away three kills without an error.  A&M-Commerce hit .200 in the set compared to a .093 mark for TWU.