COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team will take its five-game winning streak on the road to face Lone Star Conference foes West Texas A&M and UT Permian Basin over the weekend.
 
West Texas A&M
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (11-7, 6-2 LSC) at West Texas A&M (11-8, 5-4 LSC)
WHERE: The Box in Canyon, Texas
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 13 at 6 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: portal.stretchinternet.com/wtamu/
 
UT Permian Basin
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce at UT Permian Basin (4-14, 1-8 LSC)
WHERE: UTPB Gymnasium in Odessa, Texas
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 14 at 1 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: utpbfalcons.com/watch
 
The Lions are coming off of home wins against Eastern and Western New Mexico. The Lions defeated ENMU in straight sets and got a 3-1 win over WNMU. Head coach Craig Case was happy with his team's performance and glad to be back in their home gym for a weekend.
 
"We needed that," he said. "It was starting to grind on us being gone so much and it was good to come back and get to play in our own gym in front of our own fans. You hope that you are going to serve a little bit better at home and pass a little bit better at home. Outside of one set, I thought we were able to play with the efficiency that we like and that we are shooting for. Once you get in an efficient mode, good things usually happen.
 
 
For her efforts, Rylie Fuentes was named the LSC Setter of the Week. Case is pleased how both of his setters have been playing and applauded Fuentes for her performances over the weekend.
 
"It's been a complete game," he said. "She is setting well, she is running our offense well, she is defending well, she's serving well. The thing with setters, it usually comes down to two things. You have to have great effort and you have to make great decisions. When you've got a setter that is as talented as she is and she puts in the effort and makes good decisions, usually good things happen.
"I was really pleased with how she played over the weekend. Hopefully she will continue to play at that level and she and Gabby [Rosa] will push each other to play at a higher level every match. "
 
The Lions now head back onto the road for four of their next five matches. The Lions will face West Texas A&M on Friday and UT Permian Basin on Saturday. Case knows every road match in the LSC is a difficult one and with two teams that play different styles, it is going to be another challenge this weekend.
 
"It is two different gyms with different energies," he said. "Both teams are really good. Both teams play completely different styles. The one thing we have been able to do well all year, and even in the matches that we struggled with early, we have always been able to identify and adapt to the different styles of play that we need in order to be victorious."
 
Case knows it will be up to his team to put in the effort and have the focus necessary to continue to play the way they played at home last week.
 
"The challenge again this weekend to be good in somebody else's gym is just being able to focus on the opponent that is in front of you and execute your game plan for that opponent and turn around and refocus on the next game plan," he said. "If we can do that, I like our chances. If we don't, we will get beaten.
 
"That's what is great about this league. Everybody is good and everybody is really good at home.  We really have to make sure that we preparing and willing to play our best volleyball every single match."
 
After this weekend, the Lions will return home for a Tuesday match against Midwestern State.