COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team faces perhaps its toughest test yet this season as it will face back-to-back road matches against top-25 opponents. The Lions face No. 22 Angelo State on Friday and No. 13 Tarleton State on Saturday. A&M-Commerce defeated both teams at home earlier this season.
 
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (14-7, 9-2 LSC) vs. No. 22 Angelo State (13-6, 5-5 LSC)
WHERE: Junell Center in San Angelo, Texas
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: angelosports.com/watch/?Live=976&sport=13&type=Live
 
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce vs. No. 13 Tarleton State (18-4, 10-1 LSC)
WHERE: Wisdom Gym in Stephenville, Texas
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 21 at 2 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: tarletonsports.com/showcase?Live=907
 
The Lions are coming off of a five set win over Midwestern State. The Lions trailed two sets to one before coming back to win the final two sets. Head coach Craig Case was not in the least surprised by the battle the match turned into.
 
"I knew Midwestern was good," he said. "I knew they were well coached. That's what happens in this league. Everybody is good and everybody has the ability to win. It is important to show up and play your best volleyball every night. Certainly being at home was a big advantage that night."
 
With the win, the Lions extended their winning streak to eight games. The Lions have faced six five-set matches this season, and have come out on top in their last four tries. Case has liked the way his team responds to the high-level pressure of five-set matches this season.
 
"Through this year, we have been able to play in a lot of intense five-set matches," he said. "You go all the way back to two of them in one day when we were in Colorado. I think through that process, our players have learned how to perform. That was pretty critical, especially trailing 12-13 in the final set [against Midwestern]. But I felt pretty comfortable at that timeout. I thought we had our strongest passers in the right positions. I thought we had our strongest hitters in the right position."
 
Two of those five-set wins came against Angelo State and Tarleton State on back-to-back matches a month ago. Case believes the home crowd helped propel his team to those early season wins. He knows the crowd will be against his team this time on the road. He knows the team will have to play its best volleyball to repeat the results on the road.
 
"We've got to play better [than we did Tuesday]," he said. "Both teams are playing better now than when they did when they were here. We are going to be on the road. We are not going to be able to lean on our home crowd like we did then. And this is the second time around. Not only do you have film of other people playing, you've got film of yourself playing those people and what they are trying to do. Hopefully we can get in there and steal a couple of wins on the road."
 
Case has faced Angelo State and Tarleton many times over the years, and he understands the home court advantage both teams enjoy. He sees these matches as a good test for his team and how they will respond. To Case, matches like these define the college volleyball experience.
 
"The message that we were sending to the team was that this is an exciting weekend," he said. "You have two great home environments. At Angelo, they are going to have a couple thousand people there. Then at Tarleton, they are going to have maybe a thousand people and they are going to be right on top of you.
 
"They are great opportunities to have a real high-level college volleyball experience. These are matches that we should be really looking forward to. I think hopefully that will help our players understand that adversity and that hostility we are experiencing in that gym, that is part of the experience. If we enjoy that, hopefully we will respond more positively to it."