STEPHENVILLE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce lost a five-set battle to Texas Woman's University on Friday in the Lone Star Conference Tournament semifinal round. The Lions fell behind two sets to one before battling back in the fourth set. A fifth set rally fell just short. The set scores were 23-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-22 and 11-15.
The loss brings the Lions to 21-11 on the season and they are eliminated from tournament play. The Pioneers improve to 16-17 on the season and advance to the LSC Championship round.
The Lions await their NCAA South Central Region rankings to determine if they will continue on into the NCAA Tournament. The Lions were the sixth seed headed into the weekend, with the top eight teams earning bids into the tournament. The final regional rankings will be released on Monday at 6:30 p.m. during the NCAA's annual selection show.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Layne Little led the team with 17 kills. She also had 15 digs, an ace and two blocks.
- Shelley Chapron had 13 kills and hit .321. She had nine blocks in the match, including two solo blocks.
- Jaryn Wacker and Jaslyn Wacker both had eight kills in the match. Neka Nelson had six kills, Mariyah Oliver had five kills and Sydney Reyes had three.
- Gabriela Rosa led the team with 29 assists and had 13 digs. Rylie Fuentes had 27 assists and added 18 digs.
- Savannah Rutledge led the team with 32 digs while Lacie Jessup had 26.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions got off to a hot start, taking the first four points of the first set. Chapron had a kill and a block in the rally. The Lions pushed their lead to eight points early in the set, leading 14-6 midway through the set.
TWU then started to rally, overcoming the Lion lead and going on a six-point run to tie the match at 16-all. The Lions had multiple hitting errors in the rally as the Pioneers were able to take the lead for the first time in the match. TWU pushed its lead to two points at 20-18.
The Lions battled back to score four of the next five points to retake the lead in a tight finish. The match was tied at 21, 22 and 23 before the Pioneers scored the final two points to win the first set 25-23. Chapron had five kills in the first set and Little and Jaslyn Wacker had four apiece for the Lions.
The Lions scored three of the first four points of the second set as they looked to even up the match. After TWU took a 4-3 lead, the Lions scored six points in a row to take an 9-4 advantage. The Pioneers scored three in a row to get back in as the Lions led 12-9 midway through the second set.
The Lions then went on another run, taking a five-point lead. TWU had multiple attack errors as the Pioneers tried to hit over the Lion block. TWU then found space, cutting the Lion lead to one point. The Lions finished the set well as they built their lead back up late in the set. The Lions took the second set 25-20. There were 21 combined attack errors in the second set, as the Lions had five blocks.
In the third set, it was the Pioneers who got off to the quick start, scoring the first three points. The Lions battled back, tying the set at 6-all after a three-point rally of their own. The teams battled back and forth as the score was 11-10 in favor of the Lions midway through the set.
The Pioneers then took control of the set. They scored five points in a row to take a lead and built their lead to as many eight points at 22-14. The Lions wouldn't go quietly, taking the next three points to get back within five. It was part of a rally that saw the Lions score five points in a six-point span to cut the lead down to three points. The Lions could not finish off the rally however and fell in the third set 25-20.
After trailing 3-2 early in the fourth set, TWU then scored four points in a row to take a lead. The Pioneers built the lead up to five points before a four-point run from the Lions cut the score to just 10-9. After the teams traded points, TWU again went on a four-point run to take an 18-12 lead.
The Lions battled back, scoring four points in a five-point stretch to cut the TWU lead down to 21-19. The Lions continued to battle, taking the lead. The Lions scored nine of the final 10 points. Little had six kills in the set and also had a solo block to send the match to a deciding fifth set.
It was a tight battle to begin the fifth. The teams split the first 10 points before TWU took a three-point lead midway through the set at 8-5. TWU pushed its lead to five points before the Lions fought back, cutting the Pioneer lead to just one point. TWU wouldn't be denied however, taking the final three points to win the match.
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