SILVER CITY, N.M.– The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team lost in four sets to Western New Mexico on the road on Friday. The Lions lost the first two sets, won the third set and lost the fourth set in a long run of extra points. The set scores were 18-25, 19-25, 25-20 and 28-30.
 
The loss drops the Lions to 17-10 for the season and 12-5 in the Lone Star Conference. The Mustangs improve to 9-16 on the season and 9-8 in conference play.
 
The Lions face a quick turnaround with a match on the other side of the state against Eastern New Mexico on Saturday. The match begins at 7 p.m. CDT at the Greyhound Arena in Portales, N.M.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Shelley Chapron led the Lions with 11 kills. She also had a team-high eight blocks.
- Layne Little had 10 kills. Jaslyn Wacker had nine kills and six blocks.
- Jaryn Wacker and Sydney Reyes each had nine kills. Neka Nelson had seven kills. Preston Lienemann added three kills while Mariyah Oliver had two.
- Gabriela Rosa led the team with 34 assists and had 14 digs. Rylie Fuentes added 18 assists and nine digs.
- Savannah Rutledge led the Lions with 20 digs. Lacie Jessup added 10.
- The Lions had 14 blocks in the match, their second most in a match this season. WNMU aced the Lions six times.
- The fourth set was the longest set of the season for the Lions, with 58 point scored in the set.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams split the first 18 points of the first set as neither team could establish a run early. WNMU then had a three-point rally to take a two-point lead. The Lions cut the Mustang lead to 16-15 before WNMU went on a run. They scored six points in a row to take a seven-point lead. The Lions could not recover and fell 25-18 in the first set.
 
The Lions scored four of the first five points of the second set. The Mustangs responded with an eight-point rally to take a 9-4 lead. WNMU built its lead to as many as seven points before the Lions scored four in a row to cut the lead to 16-13. Reyes had a kill and a block in the rally.
 
The Mustangs then put the set away, scoring seven of the next nine points to take an eight-point lead. The Lions scored four of the next five points to cut the lead down but fell in the second set 25-19.
 
The teams split the first six points of the third set before the Lions scored four of the next five points to take an early 7-4 lead. The Mustangs battled back to tie the score at 11.
 
The Lions then scored eight of the next nine points to take control of the set. Reyes had two kills and a block in the rally as the Lions led 19-12. A&M-Commerce pushed its lead to as many as eight before WNMU scored four in a row to cut into the lead. The Lions closed out the set and won 25-20.
 
WNMU scored the first four points of the fourth set and pushed its lead to as many as seven early in the set, leading 12-5. The Lions then responded, scoring six of the next seven points, including three kills from Jaryn Wacker. The Mustangs then scored four in a row to rebuild their lead to six.
 
The Liosn continued to battle. Trailing 21-16, the Lions scored six in a row to take their first lead of the fourth set. Jaryn Wacker had two kills and two assisted blocks in the rally. The teams then began to trade leads, leading to extra points. Neither team could establish a three-point rally to put the set away. The Lions led 28-27. WNMU finally was able to finish the set, scoring the last three points to win the fourth set 30-28 and take the match.