COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team picked up their second consecutive five-set conference win with a 3-2 win over No. 14 Tarleton State on Saturday. The Lions came from behind in an extra-points fifth set to pull off the upset. The set scores were 25-23, 21-25, 25-18, 27-29 and 19-17.
 
The win brings the Lions to 6-5 on the season and 2-0 in the Lone Star Conference. The TexAnns fall to 7-4 and 1-1 in conference play. It was the Lions' second win in a row over a top-25 ranked team.
 
The Lions will now have their first conference road match as they travel to face Texas Woman's on Tuesday. The game will be played at 7 p.m. at the Kitty Magee Arena in Denton.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Newly inducted Lion Hall of Fame honoree Colleen Favaro made the honorary first serve in the match.
- Jaryn Wacker led the Lions with 19 kills. She had seven kills in the first set and hit .356 in the match.
- Layne Little had 17 kills and 11 digs. She had six kills in the second set.
- Jaslyn Wacker had 13 kills and five blocks.
- Shelley Chapron led the team with 11 blocks and added seven kills.
- Gabriela Rosa led the team with 31 assists. Rylie Fuentes added 25 assists and 11 digs.
- Savannah Rutledge led the team with 27 digs and four service aces. She had three consecutive aces in the third set.
- Mariyah Oliver had six kills and Neka Nelson had two kills.
- The Lions defense had 18 total blocks in the match. The team had nine aces.
- The Lions have back-to-back wins over top-25 ranked teams to begin conference play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions got off to an early lead behind the serving of Little. She had an ace and the Lions were off to an early 3-1 lead. It was an even match early on as neither team could establish a significant run. With the Lions holding a 10-9 lead, Jaryn Wacker had two consecutive kills to give the Lions a three-point lead at the halfway point.
 
The TexAnns battled back, taking five consecutive points to take their first lead of the match. TSU built its lead to as many as four points in the first set before A&M-Commerce got themselves back into the set late, tying the set at 21-all. Oliver had consecutive kills in the rally and the Lions retook the lead on an ace from Rutledge. The Wacker sisters ended the set. Jaryn had a kill and Jaslyn added a block to give the Lions a 25-23 first-set win. Jaryn Wacker had seven kills on nine attempts in the first set.
 
The start of the second set was again evenly matched. Jaslyn Wacker had consecutive kills as the teams were tied at five. The teams continued to battle back and forth until TSU went on a five-point rally to take a 13-9 lead. The Lions began to battle back into the set, taking four of five points to cut the TSU lead to 18-17. Little began to have the hot hand late in the set as the Lions continued to try and take the lead back. However, the TexAnns went on a late rally to win the second set 25-21. Little had six kills for the Lions in the set.
 
The Lions got off to a strong start in the third set, taking a 10-3 lead. Rutledge had three consecutive aces for the Lions as they scored seven unanswered points. Jaslyn Wacker had a kill and an ace as the Lions continued to build their lead to as many as 10 points. Little continued to hit well in the third set. The TexAnns stopped the point hemorrhage and began to battle back, cutting the Lion lead down to six late. However, A&M-Commerce finished the set off, winning 25-18.
 
Jaryn Wacker had two early kills in the fourth set as the Lions again started out well. They built a quick 7-2 lead with six points in a row. It was part of a 9-1 run that saw the Lions take advantage of multiple TexAnn hitting errors. Halfway through the set, the Lions led 13-7.
 
After the teams traded points for the middle part of the set, the TexAnns battled back to cut the Lion lead to just one point late in the set, 20-19. It was a hotly contested finish to the set, with TSU tying the set at 22-all and again at 23-all and 24-all. After falling behind, it was the Lions who tied the set at 25. The lead changed hands multiple times in extra points before TSU scored four of five points to win the set 29-27.
 
After falling behind 2-0, the Lions scored three in a row to start the fifth. The energy of the fourth set continued in the fifth. However, the TexAnns went on a four-point rally to take a 6-3 lead. The Lions answered back to score three of the next four points to trail by just one at the halfway point.
 
The teams continued to battle down the stretch as the Lions tied the set at 12-all and again at 13-all. The set again went into extra points as the teams continued to traded points. The Lions faced match points five times but extended the match each time. A hitting error gave the Lions a chance for match point. The Lions took advantage with a kill from Little to win the match.