COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team returns to action on Saturday in a road matchup against sister school Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (6-6, 2-1 LSC) vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville (8-5, 1-1 LSC)
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 23 at 2 p.m.
WHERE: The SPEC in Kingsville, Texas
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: boxcast.tv/view/vb-vs-am-commerce-102493
LIVE AUDIO: tunein.com/radio/The-One-911-s35570/
 
The Lions are coming off of a tough loss in straight sets to Texas Woman's on Tuesday. While head coach Craig Case thought his team was prepared to go into Denton and win, things just did not go as planned for the Lions.
 
"We didn't play very well," Case said. "The only thing that surprised me was how flat we came out. We knew they were going to be good. We knew it was going to be tough to win on the road. We have to give TWU credit. I really felt like we were up for the challenge and they didn't give us any room to get back into it. Every time we had a run in that third set, TWU snatched the momentum right back. I give them a lot of credit for getting us out of our rhythm and keeping us out of our rhythm and not letting us get back into that match."
 
With the team needing to prepare for another match over the weekend, Case felt his team responded well in their first two practices since the loss. The team has reviewed what went wrong, identified what it needs to work on most and has gotten back in the gym to make the corrections.
 
"We had a good practice on Wednesday and a good practice on Thursday and hopefully we'll have another good one today before we head down there," Case said. "There just isn't a ton of time to look in the rear view mirror once you get into conference play. Our goal is to spend as little time as we can without glossing over the things we need to correct. Once we were able to figure out some of the things we need to correct, and TWU did a good job of showing us that, we need to move forward and get ready for Kingsville."
 
The Lions will now venture on the long journey south to face a fellow A&M system school in Kingsville. Case said the team will face a tough challenge. He feels the Javelinas are just as talented as Angelo State and Tarleton State, two teams currently ranked in the top 20 in the nation.
 
"They are just such a good volleyball team," Case said of A&M-Kingsville. "They have every piece. They have good insides, good outsides, they have good middles, good setters, good liberos. Everybody on their team is good. We have nothing but respect for that team and that program. Every year we play them, it is a battle. We usually go five sets. I would expect nothing different this year. We've got to show up to play or it is not going to be a very good match."
 
With facing a talented team in an unfriendly gym, Case knows his team will have to be on point in order to be able to come out with a victory. He sees one key that he thinks will ultimately decide who wins the match.
 
"It is going to come down to ball control for both teams," he said. "We both have really talented hitters that we try to get the ball to. If we are not able to be in system, then both of us can key in on our key hitters. I think it is going to come down to who is going to have the best ball control. On our end, if we want to be on top of the ball control, we are also going to have to bring an awful lot of energy to be able to win on the road and be prepared for the struggle of playing in somebody else's gym."