COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team will continue its five-game road trip with matches against Cameron and Midwestern State over the weekend.
 
Cameron
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (6-7, 2-2 LSC) at Cameron (4-8, 2-3 LSC)
WHERE: Aggie Gym in Lawton, Okla.
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 29 at 5:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: http://www.cameronaggies.com/sports/2016/7/27/live-video.aspx
 
Midwestern State
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce at Midwestern State (7-6, 2-3 LSC)
WHERE: D.L. Ligon Coliseum in Wichita Falls, Texas
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msu/
 
The Lions are coming off of two road losses in their second week of Lone Star Conference play. Having faced their first two road matches in conference play, head coach Craig Case is confident his team now has a better understanding of what it will take to come out ahead on the road in a competitive league.
 
"The biggest things we lost sight of playing away from home were, number one, you have to generate your own energy," he said. "You have to generate your own momentum. You can't rely on family and friends up in the stands to cheer you on. I think our players should be more mentally prepared to go into someone else's gym and generate their own energy.
 
"And two, I think we lost our attention to detail. I'm hopeful we have pointed out a lot of things in the film room that seem like really little issues. But when you start adding everybody's little issues up, then you have big issues. So hopefully we will have better attention to detail this weekend heading back on the road and we will be prepared to generate our own energy and have an emotional investment in the match."
 
The Lions will now face Cameron on Friday. The Aggies are under new leadership in head coach Tatiana Booth. With a new coach, Case knows even his returning players will face a different CU team than previous years, with a different style of play. Case sees a talented opponent that will be a tough out, especially in their own gym.
 
"They have a brand new coach from last year," he said. "They have a brand new team, brand new attitude. They have a completely different style of play. They are going to be good. They are athletic; they are explosive. We will have our hands full. It has traditionally been a tough place to play anyway and then when you have a good team there, it is even tougher. But it is a fun place to play and the crowd is always good there. It is a great volleyball venue. It should be a fun match if everything goes well."
 
The Lions will then face a quick turnaround against Midwestern State. Case knows it will be a challenging sequence for his team, because both of his team's opponents play completely different styles.
 
"This is a tough road trip," he said. "Sometimes you can get ready for both teams at the same time because team A does this and team B also does this, so let's work on this a lot this week. But we can't do that this week. So we just have to be ready for different styles. Midwestern is good too. They've got as many good players on their team as anybody."
 
Case said it is critical for his team to perform well on the road, because it will ultimately decide who will win the conference regular season championship. He knows his team has to be ready to perform well and also be able to prepare for matches in a short time period.
 
"It is going to be a quick turnaround, but that is life on the road," he said. "You have to be able to do that in this league if you want to be successful. The teams that are willing and capable of doing that usually do pretty well. I'm hopeful that we can do that this weekend and get things back on track before our matches at home next week."