KINGSVILLE – The No. 22 Texas A&M-Commerce volleyball team took down Lone Star Conference rival Texas A&M University-Kingsville in four sets in the Steinke Center on Friday night. Set scores were 25-21, 24-26, 25-20, and 25-19.
The Lions move to 20-5 overall and 12-3 in the LSC, while the Javelinas are now 14-11 overall and 6-8 in the league.
A&M-Commerce is next in action on Tuesday, October 23, at Cameron before hosting Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin for the final two home matches of the season on Homecoming weekend.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions hit .213 in the match and benefitted from nine service aces.
- Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) had another banner evening, hitting .241 with 13 kills, 24 assists, eight digs, and two blocks.
- Shelley Chapron (Houston – St. Pius X) hit .478 with 12 kills.
- Jaryn Wacker (Austin – Vista Ridge) had 11 kills and three blocks.
- Rylie Fuentes (Robinson) passed out 24 assists and Savannah Rutledge (The Woodlands – College Park) had a team-high 17 digs. Daniela Santos (Caracas, Venezuela) had 14 digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions had the first extended rally of the night after a 9-9 tie in the opening set. A&M-Commerce scored five consecutive points with the Javelinas making multiple errors. The Wacker twins combined for a block to cap the run. A&M-Kingsville managed to return the favor and actually took the lead at 18-17 on a block. The Lions scored the next four points, with a Santos service ace putting the guests up 21-18. The Lions held only a one-point lead at 22-21, then closed out the set with a Jaslyn Wacker kill, a Vela ace, and a Chapron kill.
A&M-Kingsville took an early lead in the second set, as the Lions uncharacteristically had four consecutive attack errors to fall behind 6-3. The Lions chipped away and tied the set back up at 9-all before the Javelinas went back up by three. A&M-Commerce scored five consecutive points with Rutledge notching a service ace to make it a 16-14 Lion lead. The two sides battled back and forth from there and the Lions were in a commanding position at 24-21 before the Javelinas squeaked out the next five straight points to win the set 26-24 and tie the match at a set apiece.
The set loss jolted the Lions, who emerged in the third set with a fury, scoring seven of the first eight points in the set. Rutledge had two aces in the early flurry of action. As exhibited earlier in the night, the Javelinas would not roll over, narrowing the deficit to two points at 17-15. The Lions would score five of the next six points to go up 23-17, then held on for the 25-20 set win.
The Javelinas had an 11-7 lead in the fourth set when the Lions roared on Santos' serve, scoring 11 consecutive points to flip the set to an 18-11 advantage and force A&M-Kingsville to use both of its timeouts. That momentum would carry over into the rest of the set, as the Lions closed out another LSC road victory on a Njikam kill.
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