COMMERCE– The No. 21 Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team swept UT Permian Basin on Saturday. The Lions ran away with all three sets. The set scores were 25-16, 25-12 and 25-17.
 
The win brings the Lions to 23-5 on the season and 15-3 in the Lone Star Conference. The Falcons falls to 12-14 and 7-10 in conference play.
 
The Lions return to action on Friday in the final week of the regular season. They will face Eastern New Mexico on Friday at 6 p.m. MDT in Portales. The team will then travel to Canyon to face West Texas A&M on Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) led the team with 12 kills and added 16 assists and nine digs. She hit .500 in the match.
- Senior Bina Njikam (Keller) had 10 kills, hitting a team-high .563.
- Senior Jaryn Wacker (Austin – Vista Ridge) had nine kills while Shelley Chapron (Houston – St. Pius X) had six.
- Senior Preston Lienemann (Loveland, Colo.) had four kills and senior Payton McMillan (Denton – Guyer) had three kills.
- Rylie Fuentes (Robinson) led the team with 17 assists while senior Carolina Machado (Sao Paulo, Brazil) had eight.
- Savannah Rutledge (The Woodlands – College Park) led the team with 10 digs. Daniela Santos (Caracas, Venezuela) had nine digs.
- The Lions hit .340 as a team in the match while holding UTPB to a .056 average.
- Five different Lion servers recorded aces.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions got off to a hot start in the match, taking the first four points. The Falcons battled back to within three before the Lions sunk their teeth in, scoring six points in a row to take a 15-6 lead. The Falcons could not battle back and the Lions took the set 25-16. Vela had five kills in the set. The Falcons hit -.062 in the set.
 
It was a back and forth start to the second set, with the Lions ahead 6-5 early. A&M-Commerce then began to roll, taking seven of the next eight points to take a lead. With the Lions leading 18-12, they scored the final seven points of the set to win 25-12. Njikam led the team with six kills in the set while Chapron had four. The Lions hit .433 in the set.
 
It was again an even start to the third set, as the Lions held a 11-10 lead near the midway point. The Lion attack then caught fire again as the team scored four in a row to build a lead. The Lions scored the final two points of the set to win 25-17, sealing the sweep. Jaryn Wacker had five kills in the final set while Vela added four.