STEPHENVILLE– The No. 20 Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team defeated Colorado Mesa 3-2 on Friday night in the NCAA South Central Regional semifinal match. The Lions won the first, third and fifth sets to get the win. The set scores were 25-22, 24-26, 29-27, 19-25 and 15-12.
 
The win brings the Lions to 30-5 on the season and they advance to the Regional Championship match. The Mavericks fall to 24-7 and are eliminated from tournament play. It is the first 30-win season for the Lions since 1987.
 
The Lions will play for the Regional Championship and a berth into the NCAA Championship tournament on Saturday. The Lions will face tournament-host Tarleton State in a rematch of the LSC Tournament championship, which the Lions won in four sets. The Regional Championship match will be played at 4 p.m. at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Shelley Chapron (Houston – St. Pius X) led the team with 18 kills. She hit .300 in the match.
- Bina Njikam (Keller) hit .355 with 17 kills and two blocks. Jaryn Wacker (Austin - Vista Ridge) had a double-double with 12 kills and 18 digs.
- Rylie Fuentes (Robinson) had 32 assists and 13 digs while Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) had eight kills, 26 assists and eight digs.
- Savannah Rutledge (The Woodlands - College Park) led the team with 36 digs. Riley Davidson (Commerce) had eight digs and three service aces.
- The five-set match was the 12th five-set match of the season for A&M-Commerce. The Lions are 9-3 in five-set matches this season.
- The Lions reached 30 wins on the season, the first time since 1987 the team has won 30 matches in a season.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions got off to a quick start, taking five of the first six points. The Mavericks then battled back to tie the match midway through. The teams traded three point rallies and the set remained tied at 16. The Lions then went on a 5-1 run to take control of the set. A&M-Commerce won the set 25-22. Wacker and Chapron each had five kills in the set.
 
Davidson led off the second set with an ace and the Lions were rolling. They scored the first six points of the set to take a big lead. The Mavericks battled back to cut the Lion lead to three points before A&M-Commerce built their lead back to seven points. The Mavericks then battled back, tying the match at 20. The Lions won four of the next six to set up set point but CMU took four points in a row to win the set 26-24. Njikam had five kills in the set.
 
Wacker had consecutive kills to start the third set as the Lions took the first three points. The Mavericks rallied to tie the match at seven. The Lions took the lead back before CMU scored six of the next seven points to take a 14-11 lead. The Lions battled back to tie the match at 16. The Lions again withstood a CMU rally, which put the Mavericks ahead 20-17. After trading points, CMU held a 23-20 lead. Wacker and Chapron both recorded kills as the Lions took three in a row to tie the set again. The set went into extra points but the Lions found a way, getting two kills in a row to take the set 29-27. Chapron had eight kills and no errors in the set.
 
It was a back and forth battle to begin the fourth set as neither team held a lead of more than two in the early going. With the match tied at 10, CMU began to assert themselves, taking four points in a row to take a 14-10 lead. Things began to snowball against A&M-Commerce as the Mavericks took the set 25-19. Njikam had three kills in the set to lead the team.
 
The Lions won six of the first eight points of the final set. CMU fought back, taking seven of the next eight points to build a 9-7 lead. A CMU service error swung the tide and the Lions took four points in a row to lead 11-9. CMU cut the Lion lead to 13-12 but the Lions finished the match, winning the final two points to get the win. Njikam and Chapron both had three kills in the final set.