STEPHENVILLE– The No. 20 Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team lost 3-1 to No. 13 Tarleton State in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional championship match on Saturday. The set scores were 21-25, 25-23, 16-25 and 26-28.
 
The loss brings the Lions to 30-6 on the season, ending the most successful season in the last 30 years. TSU improves to 32-4 and they advance to the NCAA Championship tournament.
 
The Lions won 30 matches for the first time since the 1987 season and won the Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship, also the first time since the 1987 season.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Jaslyn Wacker (Austin – Vista Ridge) led the team with 11 kills in the match, hitting .259.
- Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) finished with 10 kills, 21 assists and seven digs.
- Bina Njikam (Keller) also had 10 kills and led the team with five blocks. Madison Luther (Sealy) also had 10 kills.
- Savannah Rutledge (The Woodlands – College Park) led the team with 29 digs while Riley Davidson (Commerce) had 15. Jaryn Wacker (Austin – Vista Ridge) had seven kills and 10 digs.
- Rylie Fuentes (Robinson) led the team with 24 assists.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The TexAnns took the first five points of the match before the Lions settled in, tying the match at eight. The TexAnns again built a lead before the Lions began to run. Chapron had two kills as the Lions scored six in a row to take a 19-17 lead. TSU battled back to retake the lead. The set fell the way of TSU 25-21.
 
The Lions started out the second set strong, scoring four of the first six points. The Lions ran their lead to 11-5 early in the set. TSU began to battle back, scoring five points in a row to cut the Lion lead to one. The Lions then rallied one more time, taking six of the next seven points to build their lead to 19-13. TSU tried to rally late but a swing from Njikam ended the set with a score of 25-23 in favor of A&M-Commerce.
 
TSU took the first four points of the third set and built a 10-3 lead. TSU built its lead to eight before the Lions started to rally back. A&M-Commerce scored six points in a row to cut the lead to just two points. The TexAnns answered back with a 7-0 run to build their lead to nine. A&M-Commerce could not break the momentum and fell 25-16.
 
It was a set of runs early for both squads in the fourth set. The Lions went on a 5-0 run and it was then matched by TSU. TSU then went on a run to take a lead before A&M-Commerce tied the match at 22. The Lions had three opportunities to extend the match with set-point but TSU would not quit and took the final set 28-26.