COMMERCE– The No. 22 Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team will enter the Lone Star Conference Tournament as the second seed. The Lions will face UT Permian Basin in the first round of the tournament.
 
WHO: 2nd-seed Texas A&M-Commerce (25-5, 17-3 LSC) vs. 7th-seed UT Permian Basin (14-15, 9-11 LSC)
WHERE: Wisdom Gym in Stephenville, Texas
WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 8 at 2:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=239171&confid=lsc
 
The Lions are coming off another undefeated week, winning their seventh and eighth match in a row. They beat Eastern New Mexico on Friday in five-sets and then knocked off West Texas A&M on Saturday in four sets. The Lions earned the second seed in the LSC Tournament for the second consecutive year. While head coach Craig Case is pleased with the year his team has had so far, he knows records in the conference tournament don't hold much weight.
 
"It doesn't matter anymore," Case said. "We are 0-0 and our opponent is 0-0. Now everybody is just trying to get their first win of the postseason. Right now, we are focused on the conference tournament and figuring out how to get a win tomorrow and keep moving forward after that. We are ready and excited to get things going."
 
The Lion Volleyball program received good news on Tuesday as Shelley Chapron earned the program's first ever AVCA National Player of the Week award. Case was proud of the accomplishment, but it took him by surprise because he has seen Chapron play at a high level all season.
 
"Shelley has had a lot of good weeks," Case said with a smile. "I thought last week was just like any other good week she had. I'm very proud of her. She plays hard and works hard. She is always trying to get better. It is good to see that recognized on a national level. I hope that for her, it can create some momentum headed into the conference tournament and hopefully she keeps pushing things forward."

The Lions are now focused on finding a way to beat UT Permian Basin. The Lions swept the season series, defeating the Falcons in five sets on the road before sweeping them at the Field House just two weeks ago. The Falcons are coming off a weekend where they defeated both Tarleton and Angelo State, two of the top three seeds in the conference. Case knows UTPB will be a tough foe to beat.
 
"They played fantastic when we played them at their place," he said. "We were fortunate to get that win. And they would have been better on the road when they played here but they had a lot of injuries that got them off track. But they have worked through that and they are going to be pretty confident. They just beat the No. 1 in the league and No. 3 in the league and will be looking to beat No. 2 in the league.
 
"They have their target set on us. It is conference tournament time. We would be foolish to think they aren't trying to beat us. We are excited for it. Both teams have good strengths and both teams have weaknesses. If we can play our style of volleyball, we will probably come out with the win. If they get us to play their style, they will probably win. it will be a fun match and a fun battle to see who can get their things going."
 
The winner of the match will face either the third or the sixth seed in the LSC Tournament on Friday at 5 p.m. The championship match is scheduled to be played at 3 p.m. on Saturday. All matches in the LSC Tournament will be played at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville.