COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team travels to Denver this weekend for four matches. The Lions have been invited to play in the Colorado Premiere Challenge. They will face No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul and Metro State on Friday and the tournament bracket will determine the Lions' opponents on Saturday.
 
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (3-1) vs. No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul (3-1)
WHERE: Auraria Event Center in Denver, Colo.
WHEN: Friday, Aug. 31 at 11 a.m. MDT
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: portal.stretchinternet.com/msudenver/
 
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce at Metro State (2-2)
WHERE: Auraria Event Center in Denver, Colo.
WHEN: Friday, Aug. 31 at 2:30 p.m. MDT
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: portal.stretchinternet.com/msudenver/
 
The Lions finished with a 3-1 record in their first week of action last week, including a win over No. 16 Central Oklahoma. A&M-Commerce head coach Craig Case liked seeing his team perform at a high level early on.
 
"I thought we played pretty well," he said. "We are probably a little bit ahead of where we normally are at this time of year but I think some of that is continuity and some of that is the good players we have brought in. I think the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament last year, that opened up everybody's eyes and helped us set our level of expectations and helped us maintain them. Good teams keep getting better and better, and that is what we are trying to do."
 
The Lions had some good play last weekend from several players. Case spoke of the play of Rylie Fuentes, who was named LSC Setter of the Week. He also complimented two freshmen in Celeste Vela and Madison Luther who had some bright spots in their first four collegiate matches. Case also commented how Vela had the second triple-double in his tenure as coach (10+ kills, digs and assists).
 
"They did a good job of stepping up," Case said of his two freshmen. "We struggled at a few positions and I thought they looked like they had been doing it for a long time. As a coach, it is fun because you get to go back to square one and work with these players on developing what the seniors have been working on for three years. They are freshmen and they are going to have some bad matches and they are going to have some good matches. We are just trying to get them as up to speed as fast as we can."
 
The Lions have been invited to play in the Colorado Premiere Challenge, a tournament that draws some of the best Division II volleyball teams in the nation each year. The Lions open up their play against No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul, the defending national championship team and a team that has won nine of the last 11 NCAA championships. Case is excited to play against such a high caliber team and measure where his team is.
 
"They are in the mix every year," Case said of CSP. "There is no better measuring stick to see where you are in a season than playing against Concordia-St. Paul. It is a win-win situation. We get to play against one of the best teams in the nation and secondly, we get to see where we are and how we compare to them. We get to see what we do as good as they do and what they do better than we do.
 
"And no disrespect to them, but it is not our job to go against them and lose. We are going to do everything we can to win the match. We are going to try and be the best team we can be during every point and let the chips fall. The goal is to end up in the win column, not just to have a moral victory."
 
The Lions will then play against Metro State, the team that knocked the Lions out of the NCAA Tournament. Case said both teams are looking forward to the early season rematch.
 
"We are looking forward to playing Metro again," he said. "We are excited to play them and they are excited to play against us. They were the last match we had last year and one of the first matches we have this year. We are excited for that."
 
The Colorado Premiere Challenge is divided into four brackets of three teams. After each team in the bracket has played against one another, the field will be reset and all teams will play two more matches. With two unknown opponents on the slate for Saturday, Case said it is best just to prepare for the teams you know you have to play, then focus on being the best team you can be when playing someone you don't have a lot of time to prepare for.
 
"That is how the end of the season is as well," Case said of the schedule. "I love this type of format because it forces you just to be a good volleyball team. You can't rely on scouting. You have to quickly determine what they are doing well and what we have to do to stop it. It challenges you to make a lot of adjustments during the match. That favors really good volleyball teams and that's what we are trying to be."
 
Season tickets are available for the entire volleyball season by visiting the box office in The Field House, visiting WeAreLionsTix.com or by calling (903) 468-8756. Full season tickets are $50. The Lions begin their home schedule on Sept. 11 against Texas Woman's and will play 11 home matches during the season. The Lions finished a perfect 11-0 at home during the 2017 season.