COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team will host sister-school Texas A&M-Kingsville in a conference matchup on Saturday.
 
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (8-4, 1-2 LSC) vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville (7-4, 2-1 LSC)
WHERE: The Field House in Commerce, Texas
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 15 at 1 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: lionathletics.com/live
TICKETS: Click HERE
 
The Lions are coming off of a win against Texas Woman's in the team's first home match of the season. After falling behind in the first set, head coach Craig Case liked seeing his team settle into the match and take control to finish.
 
"I knew what we were going to see out of TWU and they showed it," Case said. "We were able to match what they were doing and then we were able to get into the stuff we wanted to do. When we can make teams play our style of volleyball, we are obviously going to be more successful. I thought that was the big change. We were able to take a good team in Texas Women's and get them to play our style of volleyball. That's when things really turned."
 
Case credited the Lion faithful with aiding his team in the match. He said it was a welcome change to be on the right side of a crowd for the first time this season.
 
"Our newcomers were surprised," Case said about the match. "They finally felt what it was like being on the right end of a home crowd. Angelo State had a great crowd when we were there, Tarleton had a great crowd and Metro State had a great crowd when we played against them. It was fun for our girls to be on the proper side of a home crowd. It can never be overstated how important your home crowd is, especially when you have a good one.
 
"There were some times where we weren't playing great and then we made one or two good plays and everybody got into it. That cranks you up. When you are on the road, it takes a lot more than one or two good plays to get you going. It really helps when you have that home crowd with loud fans. It was fun and it was good to be home."
 
The Lions now face A&M-Kingsville, who has started the season with seven wins and a couple of conference wins. Case is looking for his team to continue to prepare well for matches and to perform well at home.
 
"Your level of preparation has to get a little bit better every game and a little bit sharper," he said. "We have to take the film we have on Kingsville and what we know about them and then we have to execute a good game plan. We've got to be prepared for them to stop a lot of the things we have done to be successful.
 
"They are a good team. They always have good players, they are always well coached and they always play hard. That makes for a tough team to beat. We know we have our work cut out for us and we have to be focused and do everything we can do to get them to play our style of volleyball."
 
Tickets for the matches are available at WeAreLionsTix.com or by visiting the Lion Sales & Service Box Office in the Field House. Fans who purchase tickets to the Lions' volleyball match will receive free admission to the soccer match with a valid ticket stub. The Lion soccer team will play against Harding at 3:30 p.m.