COMMERCE– The No. 21 Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team travels to Odessa and Silver City to face two Lone Star Conference opponents over the weekend. The Lions face UT Permian Basin on Friday and Western New Mexico on Saturday.
 
WHO: No. 21 Texas A&M-Commerce (12-4, 4-2 LSC) vs. UT Permian Basin (9-6, 4-3 LSC)
WHERE: UTPB Gymnasium in Odessa, Texas
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 28 at 6 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: utpbfalcons.com/watch
 
WHO: No. 21 Texas A&M-Commerce vs. Western New Mexico (6-9, 2-4 LSC)
WHERE: Drag's Court in Silver City, New Mexico
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. MDT (7 p.m. CDT)
LIVE VIDEO: portal.stretchinternet.com/wnmu/
 
The Lions won all three of their matches last week. They defeated Dallas Baptist 3-1 and had sweeps against LSC foes Cameron and MSU Texas. Head coach Craig Case was pleased with the way his team played all week.
 
"We started out the week against Dallas Baptist and that was an important regional match for us," Case said. "They are going to have a good year in the Heartland Conference. If we can have a head-to-head win against one of the better teams in the Heartland Conference, that can go a long way for us. The weekend was an exciting, eventful and stressful weekend but we were able to get two sweeps out of it."
 
Case had nothing but good things to say about the play of junior Rylie Fuentes. The two-time LSC Setter of the Week has been playing as a defensive specialist for the past two weeks and Case praised her unselfishness to play out of position for the betterment of the team.
 
"Rylie has been having an exceptional year," Case said. "Her impact on our team's success cannot be understated. At one point, she was our highest-producing setter. Then we had some injuries and we have moved her out of that setting position and are using her primarily as a defensive specialist. And she has been incredible there too. Right now, she is playing at as high a level as she ever has in our program.
 
"She has been a force for us all year. She is a competitive kid, a smart volleyball player and she just makes us better. She is going to continue to do that. It is pretty promising when you have a young lady like that who is willing to step away from her best position to be where the team needs her to be able to win."
 
The Lions now face their longest road trip of the season. The Lions first travel to Odessa to face UT Permian Basin. After finishing 1-19 in the LSC a season-ago, the Falcons are currently 4-3 in the conference. Case is looking forward to a challenging match.
 
"UT Permian Basin is a remarkably improved team from last year," he said. "I am really impressed with the team that coaching staff has put together. They are playing really hard and really confident. You put those two things together with a little bit of talent and they are going to be a tough team to beat, especially at home."
 
The Lions then travel across the state of New Mexico to face WNMU. The teams met three times a season ago. The teams split their regular season matchup and the Lions defeated the Mustangs in the LSC Tournament. Case knows WNMU will be prepared for the match, and knows his team will need to be ready for anything.
 
Their coach is a legend," Case said of WNMU. "He knows how to win volleyball matches. Every set in every match, his teams are prepared. We are going to have to go out and win those two matches differently, but we are going to have to do whatever it takes to win those matches from the opportunities we are given."