SAN ANGELO– The No. 17 Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team lost a heartbreaker to Angelo State in five sets on Friday. The Lions won the first two sets but lost the final three. The set scores were 27-25, 25-22, 16-25, 19-25, 12-15)
 
The loss brings the Lions to 7-3 on the season and 0-1 in the Lone Star Conference. ASU improves to 8-3 and 1-0 in conference play.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday when they travel to Stephenville to face No. 24 Tarleton State. The match will be played at 2 p.m. at Wisdom Gym.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lions won the first two sets but were unable to put the match away.
- The Lions hit .108 in the match, hampered by 35 attack errors. ASU had 13 service errors.
- Bina Njikam (Keller) and Jaslyn Wacker (Austin – Vista Ridge) tied for the team lead with 12 kills apiece.
- Shelley Chapron (Houston – St. Pius X) had 11 kills and led the team with a .435 hitting percentage. Jaryn Wacker (Austin – Vista Ridge) had 10 kills.
- Rylie Fuentes (Robinson) led the team with 25 assists. Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) added 11 assists and Carolina Machado (Sao Paulo, Brazil) had nine.
- Daniela Santos (Caracas, Venezuela) led the team with 21 digs. Savannah Rutledge (The Woodlands – College Park) added 19 digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions scored the first two points of the match before ASU scored the next seven points in a row. Trailing 9-4, the Lions then scored six of the next seven points to tie the match. Njikam had three kills in the rally. She had another kill as the Lions kept piling on, taking a two-point lead midway through the set.
 
The Rambelles fought back to take a 20-17 lead in the set before the Lions again went on a run, scoring four in a row to take the lead. The teams ended up going into extra points before the Lions scored the final two points to win 27-25. Jaryn Wacker had six kills in the set and Njikam had four.
 
The teams battled back and forth to start the second set, with the score tied at 12 midway through. The Lions then scored four points in a row to build a lead. After ASU cut the Lion lead back down to just one, another run put the Lions ahead by four once again. The Lions won the second set 25-22.
 
The third set started close, as the teams were tied at 9-all near the midpoint of the set. The set then started to get away from the Lions. Near the end of the set, ASU went on a 6-0 run and led by as many as 10 in the set. The Lions lost the set 25-16.
 
The Lions had an early 4-0 run in the fourth set to take a lead before a 5-0 run by the Rambelles gave them back the lead. It was a lead they would not relinquish as the Lions continued to fight but could not climb back into the set and regain a lead. ASU won the fourth set 25-19.
 
The Lions scored seven of the first 10 points of the fifth set, taking a 7-3 lead. ASU would respond, winning nine of the next 10 points to take a 12-8 lead. The Lions could not recover, losing the final set 15-12.