COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team will head out on the road this weekend with two matches against divisional opponents.
 
Game 1: A&M-Commerce (11-4, 5-1 LSC) at Cameron (5-10, 1-5 LSC)
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 11 at 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Aggie Gym in Lawton, Okla.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: http://lonestarconferencenetwork.com/cameron/
 
Game 2: A&M-Commerce at Arkansas-Fort Smith (12-4, 6-0 LSC)
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m.
WHERE: Stubblefield Center in Fort Smith, Ark.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: http://lonestarconferencenetwork.com/uafs/
 
The Lions are coming off of a 2-1 week. They swept DBU on Tuesday, lost to Angelo State in four sets on Friday before knocking off Lubbock Christian on Saturday. On Tuesday, head coach Craig Case saw his team play extremely well. On Friday, his team faced adversity in a loss. Then the team bounced back on Saturday battling through challenges. After seeing a full swing of ups and downs, all in one week, he was pleased with how the team responded.
 
"That's why you have a whole season before you play a conference tournament," Case said. "With the law of averages, the more matches you play, the more things start to level out. The only thing is we certainly did not want to blow the opportunity to beat a good team at home. We lost an opportunity there to separate ourselves at the top of the league. But that happens. We still have a lot of volleyball left."
 
With the team's first home loss of the season, and its first loss in conference, Case was eager to see how his team would react to the adversity. To his approval, the team responded just as he hoped they would.
 
"The positive thing is we came out and played well against Lubbock Christian on Saturday," he said. "And we've had some great practices this week with the team determined to keep getting better. That's what you look for out of your team and your leadership. When we have a setback, especially at the beginning of the season, we have to use that to make us better. That is everybody's attitude right now."
 
The Lions now return to divisional play, as they head to face Cameron and Arkansas-Fort Smith on the road. Case is looking for two tough road matches, but sees this as an opportunity for his team to gain some momentum if they can pull of some road upsets.
 
"Both of those teams are really good at home, and they have great players and are well coached. That is what you get everywhere in this league. That's life in the Lone Star. You get used to having that every night. The challenge this week is knowing what we should be focused on at the right time. We can't get psyched out by fans and calls seem to not always go your way. We just have to get back to playing winning Lion Volleyball.
 
"We have two really good opportunities to beat two really good teams on the road. If last season taught us anything, really special seasons involve being able to win on the road. You can't just win at home and hang your hat on that. This is a really good opportunity for our team, with where we are right now in the season, to go out and play two really good opponents and get a couple of wins this weekend."