STEPHENVILLE– The No. 23 Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team defeated Tarleton 3-1 on Friday night. The set scores were 25-21, 25-23, 14-25, and 26-24.
 
The win brings the Lions to 18-4 on the season and 10-1 in the Lone Star Conference. The Texans fall to 12-9 and 6-5 in conference play.
 
The Lions return to action on Saturday as they face DBU. The match will be played at 1 p.m. at the Burg Center in Dallas.
 
HEAD COACH CRAIG CASE AFTER THE MATCH
- Thoughts on the match: "I thought we came our really aggressively in sets one and two. Then in set three, they made some really good adjustments and we just seemed to be baffled by that. But once we started to address them and got the momentum back, we were able to put ourselves in a position to win the match. To beat a team that good that has that home gym, you have to play the best volleyball you can play to beat them at their own gym. You just can't come there and hope they don't play well. I was really pleased with what we did."
- On putting the third set struggles behind them quickly: "There was nothing we could do about that third set. We just had to put it behind us and move on. We had to put it behind us and get ready to play the next set. And the most enjoyable part of this match was that fourth set was back and forth volleyball. I thought both teams did really well. They built a three-point lead there towards the end and we chipped away at it. When you get two teams that are playing side-out volleyball like that, it's so much fun to be a part of and to play in. I was pleased with how our players played in another team's gym that was playing well."
- On getting a total team performance: "This was the definition of a team win. In the timeouts, the players who weren't playing were almost running the timeouts. Everyone was communicating about what needed to happen, what was currently happening and what needed to be fixed. As a coach, when you have everybody invested in the outcome, you feel good about that. There were times when Bina took over the match, there were times when Shelley took the match over, there were times when Celeste or Savannah took over the match. Everybody took turns pushing us forward. And as a team, everyone was so invested in the win. There were players who didn't play, but they were drenched in sweat and they lost their voices. That's a fun team win and everyone was involved."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Bina Njikam (Keller) led the Lions with 14 kills in the match. She also tied for the team lead with seven blocks.
- Shelley Chapron (Houston – St. Pius X) had 11 kills, hitting a team-high 308 in the match. She had eight kills over the first two sets.
- Sydney Andersen (Placentia, Calif.) recorded her first double-double of the season with 11 kills and a season-high 15 digs. Nicki Gonelli (Round Rock – Stony Point) also finished in double digits with 10 kills.
- Riley Davidson (Commerce) had seven kills and 13 digs while Destiny Greenwood (Fairfield, Calif.) had five kills and co-led the team with seven blocks.
- Natalie Sarbeck (Cypress – Cy-Fair) had a team-high 26 assists while Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) had 22 assists.
- Savannah Rutledge (The Woodlands – College Park) led the team with 21 digs.
- The Lions had 18 kills or more in each of their set wins, with five or fewer attack errors in each of those set wins.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams split the first six points of the match before the Lions went on a run to establish a lead. Led by consecutive kills from Davidson, the Lion led 10-5 early. The teams again began to trade points before the Lions went on a 4-1 run to take a 21-14 lead in the set. TSU battled back with three points in a row but the Lions were not deterred, taking the first set 25-21. The Lions hit .441 as a team in the set.
 
The Lions got off to a hot start in the second set, winning four of the first five points. The Texans answered back with a 6-1 run of their own to take a 10-7 lead. A&M-Commerce rallied back, going on another 4-1 run to recapture the lead. It was a game of hot potato as the teams traded points and leads throughout the rest of the set, before the Lion defense forced a trio of Tarleton errors at the end of the set to win 25-23.
 
Things got away from the Lions early in the third set. After leading 3-2, the Lions then surrendered 14 of the next 16 points to fall behind 16-5. The Lions stemmed the tide, including going on a 4-0 run to cut the lead to nine points. But TSU took the set 25-14.
 
It was a game of runs in the fourth and final set, as the teams traded rallies and leads throughout. The teams traded the first eight points before Tarleton went on a 3-0 run to take a 10-7 advantage. The Lions answered back to take five of the next seven points to tie the set at 12 midway through. After TSU went on a 4-1 run, the Lions responded with a 4-1 run of their own, again tying the match at 17. After a 3-0 run from Tarleton gave them the momentum, the Lions then went on a 4-1 run to once again tie the set. Trailing 23-21, the Lions caught fire to close, taking five of the final six points to win the set in extra points, 26-24.