COMMERCE– The No. 21 Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team defeated Lubbock Christian 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. The set scores were 25-15, 19-25, 25-19, and 25-20.
 
The win brings the Lions to 11-4 on the season and 5-1 in the Lone Star Conference. The Lady Chaps fall to 8-8 and 2-6 in conference play.
 
The No. 21 Lions return to action on Friday as they travel to Lawton, Okla. to face Cameron. The match will be played at 5:30 p.m. at Aggie Gym.
 
HEAD COACH CRAIG CASE AFTER THE MATCH
- On responding from the previous loss: "There were times in this match that we played pretty well. Lubbock Christian is a good team. They have beaten a lot of good teams already this year. We knew it was going to be tough. We struggled with some competitiveness issues today. I thought our hitters had better determination than we did yesterday. But I think the way we came out and played today, at times, is a good step forward to get all those things sorted out."
- On getting the momentum in the third set: "The biggest thing that came out of today is that we have a lot of good players. At any minute, we had somebody who we could put in and produce if someone else was not playing well. I think that helped things get going. And we are by nature a pretty competitive team. Whenever we can play good in those close sets, things seem to go our way a lot of the time. The trick now is to be able to play well in those situations. It was a big win in that third set."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Sydney Andersen (Placentia, Calif.) led the team with 18 kills, hitting .500 in the match. She also added six blocks in the match.
- Shelley Chapron (Houston – St. Pius X) added 14 kills and four blocks. Keziah Williams (Branson, Mo.) also finished in double figures with 10 kills.
- Celeste Vela had 32 assists in the match, posting a .395 assist percentage. She also had two digs, two blocks and an ace.
- Savannah Rutledge (The Woodlands – College Park) led the team with 11 digs, while Riley Davidson (Commerce) added eight digs.
- The Lions hit .274 in the match, including .412 in the final set. They held LCU to a .164 hitting percentage.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was an even start to the first set, as LCU led 7-6 before the Lions went on a run. A&M-Commerce scored five points in a row to take the lead. Williams and Andersen then had a pair of kills each to push the lead to six points. The Lions scored 11 of the final 16 points of the set to win 25-15.
 
LCU got off to a hot start in the second set, taking six of the first eight points. The Lions fought back behind a strong attack to tie the match at 11-all  and later took their first lead of the set. LCU then went on a 6-1 run to reestablish their lead. A 6-0 run by the Lady Chaps carried them to a 25-19 win in the second set.
 
The teams traded points back and forth throughout the beginning of the third set, as there were 10 ties in the set. Trailing 13-11 midway through the set, the Lions then went on a run to take the lead. Williams had consecutive kills as A&M-Commerce took 11 of the next 13 points to take a commanding 22-15 lead. The Lions took the set 25-19.
 
Chapron and Andersen both had two early kills as the Lions jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set. Chapron had six kills in the set while Andersen also had six kills to go with an ace. The Lions quickly led 10-3. LCU battled back to cut the Lion lead to just two points before Andersen had consecutive kills as part of a 4-0 run that sealed the set and the match. The Lions won the set 25-20.