COMMERCE– The No. 20 Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team will travel to Denver to play in the Colorado Premier Challenge this weekend.
 
LION VOLLEYBALL AT COLORADO PREMIER CHALLENGE (Denver, Colo.)
Friday, September 13
11 a.m. MDT (Noon CDT) – No. 20 Lions vs. No. 1 Tampa
2:30 p.m. MDT (3:30 p.m. CDT) - No. 20 Lions at Regis
 
Saturday, September 14
TBD

For live stat and video links for the tournament, click HERE.
 
The Lions are coming off of a 3-1 weekend to open up the season, picking up wins against St. Edward's, Henderson State and Mississippi College. Head coach Craig Case was excited to see his team perform at a high level against some top level competition early in the season.
 
"It was good to get started out that way," he said. "For the last several years, we've been wanting to play against the best teams we can early and figure out what we are good at and what we are bad at and how we get better. The best part about it is we played four teams that are going to play at the top of their league. And the thing we talked about was developing some consistency and having some people step up. And I think we got both of those things. It was a good first step for this season."
 
For her effort, Shelley Chapron was named Lone Star COnference Offensive Player of the Week. Case was excited to see his senior middle blocker put together four great performances in the first week of action.
 
"She was locked in," Case said of Chapron. "She is one of the best players in our conference and when she is locked in and focused and works as hard as she is capable of, she's tough to stop. I was really proud of the way she played on both sides of the ball this weekend. She was great offensively, but she was also very disruptive defensively. I'm always really proud when someone plays the whole game well. We were really happy with her."
 
Case also liked how his team played in spurts. As with every team, there were rough patches, but Case saw a good first four games from his squad and liked to see their potential start to shine through. He also saw areas where his team can improve, and he is looking forward to the challenge of helping his team reach its full potential.
 
"As a team, we had some glimpses where we played some great volleyball," he said. "The start of that Henderson State match, we probably played the best volleyball we've played since I've been here. In 10 years, that is the best volleyball we have ever played. Then Henderson State came out swinging and caught us off guard.
 
"What we learned from this weekend is that we still need more consistency and we need to figure out how to play different types of volleyball. We are going to have some teams that have great systems and great styles of play, and we have to be able to knock them out of their systems. And we will be playing some teams this weekend and throughout the year that will know how to beat us. We've got to figure out how to identify those things early enough so we can turn it around and get some wins in those tough matches."
 
The Lions face a tough field of competitors in the Colorado Premier Challenge, which features several top 25 ranked teams, including the defending national champion Tampa, who is the Lions' first opponent. Case knows this weekend will be a test for his team, but he is looking forward to seeing how his team responds against some of the best teams in the country.
 
"You never look forward to playing the defending national champions, but at the same time, we are competitive," he said. "It's going to be a really tough weekend. But at the same time, when you play really good teams, they do a really good job of showing you what you are bad at. If we can compete hard and play Lion Volleyball, that will give us a chance, win or lose, to get better coming out of this weekend.
 
"I'm hopeful we can get some wins up there, but there is not a team in that tournament that you look at and say, I really hope we get to play them. Everybody up there is good. We are not sneaking up on anyone this year. We've earned that respect. It will be a fun trip for everybody and hopefully we can get a little bit better than we were last week, because everyone else is. Hopefully we can start putting these things together so that when we do start playing Lone Star Conference teams, we are the best version we can be."
 
After the Colorado Premier Challenge, the Lions will play their first home match of the season on Sept. 20 against Texas A&M-Kingsville. A&M-Commerce will host 12 home matches during the regular season, including 11 matches against LSC opponents. Season tickets for Lion Volleyball home matches can be purchased at WeAreLionsTix.com, by calling (903) 468-8756, or by visiting the Lion Sales & Service Box Office inside the Field House during business hours.