COMMERCE– The No. 20 Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team continue Lone Star Conference play with road matches against Midwestern State and Texas Woman's.
 
WHO: No. 20 Texas A&M-Commerce (7-3, 2-0 LSC) at Midwestern State (2-8, 0-2 LSC)
WHERE: D.L. Ligon Coliseum in Wichita Falls, Texas
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.
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WHO: No. 20 Texas A&M-Commerce at Texas Woman's (5-6, 1-1 LSC)
WHERE: Kitty Magee Arena in Denton, Texas
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 28 at Noon
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The Lions are coming off of a 2-0 weekend, with sweeps over A&M-Kingsville and A&M International. Head coach Craig Case liked how both his offense and defense played in those matches.
 
"I thought we played pretty well," he said. "We have been focusing a lot on consistency. I think the best are usually the most efficient, and the most efficient teams are usually pretty consistent. We have really been focusing on our consistency. Offensively, I was really pleased with our play on Friday. I thought that was a much better defensive team than we have seen out of Kingsville for a while. We had to work really hard to score points against them. They are a really good team. I was really pleased with our ability to produce opportunities against a defense that was playing that well."
 
After seeing his offense step up on Friday, Case then saw his defense step up on Saturday, something he was also pleased with.
 
"I was really impressed by International's offense," he said. "They put a lot of pressure on our defense and you could see as the match went along that we were getting average touches in the beginning of that match. We did not end up getting really quality contacts until the end. By the end, our players were making a lot of subtle adjustments and trying to get dialed in to stop their hitters. They were getting some quality swings. And I was pleased with our ability to be disruptive at the net as the match went on and that we were able to get good contact on our digs and our first contacts to be able to generate some scoring opportunities.
 
The Lions now enter divisional play, with matches against Midwestern State and Texas Woman's. Case is looking for his team to continue to improve, especially in a tough week on the road in the conference.
 
"The goal every week is to keep getting a little bit better," he said. "I feel like we have gotten a little bit better every week as we have been able to identify things. Part of that is we have played against such good opponents. We have been exposed to some degree and we have been able to identify things that have cost us wins and have been working on those things. I'm glad we did that because now we are on the road. Road matches are always hard in the Lone Star Conference. And we are going to play two really good teams. To be able to have some confidence that we have played really good teams already, that helps us as we go on the road and have to do it again. I'm pleased with where we are at.
 
"Those are going to be tough wins. In order to get them, we are going to have to play the best volleyball we can play. But we are excited for the challenge. We enjoy playing on the road. You usually get everybody's best when they are at home and if you want to be the best team in the league, you have to be able to beat teams when you are on the road."