LUBBOCK, Texas – Going the distance in back-to-back nights on the road against two teams atop the Lone Star Conference standings, the Texas A&M University-Commerce was not able to repeat Friday night's feat and fell 3-2 to Lubbock Christian at Rip Griffin Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Chaparrels took the first set by a score of 26-24, the Lions took the next sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-20, respectively and the hosts won the match by taking the fourth set by a score of 25-19 and a commanding 15-4 win in the fifth set and dropped the Lions to record of 9-8 overall and 8-4 in LSC matches. Lubbock Christian improved to 13-6 overall and 9-2 in LSC play.
 
Four Lions had double digit kills. Maddy Rashford (Placentia, Calif.) had 19, Essence Allen (Longview – Tatum) had 15 kills and 20 digs, Taryn Cast (Peaster) had 13 kills, and Maiya Dickie (Huntsville) had 16 kills and five of the 14 assisted blocks for the Lions.
 
On the defensive side, Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo.) had 26 digs, Allen had 20, Ashley Pennington (Frisco – Liberty) had 15, Riley Davidson (Commerce) had 12, and Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) had 11.
 
Allen and Vela had double-doubles in the second-consecutive match. Allen had 15 kills and 20 digs, while Vela had 63 assists, which is a career-high, and 11 digs.
 
Neither team was able to build a big lead in the first set. The Lions led 18-16 on a kill by Rashford, forcing the Chaparrels to use a timeout. Lubbock Christian won three of the four points out of the timeout to tie it at 19.
 
An attacking error by the Lions gave the Chaparrels two chances to take the first set, but kills by Dickie and Rashford helped the Lions tie the set at 24. The Chaparrels took the set, 26-24 on two straight A&M-Commerce errors.
 
The Lions led 5-0 to start the second set on two kills by Andersen, a kill by Allen, and two errors by Lubbock Christian. A&M-Commerce did not trail in the set, leading by as much as nine and closed out the set, 25-21 on an attacking error.
 
The third set was similar to the second for the Lions, who did not trail in the third frame either. Hitting .364 as a team in the third set, the Lions took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-20 third set win on a kill by Cast.
 
The Lions had a 6-2 lead in the fourth set on an assisted block by Andersen and Dickie. The Lion continued to lead till the midpoint of the set at 14-9 on a kill by Cast. A 9-1 run by the Chaparells allowed them to get back in the match and take their first lead since the first set. The Lions had five attacking errors in that stretch.
 
Lubbock Christian kept on the charge after taking the lead in the fourth set and closed the set out on a 16-5 run. Jenna Lyons delivered the set winning kill for the Chaparrels, 25-19.
 
A&M-Commerce was tasked with playing five-set matches against two teams atop the LSC standings in back-to-back nights. After beating No. 4 Angelo State on Friday night, the Lions could not muster up a rally in the fifth set on Saturday.
 
The two teams were tied at two to start the deciding set, before the Chaparrels took command of the match by going on a 10-1 scoring run and closed out the fifth set, 15-4.
 
UP NEXT
The Lions are home for the next four matches before heading back on the road to close out the regular season.
 
A&M-Commerce hosts Southeastern Oklahoma State in a non-conference match on Tuesday at 6 p.m., welcomes DBU on Friday at 6 p.m., hosts Texas Woman's on Saturday, October 30 at 1 p.m., and hosts Senior Night against UT Tyler on Saturday, November 6, at 6 p.m.