COMMERCE – The No. 16 ranked UT Tyler Patriots spoiled Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team's senior night with a 3-1 win on Saturday night at the Field House. The Patriots won the match via set scores of 25-23, 25-14, 19-25, and 25-20.
 
Despite the loss to the Lone Star Conference leading Patriots, the Lions remain in fifth spot in the standings with a conference record of 10-5 going into the final weekend of the season. The Patriots are 14-1 on the season and part of the top-four teams that receive a bye in the first round of the conference tournament.
 
SENIOR NIGHT
The Lions held a pre-match senior night ceremony to honor nine graduating seniors. The honorees were Sydney Andersen, Taryn Cast, Riley Davidson, Maiya Dickie, Nicki Gonelli, Destiny Greenwood, Madison Luther, Natalie Sarbeck, and Shelbi Sheppard.
 
A kill by Dickie (Huntsville) and two straight aces by Cast (Peaster) helped the Lions lead 4-1 in the first set. They continued to stay ahead in the set, leading 9-6 on two straight aces by Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo.).
 
Trailing 10-7 in the set, the Patriots took the lead by going on a 5-0 run and kept pace with the Lions, who regained the lead at 18-17 on a kill by Dickie. A&M-Commerce had a 21-20 lead, but three of the next five points were errors by the Lions and the Patriots had a chance to win the set at 24-22. After a bad set by UT Tyler, the Patriots won the first set, 25-23, on a kill by Hannah Callison.
 
UT Tyler did not trail in the second set and took a commanding 17-7 lead by going on a 7-1 run in the middle of the set. A kill by Dickie, an ace by Essence Allen (Longview – Tatum), and a kill by Maddy Rashford (Placentia, Calif.) started a 3-0 run for the Lions, but the Patriots served back a 3-0 run and won the set, 25-14 on a kill by Mikayla Ware.
 
The Lions won their lone set of the night in the third set. They did not trail at any point during the set. A&M-Commerce started the set on a 3-1 run and stayed ahead throughout the set. The Lions had a hitting percentage of .344 in the set and won it on a bad set by the Patriots.
 
Looking to force a deciding set against the No. 16 ranked team in the country, the Lions won the first point of the fourth set on a kill by Reese Fetty (Farmersville), but the Patriots won the next five points to lead 5-1.
 
The Lions cut it to within one, twice in the set, but the Patriots remained ahead and won the match with a 25-20 win in the fourth set on a kill by Hattie Murray. Mikayla Ware had a double double for the Patriots with 17 kills and 25 digs.
 
For the Lions, Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) had a double double with 30 assists and 13 digs. Hebert led the team with 21 digs as well as three service aces. Cast had three aces as well and she led the team with 10 kills. Rashford and Dickie had three blocks each.
 
Davidson (Commerce) had 15 digs. Dickie had eight kills, while Rashford and Fetty had seven each.


POSTGAME INTERVIEW

UP NEXT
A&M-Commerce ends the regular season with two matches on the road, it is at UT Permian Basin on Thursday at 6 p.m. and at Western New Mexico on Saturday, November 13 at 1 p.m. central standard time.