COMMERCE – Texas A&M University-Commerce head volleyball coach Craig Case became the program's all-time leader in wins Wednesday, as the Lions fought for a five-set win over Dallas Baptist University in the Field House.
 
Set scores were 20-25, 25-20, 25-21, 13-25, 15-4. The Lions are now 2-0 overall and 2-0 in the Lone Star Conference, while DBU falls to 0-4 overall and 0-4 in the league.
 
The Lions are next in action on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 9 and 10, at UT Tyler in matchups of the two remaining undefeated teams in the LSC Central Division.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Case won his 186^th match to pass Kathy Goodlett as the winningest coach in program history. His record now stands at 186-127 in his 11^th season.
- Sydney Andersen (Placentia, Calif.) had a double-double once again, tying for the team lead with 13 kills and digging out 20 balls on the defensive end.
- Riley Davidson (Commerce) led all players with 24 digs, and Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo.) earned 20 digs.
- Maiya Dickie (Huntsville) tied for the team lead in kills with 13 and led the team with four blocks.
- Taryn Cast (Peaster) had a career high 11 kills. Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) passed out 39 assists.
- The Lions hit .114 for the match with 58 kills, while DBU hit .161 with 51 kills.
- This was the Lions' fourth straight five-set match dating back to the final two matches of the 2019 season. That matches the longest streak of five-set matches since September of 2014. There have been five runs of four consecutive five-setters in program history, but there has never been a run of five straight five-setters.
 
HEAD COACH CRAIG CASE AFTER THE MATCH

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first set was tied at 7-all before DBU went on an 11-1 rally, pushing out to an 18-8 lead. That margin seemed enough for the Patriots to cruise to a set win with the guests holding set point at 24-12 before the Lions roared back to make the set interesting. The Lions scored eight straight points on Vela's serve, including two Cast kills, but the Lions ran out of time to come back as DBU took the opener 25-20. DBU hit .140 in the set compared to a .060 rate for the Lions.
 
A&M-Commerce used a late set rally to tie the match with a win in the second frame. After leading 17-12 and 21-16, the Lions saw DBU fight back to within a point at 21-20. DBU had a hitting error to kick off a Lion rally with kills by Dickie and Andersen. TAMUC scored the final four points of the set to tie the match.
 
The Lions scored the first four points of the third set before the Patriots scrapped back into the set, taking a lead at 14-13. The Lions held a narrow advantage at 21-20, then the power duo of Andersen and Dickie each threw down a pair of kills to score four of the last five points and take the two sets to one lead.
 
DBU flipped that momentum on its head in the fourth set with big runs and poor hitting from the Lions. A&M-Commerce fought off set point three times before DBU sent the match to the deciding set with a 25-13 win. The Patriots hit .314 in the set with 14 kills, while A&M-Commerce was minus-.043 with nine kills and 11 errors.
 
The three-minute break between sets was enough for the Lions to clear their heads of the previous set and pound out a decisive win. TAMUC rushed out to a 7-2 lead and held a 9-4 lead before the final push. Three different players had kills as the Lions scored the match's final six points, and a Cast/Keziah Williams (Branson, Mo.) combo block closed out the match.