COMMERCE – Led by outstanding hitting up front and strong back line defense, the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team swept Texas Woman's University in the Field House on Tuesday night.
 
Set scores were 25-23, 25-15, and 26-24.
 
The Lions move to 5-6 overall and in the Lone Star Conference Central Division, locking up the division's second seed in next week's LSC Tournament. Texas Woman's is now 3-8 overall and in the LSC Central, needing a win in Wednesday night's regular season finale to qualify for the tournament.
 
HEAD COACH CRAIG CASE AFTER THE MATCH
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Freshman setter Aislynn Shore (Hockley – Frassati Catholic) earned her first career double-double with 25 assists and 16 digs.
- Nicki Gonelli (Round Rock – Stony Point) led the Lions with 15 kills and only one error for a .483 hitting percentage. She also had eight digs.
- Sydney Andersen (Placentia, Calif.) had 14 kills with a .297 hitting percentage.
- Maddy Rashford (Placentia, Calif.) had 11 error-free kills for a .579 percentage.
- Maiya Dickie (Huntsville) had 11 kills with a .435 percentage and three blocks.
- Riley Davidson (Commerce) had 22 digs and three blocks. Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo.) had 21 digs.
- The Lions hit .253 in the match with 54 kills, while holding TWU to 33 kills on a .109 percentage.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Texas Woman's started the match with the momentum, picking up three of their five blocks for the night early in the first set on the way to an 11-6 lead. The Lions steadily narrowed their deficit before a big run on Davidson's serve. A&M-Commerce scored seven straight points with three of those coming on Gonelli kills and another three on Andersen kills to take a 20-16 lead. The Pioneers cut that lead down to one point before the Lions edged out to set point at 24-20. TWU stayed alive with three straight Lion miscues, but a Rashford kill ended the set with a 25-23 win for A&M-Commerce. The Lions hit .130 in the set, while TWU hit .057.
 
The second set was all Lions, as the home side forced TWU into sideouts on 14-of-15 opportunities, while hitting .390 with 19 kills against three errors. The barrage in the middle of the set from A&M-Commerce was immense, stretching a three-point lead out to 20-11 with six straight points. A Gonelli kill punctuated a 25-15 rout and gave the Lions a 2-0 lead.
 
The Pioneers did not lay down though, as the third set featured 18 ties and seven lead changes. Neither team led by more than three points at any juncture in the frame. TWU held a 14-11 lead, but a pair of Gonelli kills, a Davidson service ace, and a Pioneer error flipped that lead to the Lions' favor at 15-14. The Lions finished the match on a 4-1 run, as TWU fought off match point once, but a combo block from Dickie and Shore closed out the sweep with a 26-24 set three win. The Lions hit .273 with 19 kills in the set, while TWU hit .161 with 15 kills.