COMMERCE – The A&M-Commerce Lions start the 2021 spring Lone Star Conference Tournament on Tuesday night, taking on the Oklahoma Christian Eagles.
 
WHO: A&M-Commerce vs. Oklahoma Christian
WHERE: Kingsville | Steinke Center
WHEN: 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23
RECORDS: A&M-Commerce completed the regular season with a 6-6 record and is the second seed out of the LSC Central. OC went 6-9 overall and 4-8 in conference play, as the third seed out of the LSC North.
TELEVISION/LIVE VIDEO: LSC Digital Network
LIVE STATS: http://statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=tame
 
On the Lions:
A&M-Commerce is led by 11th-year head coach Craig Case, who is the winningest coach in program history. His record at A&M-Commerce stands at 190-133.
 
The Lions rank 11th in the conference in hitting percentage at .153, moving up two spots in that ranking with the sweep of TWU. The 11.69 assists per set ranks sixth in the league, as does the 12.76 kills per set. The back row defense has kept points alive, ranking second in the confernec with 19.62 digs per set.
 
Taryn Cast ranks 12th in the conference in hitting percentage at .260 and Celeste Vela's 6.49 assists per set ranks sixth in the conference. Maiya Dickie has moved into the top 20 in the conference in blocks at 0.76 per set.
 
Sydney Anderson is 17th in the LSC in kills per set at 2.60 and Dickie is 20th at 2.43, as the setters have spread the offensive opportunities around.
 
Riley Davidson ranks fourth in the conference in digs per set at 5.11, even after moving to outside hitter from libero earlier this year. Relatively new libero Lyric Hebert is 17th in the conference in digs at 3.62 per set.
  
On the opponent…
Oklahoma Christian is playing intercollegiate volleyball for the first time since 1983 and qualified for the LSC Tournament with one win over Midwestern State and two wins over Cameron. The entire Eagle roster is freshmen or junior college transfers.
 
The Eagles rank 13th in the conference in hitting percentage at .133, and their 61 sets played ties for the conference lead. OC has been a solid defensive team, ranking seventh in the LSC in opponents' hitting percentage at .160, tied with the Lions in that category.
 
Morgan Demuth ranks sixth in the LSC in hitting percentage at .273 and fourth in blocks at 1.08 per set, but has missed 12 sets the Eagles have played. Spencer Plato is 15th in the conference at 5.04 assists per game.
 
Caitlynne Hudgens has 2.45 kills per set to rank 19th in the league and lead the Eagles. The OC service game has been strong, with Karlee Alonzo leading the league with 0.56 aces per set and Plato ranking fourth at 0.46. The top seven players in the league in aces are from the North Division.
 
On the series history…
The Lions and Eagles are meeting for the first time, as the teams did not meet in intercollegiate competition prior to OC dropping their program.