THIBADOUX, La. – Coming back from being a set down, the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team downed Nicholls, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at the Stopher Gymnasium via set scores of 22-25, 25-15, 29-27, and 25-22.
 
The Lions snapped a two-match losing skid to improve to 6-14 on the season and 3-4 in Southland Conference play, while the Colonels drop to 4-15 overall and 1-6 in SLC matches.
 
Starting the morning with both teams hitting over .260 percent in the first set, the Colonels took the first set, 25-22. A&M-Commerce had the 22-21 lead in the set, but two kills by Nicholls and two attacking errors by A&M-Commerce secured the set win for the Colonels.
 
In the second set, the Lions hit .353 with no unforced errors in the second set, to take the set, 25-15. Essence Allen (Longview – Tatum) had nine kills through two sets, while Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) recorded 21 assists in the first two sets.
 
After fighting off two set points, Nicholls took a 25-24 lead, but the Lions took the next two points on a block by Taryn Cast (Peaster) and a kill by Yasmin Figueiredo (Rio de Janiero, Brazil) for its third set point. After Nicholls fought off that set point as well, a service error gave the Lions their fourth set point, which the Colonels also saved.
 
A kill by Millie Allgood (Sherwood, Ark.) put the Lions in position to win the third set for the fifth time at 28-27 and they took a 2-1 lead in the match with a bad set by the Colonels.
 
The Lions took the first three points of the fourth set, but the Colonels clawed back to tie the set and remained up front at 12-10. A 3-0 run by the Lions got the lead back and both teams exchanged points until it was tied at 17. A ball handling error by the Lions, gave the Colonels a one-point lead, but the Lions won the next five to take command of the match.
 
Allgood had a kill and a block in the run as did Figueiredo, while Vela also added a block. The Colonels stayed within two and fought off the first match point, but an attacking error gave the Lions their sixth win of the season with a 25-22 win in the fourth.
 
Recording 46 assists and 13 digs, Vela had her seventh double-double of the season. She also added two blocks and a kill.
 
Allen led the way with 15 kills and recorded five digs. Figueiredo posted 13 kills, five blocks, and three digs. Maddy Rashford (Placentia, Calif.) had 11 kills and four digs. Cast totaled seven kills and six blocks. Defensively, Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo.) led the way with 26 digs, while Ashley Pennington (Frisco – Liberty) and Emma Jenneskens (Meerlo, Netherlands) had 12 each.


POST MATCH INTERVIEW
 
UP NEXT
A&M-Commerce heads to Stephenville on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to take on rival Tarleton and is back home to host two next week, against Southeastern Louisiana at 6 p.m. on Thursday and Northwestern State next Saturday at 1 p.m.