HAMMOND, La. – The 2022 season came to a close on Friday night for the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team, who were sweep in the Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinals by the McNeese Cowgirls at the University Center, via set scores of 25-15, 25-18, and 25-11.  
 
The Lions finish their first Division I season with a record of 11-23. The Cowgirls improve to 18-15 and advance to the semifinals to face No. 2 seeded Southeastern on Saturday. A&M-Commerce under coach Craig Case, finished seventh during conference play.
 
Neither team could pull away with a big run at the beginning and stayed a few points away from each other. The Cowgirls secured a 5-1 run to pull five points ahead of the Lions, 14-9, and continued to hold the Lions and lead, 21-10. The Lions put up five more points before the Cowgirls walked away with a, 25-15, set win.
 
The Cowgirls took the first big run of the set for a, 9-3, lead. Both teams traded points, with the Cowgirls holding the lead and the Lions coming within four, 18-22, before the Cowgirls secured the set win, 25-18.
 
Both teams continued to trade short runs back and forth, when a 9-1 run by the Cowgirls put them in the lead, 14-7. The Lions put five points on the board to chip away but stayed down, 18-11. The Cowgirls put up the last seven points of the match to win, 25-11 and advance to the semifinals.
 
Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) collected 26 assist, eight digs, and three blocks. Ashley Pennington (Frisco–Liberty) led the team with 10 digs, followed by Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo.) with eight digs and one service ace.
 
Maddy Rashford (Placentia, Calif.) put down nine kills with three digs, while Essence Allen (Longview–Tatum) collected six kills, three blocks and seven digs. Yasmin Figueiredo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) led the team with four blocks and picked up five kills and three digs, with Taryn Cast (Peaster) also earning five kills along with two blocks.
 
Friday night marked the final match in the Lion careers for Cast, Herbert, Kayla Lucas (Colorado, Springs, Colo.), Pennington, Rashford, and Vela.