USAFA, Colo. – Winning its first set of the season in the first match on Saturday, the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team fell to Drake and Cal State Northridge by scores of 3-1 and 3-0, respectively, to close out the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic at the East Gym inside the US Air Force Academy.
 
A&M-Commerce returns to the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex next weekend, when it plays at the UT-Arlington Invitational. The Lions take on Providence College at 11 a.m. and the host, Mavericks at 6:30 p.m., on Friday. They close out the tournament against North Texas at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
 
MATCH 1: DRAKE 3, A&M-COMMERCE 1
A&M-Commerce playing in Division I for the first time this weekend, secured a set win over Drake on a kill by Reese Fetty (Farmersville). The Bulldogs took the first by a score of 25-17, separating from the Lions in the middle of the set, by going on a 7-1 run. Drake won six of the last eight points of the set as well.
 
Two aces from Fetty and a ball handling error by the Bulldogs gave the Lions a 3-0 lead in the second set, who lead 5-1. Drake tied the set at 7-7 and the Lions responded with a 4-1 run of their own. Despite never trailing in the set, the Lions were up by just one at 23-22, until an attacking error by the Bulldogs gave the Lions their first set point of the day and they closed it out on the kill by Fetty.
 
Falling behind 3-0 in the third, the Lions pulled back tied the set at 13, but a 5-0 run from the Bulldogs have them the cushion they needed to win the third set, 25-16. Drake won 12 of the last 15 points of the set. The Lions once again led 3-0 in the fourth and both teams stayed within a point for the early part of the set, until a 6-2 run from the Bulldogs gave them a 18-14 lead.
 
The Lions saved three straight match points, but a block by the Bulldogs gave them the match. Mariana Rodrigues had 20 kills and nine digs for Drake.
 
Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) recorded 31 assists as well as eight digs, Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo.) led the team with 16 digs and two aces, Fetty had two aces as well. Carley Spachman (Leewood, Kan.) and Maddy Rashford (Placentia, Calif.) posted eight kills each. In the match, the Lions had a hitting percentage of 0.046 compared to .201 for the Bulldogs.
 
Playing in her first collegiate match, Millie Allgood (Sherwood, Ark.) had 11 digs and five kills, playing all four sets.
 
MATCH 2: CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE 3, A&M-COMMERCE 0  
The Matadors began the match with an 8-1 lead, the Lions fought back to pull to 9-8. A 5-0 run in the middle of the set turned a one-point lead for Cal State Northridge to six and they took the first set via a score of 25-19.
 
After a 5-0 run gave the Matadors a 23-16 lead, the Lions fought all the way back to tie it at 24. Spachman had two blocks and Fetty had three kills during the run. A kill and a service ace with the set tied at 24 gave the Matadors the second set, 26-24.
 
An early 9-3 lead in the third was just enough for the Matadors in the third set. Trailing by as much as nine points in the set, the Lions fought off two match points, but fell 25-19 to lose the match in three.
 
The Lions had 15 blocks in the match against the Matadors. Spachman had five, Taryn Cast (Peaster) had four, and Vela had three, who also recorded a double-double with 15 assists and 10 assists. She led the team with eight kills as well. Hebert recorded 13 digs in the second match. A&M-Commerce was outhit .209 to .045 in the second match.