BOONE, N.C. ­– The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team kicked things off at the Mountaineer Classic with a split in the Holmes Convocation Center on Friday. The Lions fell to the host, Appalachian State, in the first match of the tournament taking them to four sets and swept the competition in the second match against Presbyterian.

COACH CASE'S THOUGHTS
On match against Appalachian State: "We did some good things against a really well coached and talented Appalachian State squad. Both teams made and executed really good adjustments in the first two sets. In that third set, they made some nice changes that we didn't respond to very well. After that we were playing catch up the rest of the match and were on our heels the rest of the way. Appalachian State is too good of a team to let them control the rest of that match and expect to come away with a win."

On win over Prebysterian: "We did a much better job of making the match be played towards our strengths and style. Outside of the middle and end of the second set we did a really good job of generating scoring runs on our side and preventing PC's scoring runs. All around it was a really well-rounded match on our end and was a good team win."
 
MATCH ONE: APPALACHIAN STATE 4, A&M-COMMERCE 1
The first set was point for point until the Mountaineers pulled ahead 10-6 on a 6-1 run and continued to hold the lead for the remainder of the set. Lulu Ambrose finished it off with a kill to secure the Mountaineers a set win, 25-17.
 
The Lions took the first lead of the second set, 5-3, on a kill from Reese Fetty (Farmersville) and held onto that lead throughout the set. Midway through the set, the Mountaineers pulled within two, 18-16, but the Lions continued their momentum when Kaitlyn Breland (Magnolia West) collected an ace in her first appearance of the match, to make the set score, 21-17, before an ace from Emma Jenneskens (Meerlo, Netherlands) secured the set win for the Lions, 25-20.
 
The Mountaineers took an early lead with a 6-1 run and held on to it for the rest of the set. A kill from Taryn Cast (Peaster) pushed the Lions within one at 5-1 run to make the set score, 8-9. The Lions could not stay within reach and the Mountaineers took the third set, 25-17.
 
Going into the fourth set, the Mountaineers came out early with a 4-1 run. Maddy Rashford (Placentia, Calif.) answered with a kill to take the lead 9-8 over the Mountaineers. The Lions could not hold the lead for long with the Mountaineers coming back in the middle of the set with a 5-0 run to take the lead back, 10-14. A kill by Madison Baldridge secured a match win for the hosts of the tournament, 25-20.

Rashford totaled 15 kills in the match as well as seven digs. Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo.) had 13 digs, while Breland had two aces, and Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) posted 34 assists, five kills, and seven digs. The Lions had 60 digs in the match. 

Playing in her first match as a Lion, Yasmin Figueiredo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) recorded six blocks and as a team, the Lions served up seven aces. 
 
MATCH TWO: A&M-COMMERCE 3, PRESBYTERIAN 0
 The Lions grabbed an early lead in the first set with a 7-1 run. The Blue Hose chipped away at the score, and the Lions continued to return the favor with a 5-1 run where a kill by Figueiredo helped secure the set win for the Lions.

Starting things off for the Lions in the second set was Cast with a kill. Both teams continued to go point for point until a 5-1 run pushed the Lions ahead, 16-11. The Blue Hoes stayed on the Lions tail but fell short when a kill from Carley Spachman (Leawood, Kan.) ended the set for the Lions, 25-22.
 
Neither team was able to pull ahead in the third set until a kill by Spachman secured a huge 12-1 run for the Lions and pushed the score to 17-7. The Lions ended the match in three on back-to-back kills from Vela and Fetty, respectively.

Fetty led the way with eight kills, followed by seven each from Cast and Rashford. Vela had 32 assists and Ashley Pennington (Frisco - Liberty) led the way with nine digs. The Lions hit .274 in the match, while the Blue Hose hit .000. 
 
UP NEXT
The Lions take on Furman on Saturday at 9 A.M. CDT to close out the Mountaineer Classic.