COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce Volleyball continues Southland Conference play this week with three matches, heading on the road at Houston Christian Tuesday evening and hosting Incarnate Word on Thursday and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday afternoon.
LIONS WEEKEND SCHEDULE
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE LIONS
In their first Southland Conference match, the Lions traveled to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to take on the McNeese Cowgirls. In five intense sets the Lions fell to the Cowgirls 3-2, with a score of 15-8 in the deciding set.
The Lions played their first home game since November 16, 2021, and first home match as Southland Conference members against Lamar. Securing a 3-1 win over the Cardinals and their first SLC win.
Reese Fetty (Farmersville) led the team with 15 kills,
Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Calif.) recorded 20 digs.
Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) had 41 assists, while
Ashley Pennington (Frisco – Liberty) and
Kayla Lucas (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had three service aces each.
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE LIONS
The Lions are on the road for the next three matches against fellow SLC members New Orleans on Thursday October, 1 and Nicholls Saturday October, 8, and renew the rivalry with Tarleton on Tuesday October, 11.
LIONS SWEEP PANTHERS FOR FIRST DIVISION I WIN
A&M-Commerce picked up its first win in the Division I era on September 6 at Prairie View A&M in three sets. This win also snapped a six-match losing streak to start the season and it was A&M-Commerce's first win over a Division I opponent in athletic department history.
SLC PRESEASON POLL
In their first season in the Southland Conference, the Lions were picked No. 7 out of 10 teams in the preseason poll. The full poll can be found below.
2022 SLC VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON POLL, PRESENTED BY READY
| Place |
Team (First-place votes) |
Total |
| 1 |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (13) |
157 |
| 2 |
Houston Christian (7) |
151 |
| 3 |
Southeastern |
125 |
| 4 |
McNeese |
106 |
| 5 |
UIW |
95 |
| 6 |
Northwestern State |
83 |
| 7 |
A&M-COMMERCE |
54 |
| 8 |
Nicholls |
50 |
| 9 |
New Orleans |
46 |
| 10 |
Lamar |
33 |
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Going into his 10
th coaching season with a 148-129 record, the Huskies are led by Trent Herman. In the 2021 season, HCU went 8-4 finishing fifth in the Southland Conference and made its eighth-consecutive conference tournament appearance. For the fifth time, the Huskies advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament.
HCU is currently 10-5 on the season with losses against Texas State, ULM, Southern Miss, UTSA, and Valparaiso. The Huskies are holding their opponents to a .171 hitting percentage and hitting .249 as a team.
The UIW Cardinals are under the leadership of coach Samantha Dabbs-Thomas, who is going into her fifth season. In the spring 2021 season, the Cardinals were the No. 8 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament. UIW is 1-11 on the season winning the first match of the season against Texas Southern University 3-0.
For the Islanders, Steve Greene is entering his sixth season as coach and has led the team to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back season in 2020 and 2021. During his time as coach, he has coached the Islanders to championships in both the regular season and conference tournament titles in 2021. Last season, the Islanders went 19-10 for the season and are currently 1-15 on the season winning their first SLC match 3-0 against New Orleans.
-TAMUC-
