COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball enters a busy second weekend of the season with four matches scheduled in five days, beginning with a mid-week match at Abilene Christian on Tuesday.
 
WHO: A&M-Commerce at Abilene Christian
WHERE: Abilene | Wessel Court at Moody Coliseum
WHEN: Tuesday, August 29 | 6:30 p.m.
RECORDS: A&M-Commerce is 1-3 overall, while the Wildcats are 1-1.
 
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ | https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/cb32a5da-6340-4f29-be9a-2d56f43ff3c0  
LIVE STATS: https://statb.us/v/tame/476772  

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE LIONS
A&M-Commerce is in Lubbock this weekend for the Red Raider Classic. The Lions face Wyoming and Louisiana on Friday and Texas Tech on Saturday.
 
NEW ERA BEGINS WITH A BANG
Joe Morales coached his first three matches as the Lions coach last week and it did not take long for him to earn his first career head coaching win. A&M-Commerce swept Texas Southern on Friday afternoon.
 
AN UTTER DOMINANCE OF THE TIGERS
The Lions hit .321 percent in the win over Texas Southern, which is the third highest in the program's Division I era and it was the first three-set win since October 29, 2022.
 
SMITH SHINES IN HER DEBUT
Libero Jade Smith (Mayde Creek) made her Lion debut last week and the Temple College transfer shined bright in her debut by earning all-tournament honors. She totaled 33 digs in three matches, totaling 14 against Missouri State and 11 in win over Texas Southern.
 
FETTY CAN DO IT ALL
After the first weekend of the season, Reese Fetty (Farmersville) is first on the team with 28 kills on an average of 2.80 kills per set and second on the team with 22 digs on an average of 2.20 digs per set. She logged a double-double in the win over Texas Southern, which was her fourth career double-double.
 
NEW FACES ON THE BENCH
Morales is joined by Morgan Williams on the coaching staff as an assistant coach, while Makenna Hanssen returns as the program's graduate assistant coach.
 
INTERNATIONAL LOVE
Four countries are represented on the 2023 roster for the Lions. Fourteen players are from the United States, while one each hail from Brazil, Poland, and Germany.
 
GOING STREAKING
This season, the Lions are looking to make the postseason for the 12^th season in a row, which is the longest active streak of any program at A&M-Commerce.
 
BUILDING UPON 2022
Last season was A&M-Commerce's first season in NCAA Division I and the Southland Conference. The season was filled with many historical wins for the Lions, who beat Prairie View A&M for their first Division I win, swept Southeastern, who won the 2023 SLC Tournament and played in the NCAA Tournament, and downed New Orleans in the SLC Tournament.
 
SOUTHLAND PRESEASON POLL
Entering their second season in the Southland Conference, the Lions were picked seventh in the preseason conference poll.
 

1.	HCU (8)	120
2.	Southeastern Louisiana (8)	118
3.	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	96
4.	McNeese	93
5.	Northwestern State	82
6.	UIW	58
7.	A&M-COMMERCE	55
8.	New Orleans	53
9.	Nicholls	23
10.	Lamar	22

 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Abilene Christian and A&M-Commerce are meeting for the first time since 2012. They have met 55 times prior. The Lions have the 29-26 edge and won the last two meetings before ACU's move up to Division I.
 
ACU is 11-10 all-time against the Lions in Abilene. The Wildcats began the season with two matches in Lubbock over the weekend. In the season opener, ACU collected a 3-1 win over defending Southland champion, Houston Christian, and fell in four sets to Texas Tech on Sunday.
 
The Wildcats are coached by Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup, who is in her first season. Ashli Edmonston has team-best 33 kills, Madeline Guffy has 91 assists, and Sara Carrizales leads the way with 40 digs.