BEAUMONT – A back-and-forth contest between the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team and Lamar at the McDonald Gym ended with the Lions winning in five on Saturday afternoon via set scores of 20-25, 25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 15-9.
 
The Lions improve to 3-0 in five-set matches this season and 5-10 overall. A&M-Commerce goes to 1-1 in Southland play. Lamar drops to 0-13 overall and 0-2 in conference play. The two teams meet again on October 14 in Commerce.

"It was good to come away with a win," said coach Joe Morales. "We definitely started off flat, but our team fought hard to get back on track. Lamar made it difficult, we just had to be a little more disciplined in our movements and blocking."

"It was definitely a roller coaster match but in the fifth set, we came alive and Kaitlyn Breland came in with a good point run to give us the victory. The team keeps impressing me with their resilience and come back!"
 
Lamar, playing its first home match of the year, jumped out to a 11-0 lead in the first set, the Lions did get to within 19-14, but Lamar hung on to take the set 25-20.
 
The second set started with both teams splitting the first 12 points, until A&M-Commerce went on a 3-0 run to lead 9-6, but Lamar tied it back at nine, and broke through for a 20-17 lead, increasing it to 23-19.
 
A kill by Peyton Roper (Converse – Judson) started the rally for the Lions, who took the next six points to win the set, 25-23. Millie Allgood (Sherwood, Ark.) had back-to-back service aces to close out the set.
 
The Lions jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the third, but Lamar fought back once again to lead 16-15. Both teams were tied at 19, the Lions took the next two to build an advantage, but Lamar once again stormed back to lead 23-22. An assisted block by Roper and Deja Benjamin (Pearland – Shadows Creek) gave the serve back to the Lions and tied it at 23.
 
Taylor Borden (Gregory-Portland) served an ace to give the Lions a set point and a Cardinal attacking error ended the third set with the Lions winning 25-23.
 
Lamar led by three early in the fourth set, leading by as much as eight in the set. The Lions made it interesting late by taking five of six to pull to 23-20, but following a Lamar timeout, Cardinals took the next two to force a deciding set.
 
The Cardinals took three of the first four in the fifth and continued to lead 5-2. A&M-Commerce took five of the next six to lead 7-6 and built out a 14-7 lead. The Cardinals took the next two, but A&M-Commerce ended the three-match losing streak with a kill from Benjamin.
 
For the Lions, Roper led the way with 15 kills as well as five blocks. Benjamin had 11 kills and five blocks. Kitana Tuufuli (St. Hedwig – Steele) totaled 10 kills and seven digs.
 
Breann Connally (Coolidge – Groesbeck) totaled 36 assists and five digs, while Jade Smith (Houston – Mayde Creek) posted 31 digs.
 
Lyric Jordan had a double-double for Lamar with 11 kills and 12 digs.
 
UP NEXT
The Lions play three matches next week, hosting Northwestern State on Tuesday and then heading to New Orleans on Thursday and defending conference tournament champion, Southeastern, on Saturday.