THIBODAUX, La. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team picked up its second straight win, downing Nicholls in four sets, on Saturday afternoon at Stopher Gymnasium via set scores of 28-26, 22-25, 25-13, and 25-18.
Saturday's win was the first time the Lions toppled the Colonels since 2022, having lost the previous three and it is also just the second true road win of the season for the Lions.
A&M-Commerce is now 8-15 overall and 5-6 in Southland Conference, while Nicholls falls to 7-15 overall and 2-9 against SLC competition.
Taking advantage of three attacking errors in a row from the Colonels, the Lions built an 8-4 lead in the first set and remained ahead until a 3-0 run by the Colonels tied the set at 16. The Lions halted the scoring run via a Nicholls bad set, but the next five points went to the Colonels, who were four points away from taking the first.
The Lions used a 4-0 run of their own to tie the set at 22 and a kill by
Gracie Campbell (Klein Oak) spoiled the Colonels' chance to win the set at 24-23. Nicholls saved two points, but a kill from
Reese Fetty (Farmersville) bagged the first set for the Lions.
FIRST SET WIN HIGHLIGHT
In the second set, the Lions had the early advantage, leading 11-7, but the Colonels came back to tie the set at 14. Both teams exchanged points with neither squad having a lead bigger than a point, until back-to-back kills from Leah Linares Castro gave the Colonels two chances to close out the second set, which they did thanks to a Lion attacking error.
The first four points of the third set went to the Lions, which was just the cushion A&M-Commerce needed to separate itself in the fourth. The Lions did not trail in the set and had a lead as big as 11 in the set. Hitting .467 in the set with no attacking errors, a kill from Fetty secured the third set for the Lions.
THIRD SET WIN HIGHLIGHT
With the fourth set tied early at three, the Lions used a 5-0 run, including two kills from
Kitana Tuufuli (St. Hedwig – Steele) to jump ahead 8-3 and built out a nine-point lead at 20-11. Despite the Colonels winning three points in a row to extend the match, a block from
Brooke Box (Klein Collins) gave the Lions their first win over the Colonels in over two years.
MATCH WIN HIGHLIGHT
Tuufuli led the way for the Lions with 16 kills and two digs, while Fetty picked up 14 kills, five blocks, and four digs. Campbell had 12 kills and four digs, while
Avery Wilks (Mont Belvieu – Barbers Hill) tallied eight kills and five blocks as well as an ace.
Ellie Baumert (Dodge, Neb.) totaled 41 assists, four aces, two blocks, and fell just a dig shy of a double-double.
Jade Smith (Houston – Mayde Creek) had 30 digs to go along with five assists and an ace.
POST MATCH INTERVIEW
UP NEXT
The Lions welcome Northwestern State on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. before heading on the road for the final two road matches of the regular season at Houston Christian on Thursday and UIW next Saturday. Tickets for the match against the Lady Demons can be purchased at
LionAthletics.com/Tickets.
-TAMUC-
