COMMERCE – For the first time at home in 2024, the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team collected a clean sweep on Hunt Regional Healthcare in the Field House, finishing off the Northwestern State Lady Demons via set scores of 25-23, 25-22, and 25-21, on Tuesday night for the third win in a row.
 
The Lions started Southland play winning three in a row, then lost six in a row, but have now won their last three to move to 6-6 in conference play and are 9-15 overall. The six conference wins are tied for the most in the Division I era.
 
The Lady Demons fall to 7-14 overall and 2-10 in conference play. A&M-Commerce won both meetings in the regular season over Northwestern State for the first time.  
 
In the first set, neither team was able to pull away and build a lead bigger than two points throughout the set. The Lady Demons went up 23-21, but the Lions won the next four, which included kills from Gracie Campbell (Klein Oak) and Kitana Tuufuli (St. Hedwig – Steele) and two attacking errors from the Lady Demons to take the first set.
 
Tuufuli had team-high 19 kills with no errors in the match, hitting .559 in the match. She is just the 20^th player in Division I this season to have a minimum of 20 attacks in a three-set match and no errors.
 
The Lions pulled away in the second set on a 6-0 run, which included three aces in the run by Ellie Baumert (Dodge, Neb.). The Lions had seven chances to close out the set at 24-17, but Northwestern State made things interesting with a 5-0 run, until a kill from Campbell gave the second set to the Lions.
 
Baumert recorded 31 assists, nine digs, one block, three aces, and a kill in the match.
 
The third set was tied at five to start, but the Lions remained ahead leading by three for most of the set, until a 4-0 run gave the Lions match point opportunities at 24-18. Northwestern State won three in a row to remain alive once again, but a service error bagged the match win for the Lions.
 
Additionally for the Lions, Avery Wilks (Mont Belvieu – Barbers Hill) picked up seven kills and four blocks, while Jade Smith (Houston – Mayde Creek) led the team with 10 digs.
 

POST MATCH INTERVIEW
 
UP NEXT
The Lions head on the road for the final time in the regular season, playing at Houston Christian on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and at UIW on Saturday at noon.