COMMERCE - The 2024 Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball season is set to begin on the Hunt Regional Healthcare Court inside the Field House this weekend with the Lion Invitational.
LIONS' WEEKEND SCHEDULE
The full schedule of the Lion Invitational can be found
HERE.
RARE START AT HOME
The Lion Invitational marks the first time the Lions are beginning the season at home in a non-COVID affected season since 2019. The other three teams in the Lion Invitational are Little Rock, Central Arkansas, and Tarleton. The last time the Lions opened at home was the spring 2021 season.
WHAT IS NEXT FOR THE LIONS
After three matches at home this week, the Lions head to North Carolina for the Pirate Invitational, hosted by East Carolina and facing North Carolina A&T as well as Western Carolina.
HELLO NEW LIONS
On Friday, the Lions debut nine newcomers in the lineup. Of the nine newcomers, two are freshmen, while seven are transfers. The freshmen for the program this year are
Semaj Cox (Missouri City - Elkins) and
Nevaeh Smith (San Antonio - O'Connor), while the transfers are
Ellie Baumert (Dodge, Neb.) from Texas Tech,
Brooke Box (Klein Collins) from UTRGV,
Kylie Bray (Concordia Lutheran) from Blinn College,
Gracie Campbell (Klein Oak),
Savannah Jennings (Rosehill Christian) from Lee,
MJ Klaumann (Emerald Isle, N.C.) from USC Upstate, and
Maselina Tuufuli (Saint Hedwig - Steele) from Pepperdine.
Baumert, Campbell, and Tuufuli competed for the Lions during the spring season.
GOING STREAKING
This season, the Lions are looking to make the postseason for the 13
th season in a row, which is the longest active streak of any program at A&M-Commerce.
TIDE ROLLED
Last season, A&M-Commerce downed Alabama in a five-set match on September 8 for A&M-Commerce's first win over a Power Five conference opponent. The Lions fell behind 2-1 in the match, but took the final two sets. It is the first ever win over an SEC opponent in school history in any sport.
BLAZERS TAMED
Last year, the Lions followed the win over Alabama with a win over UAB the next day. The Blazers took the first set, but A&M-Commerce took the next three sets, including a comeback from being down 23-17 in the second set.
A NEW-LOOK SOUTHLAND
The Southland Conference adds two members this season in Stephen F. Austin and UTRGV. In the preseason SLC poll, the Ladyjacks, a 2023 NCAA Tournament participant, were picked to win the SLC, while the Vaqueros were picked second. The Lions were picked 10th by the conference's head coaches and sports information directors.
2024 Preseason Southland Volleyball Poll
- SFA – 233 (17)
- UTRGV – 212 (3)
- Southeastern – 207 (2)
- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – 198
- HCU – 159 (2)
- McNeese – 144
- Northwestern State – 120
- UIW – 89
- New Orleans – 74
- A&M-COMMERCE – 70
- Lamar – 53
- Nicholls – 25
SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM
This offseason, the Lions once again received the AVCA Team Academic Award, marking the seventh consecutive year that the Lions received the award, while also being among the top 20 percent in NCAA Division I.
RIVALRY RE-IGNITED WITH THE TEXANS
Saturday marks a historic moment for the Lions as they host Tarleton for the first time since 2018, the two rivals have played five times since, with four of the matches in Stephenville and a 3-0 win for the Texans at UAB last season. The Lions have won three of the last five meetings and are 8-8 at home all-time in the series. Tarleton has the slight 24-22 edge in the all-time head-to-head.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Little Rock is the first opponent of the weekend for the Lions. The Trojans went 11-19 a year ago, finishing eigth in the Ohio Valley Conference with a record of 8-10. This is the first meeting between the two teams. Outside Bella Cherry is among the OVC's Players to Watch this season.
Central Arkansas and A&M-Commerce are meeting for the fifth time ever and first since 2003, the Lions have come out on top in three of the four prior meetings, going 2-1 at home. The Sugar Bears went 8-20 last season and missed out on the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament after a conference record of 2-14. Laci Bohannan led the team with 255 kills a year ago.
Tarleton went 16-15 a year ago, going 7-9 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Texans lost in five sets in the WAC Tournament to UTRGV. Emma Burke was named to the preseason all-WAC team, while the Texans were picked to finish fifth in the nine-team WAC.
-TAMUC-
