GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team fell twice on Friday at the Pirate Invitational inside Williams Arena, falling in four to Western Carolina to begin the day and in three to East Carolina in the nightcap.
 
The Lions have lost back-to-back matches for the first time this season as they fall to 2-3.
 
Match 1: WESTERN CAROLINA 3, A&M-COMMERCE 1
The first set was either tied or the lead was in the favor of the Lions through the first 34 points, as A&M-Commerce had a lead as big as three points in the set, but the Catamounts used a 4-0 run to take their first lead of the set, 19-17.
 
The Lions took the lead right back at 21-20 on a 3-0 run, which included an ace from Ellie Baumert (Dodge, Neb.), but following a timeout, Western Carolina only lost two points the rest of the set to take the first, 25-22, including winning three in a row to close it out.
 
The second set began with the Lions holding a slight advantage early on as well, until an 8-1 run by the Catamounts put them up 13-8. Western Carolina took command of the match by coming out on top in the second set, 25-14, including winning six of the final seven points of the set.
 
Western Carolina hit .275 in the second set, while the Lions hit .000 with five kills. The Lions also had five service errors in the set.
 
After a back-and-forth affair to start the third set, the Lions used a 5-1 run to take a 9-6 lead. Carley Spachman (Leewood, Kan.) picked up a solo block and a kill in the scoring run, while Reese Fetty (Farmersville) recorded an ace and a kill, as well as an attacking error by the Catamounts.
 
The Catamounts fought back once again to lead 14-12 on a 4-0 run, but A&M-Commerce took two points in a row on kills by Avery Wilks (Mont Belvieu – Barbers Hill) and Kitana Tuufuli (St. Hedwig – Steele) for a 21-19 lead.
 
Western Carolina served back a 2-0 run to tie the set at 22 and again at 23, but a kill by Fetty gave the Lions their first set point of the match and extended the match on an attacking error, 25-23.
 
It did not take long for the Catamounts to build up an advantage in the fourth set as they took the first two points of the set. The Lions took the next two points, but did not manage to take a lead at any point in the set. Leading by as much as six in the set, the Catamounts won four of the last five points of the match and took the fourth, 25-21.
 
For the Lions, Wilks led the way with 14 kills, adding three blocks, five digs, and an ace as well, while Fetty totaled 11 kills, nine digs, two aces, and a block.
 
In the middle, Spachman picked up four blocks and Tuufuli had eight kills and three blocks. Baumert racked up 34 of the team's 41 assists as well as seven digs, while Jade Smith (Houston – Mayde Creek) led the team with 24 digs and Millie Allgood (Sherwood, Ark.) had 19 digs.
 
Ali Morris, Bailey Hartsough, and Katie Boney, and Sarah Janourova picked up double-doubles for the Catamounts.

Coach Joe Morales said, "our match against WCU was a tough one. We did a lot of good things, but couldn't find a rhythm. We tried different things and started to play well."

"Going into the third set we found the court a lot better in the 5-1. We had an opportunity to reverse sweep, but passing caught us late. Definitely would love to have that one back. We played that end of the 4th set well, but not good enough to win."
 
Match 2: EAST CAROLINA 3, A&M-COMMERCE 0
Both teams exchanged the lead early on in the match, but the Pirates used a 5-1 run in the middle of the set for a 18-14 lead and closed out the first set on a 4-1 run as the Lions had three attacking errors and a service error in that stretch.
 
The first three points of the second set went to the Lions, but East Carolina fought back to tie the set at six and took a 10-8 lead on a 4-0 run. Trailing 15-10 in the set, A&M-Commerce used back-to-back kills from Fetty to spark a 7-0 run and take a 17-15 lead in the set.
 
During the scoring run, Fetty totaled two kills, Spachman had two blocks, while both Tuufuli and MJ Klaumann (Emerald Isle, N.C.) had a block and a kill.
 
The Lions had a lead as big as three, but following an ECU timeout, the Pirates took three of the next four to remain within one. A kill by Spachman gave the Lions two set points at 24-22, but the Lions did not win another point the rest of the match as ECU took the set, 26-24, on a 5-1 run.
 
The final set of the match began with the Pirates leading 7-3, but the Lions used a kill and two aces from Wilks to pull to within one. The Lions trailed 11-10 in the season, but the next four points went to the Pirates, who went on to lead by as much as six in the third.
 
The Lions, on a kill and an ace from Fetty as well as a kill from Spachman, fought to 22-19 and force a Pirate timeout, but the next two points went to ECU, opening up five chances to win the point, and the Pirates wasted no time to win the set, 25-19 and sweep the Lions.
 
In the second match, Wilks was the team leader with 11 kills as well as two aces, while Tuufuli racked up 10 kills and a block. Fetty finished the match with nine kills and five digs. Spachman picked up four kills and three blocks.
 
Smith totaled 22 digs and five assists, while Savannah Jennings (Rosehill Christian) had team-best 16 assists and eight digs, and Baumert had 12 assists.

"In the last match it was a turn around for our team. Playing a well-coached team, we had lots of fun," said Morales. "It was good to coach against my good friend Alder, who has done an amazing job there, probably a top-three team in the American."