COMMERCE – Being a set away from ending its season, the East Texas A&M University volleyball team forced a fifth and then rolled 15-6 in the deciding set to defeat the Northwestern State Lady Demons 3-2 on Saturday inside the Hunt Regional Healthcare Court in the Field House and clinched a berth into the Southland Conference Tournament.
The Lions have won four in a row to punch their ticket to the postseason for the 15
th year in a row, which is the longest active streak among all sports at East Texas A&M. The Lions finished the regular season with a record of 13-16 and went 7-9 against Southland opponents, including beating the Lady Demons twice this week, who end their season with a record of 14-17 overall and 6-10 against Southland opponents.
In next week's Southland Conference tournament in Corpus Christi, the Lions are the eighth seed, being so for the fourth year in a row. East Texas A&M faces top-seeded Southeastern in the quarterfinals on Friday at 10 a.m.
SENIOR DAY
Prior to the match, the Lions honored their four seniors:
Ariana Brown (Conroe),
Gracie Campbell (Klein Oak),
Rendi Fetty (Farmersville), and
Haley Mullaney (Decatur).
The Lions closed the match with a 15-6 fifth set, hitting .500 in the frame with eight kills and one error. The Lions turned a 2-1 edge into an 8-1 lead with six straight points, including kills by
Samantha Mosley (Atlanta), Campbell and
Sabine Wenzel (Melrose, Mass.) and a Brown service ace during Brown's serving run. The Lions pushed the margin to 11-3 on a Mosley kill and a
Sediong Scott (Houston – Elsik) kill, then stayed in front as Campbell added multiple kills to help make it 15-7.
Northwestern State worked back into the set, cutting the deficit to 18-16, but the Lions answered with kills by Campbell and Mosley to move back ahead 22-17. Scott's kill gave the Lions set point at 24-20, and after the Lady Demons scored three straight, an attacking error finished the set for the Lions, 25-23.
NSU scored the first four points of the second set before the Lions worked back into the set. Brown and Mosley had kills during the response, and Scott's kill tied it at 8-8 before Campbell, Scott and
Skylar Lambert (Aledo) helped the Lions move ahead 12-10. The Lady Demons pulled back even at 13-13 and later used a three-point stretch from 14-14 to take a 17-14 lead, eventually pushing the margin to 22-17. The Lions answered with a late run that included a Campbell kill, a Campbell service ace and a Brown kill to get within 22-21, but Northwestern State took the final three points to close the set 25-21.
The Lions started the third set with kills from Mosley and Campbell for a 2-0 lead and later went up 8-6 on a Scott kill. The Lady Demons answered with six straight points to move ahead 12-8, stretched the margin to 15-10 and still led 20-16. The Lions rallied behind a Lady Demon attack error, two
Jill Vinal (A&M-Consolidated) service aces and a Brown kill to tie the set at 20-20, and after a Lady Demon kill, Brown tied it again before a Mosley-Scott block put the Lions ahead 22-21. Northwestern State closed with the final four points to take the set 25-22.
The fourth set stayed tight until Northwestern State moved ahead 10-8, but Scott answered with three Lions kills in a four-point span to put the home side in front 11-10. After the Lady Demons tied it at 11-11, Scott and Mosley combined on a block, and service by
Jade Washington (Waco – Midway) serve helped the Lions stretch the lead to 16-11 with a Mosley kill, a Campbell kill and Washington's ace. The Lions kept control from there, getting late kills from Campbell, Brown and Mosley before Mosley finished the set at 25-19 off a Vinal assist.
The Lions moved ahead 4-2 on Fetty's service ace before the Lady Demons tied the fifth set at 4-4. After Campbell's kill and a Vinal block helped the Lions take a 6-4 edge, Sanchez brought Northwestern State within 6-5. A service error returned the serve to the Lions at 7-5, and
Allie Ihloff (Tulsa, Okla.) served six straight points, with Brown recording four kills during the stretch and Ihloff adding an ace to make it 13-5. NSU got one point back on a Lions attack error, but Scott's kill and Brown's final kill closed the set 15-6.
Campbell finished with 18 kills, exceeding her season average of 11.5, 20 points, 10 digs and two service aces. Mosley added a season-high 18 kills while hitting .349 and recorded four block assists. Mosley has recorded at least four total blocks in six consecutive games.
Vinal posted a season-high 42 assists, reached a season-best 22 digs and added three service aces. Washington collected 28 digs, surpassing her season average of 18.57, and added six assists. Brown recorded 15 kills, above her season average of 12.21. Scott recorded 12 kills, exceeding her season average of 4.82, and totaled five blocks, above her season average of 3.07.
As a team, the Lions recorded a season-high 68 kills in 2026-27. East Texas A&M totaled 61 set assists, above its season average of 43.5, and 92 digs, above its season average of 55.64.
-ETAMU-
