Women's Volleyball

For the fourth time in six years, the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team started its season off with a victory after a 25-8, 25-11, 25-10 win over Paul Quinn to open the A&M-Commerce tournament last Friday.

The Lions picked up another 3-0 victory over Southern Arkansas in the final match of day one before falling in straight sets to A&M-C tournament champion Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Saturday afternoon.

“Overall, I was pleased with Friday’s matches,” said Lions head volleyball coach Mark Pryor. “Our match on Saturday revealed a lot to me about where the kids are from a mentality standpoint. It showed me that even though we are just as physical and just as talented as an opposing team, our attention to detail and our overall ability to stay in system for an extended period of time have a long way to go. Over time, those items will improve.”

Senior Brittany Williams paced A&M-Commerce throughout the tourney with 17 kills and 27 digs. Rachel Lance recorded 16 kills and 11 digs and Morgan Ballard added 16 kills and nine digs.

Other key contributors for the Lions were Terra Ousley and Alyssa Oberle with double digit kills apiece, Lauren Flynn with 25 digs and Perla Faudoa with 47 assists.

After the weekend, the Lions lead the Lone Star Conference with 2.56 service aces per game.

A&M-Commerce will look for similar success this weekend as they hit the road to play in the Southwest Baptist tournament on Friday and Saturday in Bolivar, Mo. The Lions open the tournament with a 1:30 p.m. matchup against the 4-0 Wayne State (Neb.) Wildcats before taking on 2-2 Missouri S&T on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

The Lions follow with a 10 a.m. match against SBU (3-1) and a 3 p.m. finale against Rockhurst (3-1) on Saturday.

“This tournament is going to be the toughest collection of teams that the program has faced over the last few years,” said Pryor. “Wayne State has a current RPI of 14, and Rockhurst is a perennial team that hovers around the top 25 nationally.”

Pryor also noted that Southwest Baptist is off to their best start since 2002 and “plays in the toughest conference for volleyball in Division II, the MIAA,” and that Missouri S&T has two wins over solid competition in the program’s second year.

With the tough competition ahead, Pryor will be looking for strong play at every position.

“For this program to have an opportunity to be successful this weekend, each person on the roster will have to contribute something positive… starter or not, each person is going to have to contribute,” said Pryor.

With conference play less than a month away, “this tournament will serve as a measuring stick to see how far the program is going to have to progress in order to be relevant within the LSC,” according to Pryor.