Women's Volleyball

Box Score vs. Ouachita Baptist | Box Score vs. Arkansas-Monticello

The Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions went 2-0 on the first day of the Harding volleyball tournament with two 3-1 wins over Ouachita Baptist and Arkansas-Monticello on Friday, pushing their record to 5-4 for the season.

Brittany Williams recorded 14 kills and nine digs and Rachel Lance added 12 kills to lead the Lions past Ouachita Baptist, 25-18, 17-25, 25-17, 25-16, in the first game. Morgan Ballard and Terra Ousley each chipped in nine kills and Lauren Flynn collected 17 digs for A&M-Commerce.

Williams scored the first two points of the set and the Lions never looked back. A 10-4 rally started the set and the Lions held a comfortable lead the rest of the way. Ouachita Baptist (0-10) bounced back in the second set after separating from the Lions with an 11-3 spurt to take the game.

Four kills from Williams and three from Ballard helped the Lions jump out to a 17-9 advantage in the third before Ouachita Baptist rallied to make it 18-16 late. Williams and Flynn each tallied service aces helping the Lions win the set scoring seven of the final eight points. After a 10-10 tie in the fourth, the Lions finished on a 15-6 run to move back to .500 for the season.

Raichel Settle totaled 11 kills and 20 digs to pace Ouachita Baptist. Libby Merritt hit 12 kills and Lauren Stuart added 15 digs for the Tigers.

The Lions followed with a 26-24, 25-18, 17-25, 26-24 win over Arkansas-Monticello with the help of 14 kills from Alyssa Oberle and 34 digs from Flynn. Perla Faudoa had nine kills, 34 assists and a .467 hitting percentage and Lance added nine kills for A&M-Commerce.

A&M-Commerce and Arkansas-Monticello had 11 ties in the first set and 16 in the fourth with A&M-Commerce grabbing the win in each. Both teams kept it tight in the second and third before each team closed on runs to take the sets.

Arkansas-Monticello (8-2) was led by Nicole Ferguson's 14 kills, Jalynn Thornton's 10 kills and Stephanie Hatten's 25 digs.

A&M-Commerce will play two more games on Saturday with the first starting at 1:30 p.m. against Henderson State. The Lions end against tournament host Harding at 5 p.m.