Women's Volleyball

After a 3-1 victory over Henderson State on Saturday afternoon, the Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions dropped their only match of the 2008 Harding Classic volleyball tournament, 25-20, 25-21, 25-17, to Harding on Saturday night.

The Lions picked up two wins over Ouachita Baptist and Arkansas-Monticello on Friday and earned a season-long three-game winning streak before the loss to Harding dropped A&M-Commerce to 6-5 for the season.

Rachel Lance paced the Lions with 10 kills, four digs, one block and a .409 hitting percentage against Harding (8-4). Alyssa Oberle and Amy Addison each added eight kills, Perla Faudoa recorded 29 assists and Lauren Flynn added 16 digs.

The Lions and Lady Bisons kept it close as Harding never led by more than four points until a kill by Manuela Nesheva sealed the first set. Harding ran off five consecutive points in the second set, but a 5-0 run from the Lions helped tie the game at 10. After six ties the Lady Bisons closed on a 7-3 spurt to take the set. The final set saw 12 ties and seven lead changes, but Harding took the last lead on a kill by Nesheva and reeled off 10 of the final 12 points.

Sarah Phipps recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs to lead the Lady Bisons. Nesheva ended with 13 kills and Leah Tepe chipped in 43 assists.

A&M-Commerce fell behind early in its first game on Saturday afternoon, but rallied with three straight sets to earn the 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-16 victory over Henderson State.

The Lions play next on Thursday in their Lone Star Conference opener against Southeastern Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. in Durant, Okla.