TAMUC – Sports

Volleyball

Volleyball defeats Dallas Baptist 3-1 in home opener

COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team defeated Dallas Baptist three sets to one on Tuesday night. The match scores were 25-21, 25-14, 22-25 and 27-25. In front of a boisterous crowd, the Lions rallied to take the final set in extra points.

The win brings the Lions to 4-5 on the season. Dallas Baptist falls to 4-4 on the year.

The Lions open up their conference schedule with a matchup against No. 5 Angelo State on Friday. The match will begin at 6 p.m. at the Field House. The Lions will then host No. 14 Tarleton State on Saturday at 2 p.m.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
– Jaslyn Wacker co-led the Lions with 15 kills. She hit .440 in the match and had a kill percentage of .600. She also had two blocks.
– Jaryn Wacker also co-led the Lions with 15 kills. She had 11 kills in the first two sets.
– Layne Little had 14 kills and finished second on the team with 23 digs. Shelley Chapron had 13 kills, including eight in the first two sets with a .727 hitting percentage. Chapron also led the team with seven blocks.
– Gabriela Rosa led the team in both assists (33) and digs (24). She also had two kills and an ace.
– Rylie Fuentes had 26 assists and ten digs. Savannah Rutledge had 18 digs and two aces.
– Mariyah Oliver had six kills while Sydney Reyes had three. Payton McMillan, Preston Lienemann, and Lacie Jessup also each had a kill.
– After a total of one tie score in the first two sets, the final two games had 20 ties and nine lead changes. There were seven ties in the final set.
– The Lions had 71 kills in the match while DBU had 41.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions started the set strong, scoring eight of the first nine points. Rutledge had two consecutive service aces as part of the rally. DBU scored four points in a row to cut into the Lion lead. The Patriots cut the Lion lead to just 12-10 midway through the set.

The set was a nail-biter from that point until the very end. Jaryn Wacker had two kills in a row late in the set to give the Lions a three-point lead. However, the Patriots cut the Lion lead back down to just one at 21-20. The Lions finished the game well, taking four of the final five points to win the first set 25-21. Little had the last two kills of the set and finished the first set with five kills. Jaryn Wacker and Chapron each had four kills.

The Lions got off to a good start again in the second set. Chapron had back-to-back kills as part of a 10-1 rally for A&M-Commerce to launch the match. Jaryn Wacker and Little both also had two kills in the rally.

The Lion lead hovered between seven and 10 for the rest of the set. Chapron and Little continued to hit well for the Lions. Chapron hit .727 with no errors through the first two sets. She had four kills in the second set. Jaryn Wacker had seven kills in the set to lead the Lions. The Lions took set two 25-14.

Attack errors hurt the Lions early in the third set as DBU took an early 5-3 lead. The Lions answered back to tie the game at 6-all. The teams continued to trade points throughout the remainder of the set. Jaslyn Wacker had three kills in the middle of the match to give the Lions their biggest lead of the set, 17-14.

However, DBU answered back with three consecutive points to tie the set. After trading the next six points, DBU took the next three points to take a 23-20 lead. The Lions could not recover and lost the third set 25-22. Jaslyn Wacker had six kills in the third game for the Lions.

Oliver and Chapron both had two early kills for the Lions to start the fourth set as A&M-Commerce got off to a 5-0 lead. The Lions built their lead to six early in the match. Midway through the game, DBU went on a 7-1 run to tie the set at 13. The teams started to trade points, with the contest remaining tight until the end.

The Lions went on a three-point rally to take a 20-17 lead, which included an ace from Fuentes. The Patriots bounced back with a three-point rally of their own to tie the set at 23. The teams traded points twice, forcing the set into extra points. The crowd roared as the teams continued to trade points. Chapron and Oliver had late kills to rally the Lions to win the fourth set 27-25.

Soccer
Soccer moves up to No. 9 in country in latest USC Poll

COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce soccer team has moved to No. 9 in the United Soccer Coaches Division II rankings. The USC released the weekly rankings Tuesday. The Lions were ranked No. 11 in last week’s poll.

The Lions went undefeated last week in their second week of competition. The Lions had a 2-0 win at home against St. Mary’s and fought to a 0-0 double overtime tie to St. Edward’s, who was ranked No. 5 in the USC Poll this week.

Michelle Kotlik had the game-winning goal in the Lions’ win over St. Mary’s. Delaney Bunselmeyer also had a goal against St. Mary’s. Kara Blasingame assisted on the first goal, her third assist of the season. Izzy Ward assisted on the other goal. Both goals were off of corner kicks. Caitlin Duty had two shutouts, giving her three for the season. She had a career-high 12 saves against St. Edward’s.

The Lions continue their four game road stand with a match against Harding on the road on Friday. The game will be at Stevens Soccer Complex in Searcy, Ark.

United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II Women – National – Week 2 Ranking – Sept. 12, 2017

Rank	School	Prev.	W-L-T
1	Western Washington	1	3-0-0
2	Columbus State	2	2-0-0
3	Kutztown	3	4-0-0
4	Central Missouri	4	4-0-0
5	St. Edward’s	6	3-0-1
6	West Florida	5	3-0-0
7	LIU Post	8	3-0-0
8	Bellarmine	7	2-0-1
9	A&M-COMMERCE	11	3-0-1
10	Sonoma State	18	4-0-0
11	Carson-Newman	12	3-0-0
12	Grand Valley State	14	2-2-0
13	Nova Southeastern	13	3-0-0
14	West Virginia Wesleyan	22	4-0-1
15	Minnesota State-Mankato	10	2-1-0
16	Adelphi	15	2-0-0
17	Mississippi College	19	3-0-1
18	Colorado Mines	RV	3-1-0
19	California-San Diego	9	3-2-0
20	Quincy	23	3-0-0
21	Southern New Hampshire	24	3-1-0
22	Limestone	RV	2-1-0
23	Seton Hill	16	3-1-0
24	Missouri Western State	NR	4-0-0
25	Flagler	RV	4-0-0

Records shown are through games played on Sept. 10, 2017
Also receiving votes: Fort Hays State, North Alabama, Texas Woman’s, California State-Stanislaus

Women’s Golf

Lions finish fourth at Northeastern State Classic

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce women’s golf team completed its first event of the 2017-18 season in fourth place, only three strokes back of the lead at the 19th Annual Northeastern State Classic.

The Lions shot 617 (305-312, +41), the sixth-best 36-hole tournament score in school history. A&M-Commerce was behind Southwestern Oklahoma State, Henderson State, and Missouri Western State. SWOSU won the event in a sudden death playoff.

Junior Lauren Leslie led A&M-Commerce, who shot a total of 151 (+7) after a 2-over par 74 in Tuesday’s round to finish in a tie for fourth place. She had four birdies in the final series of the tournament.

Anya Anders tied for eighth at 152 (+8, 74-78), only one stroke back of Leslie.

A trio of Lions making their collegiate debuts was tightly packed. Sophie-Charlott Hempel tied for 28th at 159 (+15, 81-78), Christen Simons tied for 32nd at 160 (+16, 78-82), and Paige Lee Garris tied for 37th at 161 (+17, 76-85).

The Lions will be back on the course next Monday and Tuesday at the Fort Lewis Skyhawk West Regional Preview in Durango, Colo.

4	A&M-COMMERCE	305	312	617	+41
T4	Lauren Leslie	77	74	151	+7
T8	Anya Anders	74	78	152	+8
T28	Sophie-Charlott Hempel	81	78	159	+15
T32	Christen Simons	78	82	160	+16
T37	Paige Lee Garris	76	85	161	+17

 

1*	Southwestern Oklahoma St.	306	308	614	+38
2	Henderson St.	309	305	614	+38
	Missouri Western St.	307	307	614	+38
4	A&M-COMMERCE	305	312	617	+41
T5	Northeastern St.	308	311	619	+43
	Oklahoma Christian	310	309	619	+43
7	Rogers St.	313	308	621	+45
8	Southern Arkansas	318	326	644	+68
9	Harding	314	331	645	+69
10	Oklahoma Baptist	326	324	650	+74
10	Northwest Missouri St.	326	329	655	+79
12	Fort Hays St.	330	332	662	+86
13	Arkansas-Fort Smith	338	329	667	+91
14	Southern Nazarene	341	335	676	+100
15	St. Gregory’s	342	339	681	+105
16	Lincoln (Mo.)	402	390	792	+216
17	Southwest Baptist	407	389	796	+220

Men’s Golf

Men’s golf blasts school record for 54-hole tournament in fourth place finish at Palmer Foundation Invitational

AMARILLO – In its first tournament of the 2017-18 season, the Texas A&M University-Commerce men’s golf team set the school record for the low 54-hole tournament, as the Lions finished in fourth place at the Ryan Palmer Foundation Invitational.

The Lions shot a 54-hole score of 843 (-21, 282-276-285) to best the previous school record by 15 strokes. That record had stood since the City of Fort Worth Championship in the 1996-97 season.

Wilfredo Sanchez shot even par in the final round to finish in the top 10 in ninth place with a 7-under par 209 (66-71-72). This effort marks a career best for him by five strokes and is his sixth top 10 finish as a Lion.

Blake Hartford shot his second sub-70 round of the season with a 4-under par 68 Tuesday on the way to 12th place at 211 (-5, 69-74-68).

Lucas McCubbin was 1-over par in Tuesday’s round and finished in 15th place at 212 (-4, 75-64-73). Zach Burch finished in 21st place after an even par round Tuesday, shooting 214 (-2, 75-67-72) for the event. Garrett Landers was in 50th place at 5-over par 221 (72-74-75)

St. Mary’s won the tournament at 27-under par 837 after a round of 17-under par on Tuesday. The Lions were six strokes away from the lead, and one stroke away from second place.

The Lions will be away from competition for three weeks until the first of three October tournaments at the Western New Mexico Fall Intercollegiate in Goodyear, Ariz., on October 2-3.

4	A&M-COMMERCE	282	276	285	843	-21
T9	Wilfredo Sanchez	66	71	72	209	-7
T12	Blake Hartford	69	74	68	211	-5
T15	Lucas McCubbin	75	64	73	212	-4
T21	Zach Burch	75	67	72	214	-2
T50	Garrett Landers	72	74	75	221	+5

 

1	St. Mary’s	286	280	271	837	-27
2	Cameron	280	286	276	842	-22
	West Texas A&M	278	281	283	842	-22
4	A&M-COMMERCE	282	276	285	843	-21
5	St. Edward’s	283	279	284	846	-18
6	Colorado School of Mines	284	285	281	850	-14
7	Dallas Baptist	294	281	279	854	-10
8	Colorado State-Pueblo	283	290	284	857	-7
9	Midwestern State	295	282	289	866	+2
10	Texas A&M International	291	293	289	873	+9
11	Western New Mexico	296	283	295	874	+10
12	Colorado Mesa	296	288	292	876	+12
13	Newman	296	296	288	880	+16
14	Rogers State	288	299	294	881	+17
15	Lubbock Christian	301	294	287	882	+18
16	Wayland Baptist	297	296	291	884	+20
17	UT Permian Basin	313	300	288	901	+37

Women’s Soccer

Caitlin Duty named LSC Defensive Player of the Week after two shutouts in goal

RICHARDSON –Texas A&M University-Commerce junior Caitlin Duty has been named the Lone Star Conference Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week. The award was announced Wednesday by the LSC office. This honor is the second consecutive week a Lion has been named Player of the Week.
Duty – a junior from Crandall – was a brick wall for the Lions in their two matches last week. She did not allow a goal, saving all 13 shots on goal she faced. In the Lions’ 2-0 win over St. Mary’s, she saved the only shot on goal in the match. Duty had an active day in the Lions’ 0-0 double overtime tie with No. 5 St. Edward’s. She had a career-high 12 saves.

Duty leads the LSC in save percentage, saving 95.2 percent of shots that have come on goal so far this season. Her two shutouts this week brings her season total to three, tied for the conference lead.

Duty and the Lions are now ranked No. 9 nationally in Division II United Soccer Coaches’ Poll. The Lions return to action on Friday on the road against Harding University. The game will begin at 7 p.m. at the Stevens Soccer Complex in Searcy, Ark.

LONE STAR CONFERENCE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

OFFENSIVE
Sept. 6 – Sophie Haywood, A&M-Commerce
Sept. 13– Destinee Williamson, Midwestern State

DEFENSIVE
Sept. 6– Maddie Vickroy, Texas Woman’s
Sept. 13 – Caitlin Duty, A&M-Commerce