Upset-minded No. 13 Lions fall 35-17 to No. 1 Argonauts.

COMMERCE – In the anticipated rematch of the 2017 NCAA Division II National Championship, the No. 1 West Florida Argonauts defeated the No. 13 Texas A&M University-Commerce football team, 35-17, at Memorial Stadium in front of 8,269 fans on Saturday evening. 

The Argonauts picked up their first win over the Lions and remain undefeated, 3-0, on the year. The Lions fall to 1-2 on the season. 

Chance Cooper (Leander – Rouse) opened up the scoring on a seven-yard catch from Jaiave Magalei (Tacoma, Wash.). Cooper has now caught a touchdown pass in two games in a row and led the team with 64 yards on five catches. Magalei went 14 for 23 in the passing game for 159 yards, a touchdown pass, and an interception. 

West Florida tied the game just four minutes later, on a 33-yard catch by Larry Rembert. 

The Lions took the lead once again in the first quarter on a four-yard rush by E.J. Thompson (Cy Ranch), who led all Lions’ rushers with 43 yards on 12 carries. He also caught a pass for 13 yards.  

Anthony Johnson Jr. tied it again with a seven-yard run with 11 minutes left in the second quarter. 

A&M-Commerce went into the locker room with a 17-14 lead thanks to a 33-yard field goal with four seconds left in half by Jake Viquez (Rockwall), who went 1 for 2 in field-goal attempts. 

The Argonauts shut out the Lions in the second half. They took the lead on an eight-yard run by Jervon Newton and extended it to 11 on the first play of the fourth quarter with a 19-yard touchdown reception by David Durden. West Florida quarterback Austin Reed threw for 274 yards on 18 for 32 passing and two touchdowns. 

Shomari Mason punched it in from the one-yard line in the fourth to give West Florida a 35-14 lead. 

The Lions’ leading tackler on defense was Dominique Ramsey (Converse – Judson), with eight total tackles. He also had 126 return yards. His longest punt return was 45, and his most extended kick return was 35. 

D’Angelo Ellis (Cy Ridge) broke up three passes and also had four tackles. Kader Kohou (Euless – Trinity) had five tackles, one for loss and a broken-up pass. 

UP NEXT

The Lions look to keep the Chennault Cup in their possession when they travel to Kingsville to take on Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday, September 25 at 7:00 pm.

 

Lady Buffs sweep Lions at the Field House.

COMMERCE – The West Texas A&M Lady Buffs swept the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team, 3-0, at The Field House on Saturday afternoon. Celeste Vela had 31 assists for the Lions, and Maddy Rashford had 11 kills. 

The Lions fall to 1-4 on the year and 0-2 in the early portion of Lone Star Conference play. The Lady Buffs improve to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference. 

West Texas A&M won the first set by a score of 25-16, the second set by 25-22, and the final set by a margin of 25-20. 

The Lady Buffs led throughout the first set, hitting .370 percent and .295 percent overall. The Lions hit .156 percent with 16 errors. 

A kill by Rashford (Placentia, Calif.) pulled the Lions to 23-22 in the second set, but they lost the following two points to lose the set. Behind Rashford’s 11 kills, Maiya Dickie (Huntsville) had seven kills. Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) had eight digs to go along with her 31 assists. 

Riley Davidson (Commerce) led the team with 17 digs, Ashley Pennington (Frisco – Liberty) had 14, and Essence Allen (Longview – Tatum) was also in double digits with ten digs. 

Davidson had two of the four service aces for the Lions. 

A&M-Commerce led 13-10 in the third set, but a 4-0 run by West Texas A&M got them back in the set, and they closed out the match, winning three of the last four points. 

UP NEXT

After the two matches at home this weekend, A&M-Commerce heads south to face St. Edward’s on Friday at 6:00 pm and St. Mary’s on Saturday at 2:00 pm.

 

The lions were downed in five sets by Greyhounds.

COMMERCE – Down a set and just four points from losing the match, the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds rallied to defeat the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team in five sets at the Field House on Friday night. The Greyhounds won the fifth set by a score of 15-10. 

Friday was the Lone Star Conference opening match for both teams. Eastern New Mexico picked up its first win of the season, holding a record of 1-7 and dropping A&M-Commerce to 1-4 overall. It was the first win for Eastern New Mexico over A&M-Commerce since 2016. 

The Lions took the first set by a score of 25-19. The Lions won four of the last five points, including kills by Sydney Andersen (Placentia, Calif.), Nicki Gonelli (Round Rock – Stony Point), and Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico). A&M-Commerce had a hitting percentage of .419 in the first set, but in the match, the Lions’ hitting percentage was .195. Eastern New Mexico hit .316 in the match. 

Andersen had 12 kills in the match, Gonelli had 11, and Vela had 10. Maiya Dickie (Huntsville) and Essence Allen (Longview – Tatum) led the team with 14 kills each. All but one of Dickie’s kills came in sets 2-5. 

The Greyhounds were down 8-6 in the second set and fought all the way back to lead 13-9. The Lions tried to keep it close but lost the set, 25-16. As a team, Eastern New Mexico had just eight attacking errors all match while A&M-Commerce had 29. 

An assisted block by Allen and Dickie helped A&M-Commerce take a 9-2 lead in the third, but Eastern New Mexico once again got right back in the set, trailing just 12-10. The Greyhounds could never catch the Lions to tie the set and fell two sets down to one a kill by Allen, which gave A&M-Commerce a 25-20 win in the third set. 

Neither team was able to separate itself in the early parts of the fourth set. The Greyhounds went on a 4-1 run with the set tied at nine. The Lions answered with a 4-0 run to take the lead. The set tied at 21, when Eastern New Mexico went on a 4-0 run to force a fifth set. The Lions had three attacking errors in the 4-0 stretch. 

Thanks to a service error, the Lions took an 8-7 lead in the fifth set, but the Greyhounds again rushed back, looking for their first win in nearly two years. However, Eastern New Mexico was in the driver’s seat with a 5-0 run in the fifth and closed it out, 15-10, on an attacking error by A&M-Commerce. 

Vela continued her run of being the dominant primary setter for the Lions. She had 40 assists on Friday night and has had 40 or more assists in each of the last three matches. Aislynn Shore (Hockley – Frassati Catholic) had 11 assists in two sets played. 

Libero Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo.) had 25 digs, Allen had 13, and Riley Davidson (Commerce). Vela had eight.

Allen and Dickie had two assisted blocks each. Reese Fetty (Farmersville) had three, and six Lions had one service ace each. 

UP NEXT

A&M-Commerce has a quick turnaround time on Saturday, hosting West Texas A&M at 1:00 pm in the Field House.

 

Speer finishes first for Lions at Southern Stampede.

JOPLIN, Mo. – In the first race outside of the state of Texas this season, the Texas A&M University-Commerce cross country team placed 17th at the Southern Stampede eight-kilometer race hosted by Southern Missouri State on Saturday morning. 

Alex Speer (Robinson) has been the fastest-runner for the Lions in each of the three races this year. He won the Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Week award earlier this week and raced to a time of 25:39.3 on Saturday, which is his second-fastest time in 2021. 

Just after Speer was Tanner Townsend (Royse City), who raced to a time of 27:01.1, Chris Flores (Rocksprings) finished third among the Lion runners with a mark of 27:52.0. 

Anthony Gonzales (DeSoto) clocked in a time of 28:25.1, Chris Navarette (Laredo – Lyndon B. Johnson) timed 28:27.7, Jan Lenfert (Buckenhof, Germany) clocked in a time of 30:13.1. 

Mykel Smith (Fort Worth – North Crowley) rounded out the Lions with a time of 30:36.3. 

Ryan Riddle and JP Rutledge of Missouri Southern State were the top-two finishers. Riddle recorded a time of 24:14.0, and Rutledge was right behind him with a time of 24:23.2. Pittsburg State took home the team title with a score of 53. 

UP NEXT

The Lions are off the next two weeks before heading to Huntsville, Alabama, for the Chargers XC Invitational hosted by Alabama Huntsville on October 9.