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Lion Volleyball welcomes Prairie View A&M for the 2023 home opener.

COMMERCE – A tough weekend is ahead for the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team, which faces three major conference programs at the Texas Tech Invitational in Lubbock. 

WHO: Prairie View A&M at A&M-Commerce

WHERE: Commerce | The Field House

WHEN: Tuesday, September 5 | 6:30 p

RECORDS: The Lions are 2-5 overall, while the Panthers are 2-4. 

LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ | https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/aa6628ed-cee1-4761-b517-2af955748ee1  

LIVE STATS: https://statb.us/b/479301  

TICKETS: Free Admission 

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE LIONS

The Lions head to Birmingham, Alabama, for the Blazer Classic this weekend. On Friday, the Lions face rival Tarleton and Alabama, the program’s first regular season opponent from the SEC, and battle the hosts, UAB, on Saturday.

YOU CAN’T TOUCH THIS

Reese Fetty (Farmersville) has served 12 aces this season, including six last week. She is the Southland Conference leader in the category. 

A THRILLING WIN IN ABILENE

The Lions fought till the end and pulled out a five-set win over Abilene Christian last Tuesday, the first meeting between the two former conference rivals since 2012. A&M-Commerce has won three straight meetings against the Wildcats. 

AN UTTER DOMINANCE OF THE TIGERS

The Lions hit .321 percent in the win over Texas Southern, which is the third highest in the program’s Division I era, and it was the first three-set win since October 29, 2022. 

SMITH KEEPS SHINING

Libero Jade Smith (Mayde Creek), a Temple College transfer, shined bright in her debut by earning UTSA Invitational all-tournament honors after the season’s first week. She has 95 digs on the season, second in the SLC. 

THE NEW ERA BEGINS WITH A BANG

Joe Morales began his tenure as the Lions coach last week, and it took a little while for him to earn his first career head coaching win. A&M-Commerce swept Texas Southern in their second match of the season. 

NEW FACES ON THE BENCH

Morales is joined by Morgan Williams on the coaching staff as an assistant coach, while Makenna Hanssen returns as the program’s graduate assistant coach. 

INTERNATIONAL LOVE

Four countries represent the Lions’ 2023 rost. Fourteen players are from the United States, while one hails from Brazil, Poland, and Germany. 

GOING STREAKING

This season, the Lions are looking to make the postseason for the 12th season in a row, which is the longest active streak of any program at A&M-Commerce. 

BUILDING UPON 2022

Last season was A&M-Commerce’s first season in NCAA Division I and the Southland Conference. They filled the season with many historic wins for the Lions, who beat Prairie View A&M for their first Division I win, swept Southeastern, who won the 2023 SLC Tournament and played in the NCAA Tournament, and down New Orleans in the SLC Tournament. 

SOUTHLAND PRESEASON POLLEntering their second season in the Southland Conference, they picked the Lions seventh in the preseason conference poll.

Under Armour Student-Athlete of the Week was Randma.

COMMERCE – Texas A&M University-Commerce cross country team’s Anete Randma is this week’s Under Armour Student-Athlete of the Week.

 Randma (Tallinn, Estonia) timed 19:26.7 to finish fifth at the McMurry Big Country Festival last week, which was her Lion debut. The Lions, as a team, finished second in the five-kilometer race. 

A&M-Commerce is next in action on September 15 at the Texas A&M Invitational.  

The Under Armour Student-Athlete of the Week is awarded by Lion Athletics each week during the academic year.

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce soccer team suffered a 6-0 defeat at LSU on Sunday afternoon, hosted at the LSU Soccer Stadium.

The Tigers, receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll, have just one loss on the season, while the Lions are 1-4-1 on the season with two matches left in non-conference play.

LSU had 14 shots in the first half, and the Lions kept the match scoreless for the first 22 minutes until Sage Glover scored off an assist from Ida Hermannsdottir and Mollie Baker in the 23rd minute.

The Tigers added another goal in the 44th minute, with Raelyn Prince heading in a goal from Jordan Johnson. Britney Bertram scored on an assist from Caley Swierenga and Prince in the 53rd minute.

The goals for LSU continued in the 58th minute, with Kelsey Major scoring on an assist from Swierenga, while two goals to end the match came in quick succession. Rammie Noel scored in the 84th minute, and Major added her second goal in the 86th minute on an assist from Laney Gonzales.

The Lions were outshot 26-3 in the match, with LSU shooting 13 shots on goal, while A&M-Commerce had none. A shot each came from Hannah Bell (Duncanville), Nia Chacon (Rowlett-Sachse), and Melissa Storey (Tyne and Wear, England) for the Lions.

Gillian McKenzie (Mesquite Horn) saved three shots in the first half, while Sophia Dean (Spring – Grand Oaks) stopped three in the second half. Both played one half each.

The 26 shots allowed by A&M-Commerce are the most since 29 against Lamar in the Southland Conference Tournament championship match last season. The six goals allowed against the Tigers match the amount allowed at Colorado last season.

UP NEXT

The Lions take on two University of Texas System schools to close out non-conference play, playing at UTSA on Thursday at 7:00 pm and hosting UTEP on Sunday at 1:00 pm.