Photo - Avi Mehta

Lions fall at No. 9/8 Hornets.

 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce football team suffered a 36-4 loss at the hands of No. 9/8 ranked Sacramento State on Saturday night in Hornet Stadium.

 The Lions drop to 0-2 on the season, while the Hornets are 2-0. Sacramento State, who advanced to the NCAA FCS Playoff Quarterfinals last season, ranked No. 8 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and No. 9 in the Stats Perform FCS poll.

 The Hornets jumped to a 24-0 lead through the second quarter and outgained the Lions 503 yards to 206.

 Max Epps (Spring–Dekaney) caught his second interception in as many games in the second quarter and returned it for 61 yards to the Hornets’ 14-yard line. Peter Parrish (Phenix City, Ala.) ran in a one-yard touchdown for the lone score for the Lions, who attempted a two-point conversion, but they intercepted it.

Offensively, Reggie Branch (Crosby) tallied 65 yards on 14 carries for an average of 4.6 yards per carry. Parrish went 11 for 24 with one interception and threw for 68 yards. Josh Magana (Dinuba, Calif.) came into the game at quarterback and went 1 for 2 for nine yards.

 Epps had a team-leading eight tackles to go along with his interception. Jordan Polk (Arlington – Lamar), Daryion Taylor (Humble – Atascocita), and Jaheim Lowe (Cedar Hill) had six tackles each. 

 Mitchell McGarry (Gregory-Portland) punted seven times for 291 total yards, with his longest punt being 55 yards. He had three kicks inside the 20 and one touchback.

 Sacramento State quarterback Kaiden Bennett threw for 176 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 101 yards and two touchdowns.

 A&M-Commerce has started 0-2 for the first time since 2012.

 UP NEXT

The Lions have their bye week next week. A&M-Commerce’s next game comes on the road at Old Dominion on September 23. 

Photo – Michael Wade

Fetty’s double-double helps Lion Volleyball tame UAB in four.

 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The good times kept rolling for the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team on Saturday afternoon in Bartow Arena as the Lions picked up a 3-1 win over the UAB Blazers via set scores of 19-25, 26-24, 25-18, and 25-19.

 The Lions won two in a row to close out the Blazer Classic, beating Alabama on Friday evening and now the Blazers on Saturday afternoon. A&M-Commerce improves to 4-7 on the season, playing its first Southland Conference contest next Thursday. UAB is 2-6 on the season.

“I’m really proud of this team and what they earned this weekend. Falling early to Tarleton, but they fought every inch,” said coach Joe Morales. “The win over Alabama, an SEC team, in our second match was exciting to be a part of. The team was fired up, and rightfully so. Beating a Power Five conference team is never an easy task, and the commitment they had on the court was something to be amazed at.”  

“Today’s focus was on UAB. Our first set was a struggle. Prior to our match, we talked about moving forward, and the Alabama game was in the past. Moving into the second set, our team responded full throttle and never took their foot off the gas, even making a comeback from being down 17-22 and winning that match.” 

Sometimes, we struggle, but our determination as a team and fight continue to be critical as they find a way. We could not be more proud of them this weekend.

The first set started with the Blazers leading 5-2, but the Lions tied the set thanks to three straight attacking errors. UAB remained up front throughout the rest of the set, and they closed out the set by taking the final two points.

 UAB had a 13-7 lead in the second set, and despite the Lions getting within reach, the Blazers led 21-13, being on the brink of taking a 2-0 lead in the match. The Lions took the following three points, but UAB took the next two for a 23-16 margin.

 The Lions took six points to pull to 23-22, but UAB had its first set-point opportunity following a kill. Momentarily, UAB had won the set at 25-22, but officials reviewed the set point play, and it went in favor of the Lions, citing a UAB player touched the kill from Kitana Tuufuli (St. Hedwig–Steele) before it went out of bounds, making it 24-23 in favor of UAB.

 Two straight attacking errors by the Blazers gave A&M-Commerce a chance to win the set at 25-24, and another attacking error gave A&M-Commerce a 26-24 win in the second set.

 The Lions took the first four points of the third set, which built enough separation for the Lions that they did not trail in the set. With a hitting percentage of .229 in the set, the Lions took a 2-1 lead with a 25-18 third-set win.

 Once again, in the fourth set, the Lions had an early lead at 10-5. UAB, on a 7-1 run, took an 18-15 lead, but a service error and an attacking error pulled A&M-Commerce to 18-17. After the Blazers took the next point, the Lions did not surrender a point for the rest of the set to win it 25-19 in the fourth. A&M-Commerce hit .385 in the fourth set.

 Reese Fetty (Farmersville) posted a double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs, her second of the season. Peyton Roper (Converse – Judson) had eight kills, while Tuufuli and Deja Benjamin (Pearland – Shadows Creek) had seven.

 Jade Smith (Houston – Mayde Creek) had 13 digs and two aces, while Tuufuli recorded 12 digs. Peyton Plant (Littleton, Colo.) had 23 assists, and Breann Connally (Coolidge – Groesbeck) had 12 assists.

 Roper led the way with four blocks, while Benjamin, Tuufuli, and Avery Wilks (Mont Belvieu – Barbers Hill) had three each. 

 For the Blazers, Mia Reese totaled 21 kills.

 UP NEXT

The Lions play three matches in the DFW Metroplex next week, hosting McNeese on Thursday at 6:30 pm for the first conference match of the year. A&M-Commerce also participates in the UTA Invitational, facing North Texas on Friday and UT Arlington on Saturday.

Photo - Vashaun Newman-UIW Athletics

Far-Arun Inmee tied for fourth after the first round of the Golfweek Fall Challenge.

PAWLEY ISLANDS, S.C. – A pair of Texas A&M University-Commerce women’s golfers are in the top five after the first round of the Golfweek Fall Challenge at the Caledonia Golf Club in the Lions’ 2023-24 fall season opener.

Senior Benz Far-Arun (Bangkok, Thailand) carded a round of 71, as did junior newcomer Fahsai Inmee (Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand). The two golfers sit in a seven-way tie for fourth place and are four strokes off the lead, which Lipscomb’s Lauren Thompson holds.

Annida Schwinn (Rehlingen, Germany) made her collegiate debut and tied for 88th place with a score of 80. At the same time, Jordan Dusckas (Flower Mound Marcus) shot an 81 to tie for 91st place, and Julianna Crow (Trinity School of Midland) tied for 96th place with a score of 83.

The Lions scored 303 in the first round to sit in a tie for 14th place in the 18-team tournament—A&M-Commerce tied with Eastern Washington. Lipscomb sits atop the team leaderboard.

The second round for the Lions begins with Crow teeing off at 8:33 am Eastern Time on Monday morning. Far-Arun is the last Lion to tee off. She starts on the 10th hole at 9:09 am Eastern.

 

Pos.	Team	Round 1	Total
1	Lipscomb	285	285
2	UNC Wilmington	288	288
3	Charleston Southern	290	290
4	New Mexico State	291	291
5	East Tennessee State	292	292
6	Campbell	293	293
7	Central Arkansas	294	294
8	Richmond	295	295
9	UAB	296	296
10	Florida Atlantic	297	297
11	Morehead State	299	299
12	East Carolina	300	300
13	Delaware	301	301
T14	Eastern Washington	303	303
T14	A&M-COMMERCE	303	303
16	Jacksonville State	304	304
17	Winthrop	305	305
18	Stephen F. Austin	311	311

 

T14	A&M-COMMERCE	303	303
T4	Benz Far-Arun	71	71
T4	Fahsai Inmee	71	71
T88	Annika Schwinn	80	80
T91	Jordan Dusckas	81	81
T96	Julianna Crow	83	83