Head coach Mark Pryor had the Texas A&M Commerce volleyball team playing amazing in the first two games of the Texas A&M Commerce volleyball tournament.
The Lions were poised to take first place in tournament as they took on Southeastern Oklahoma State this past Saturday. Both teams were undefeated with two early wins in the tournament. Southeastern Oklahoma State had different plans for the Lions as they took first place in the tourney by winning three straight sets (25-22,25-18,25-17), leaving the Lions to lick their scars after an excellent battle.
Senior Brittany Williams and Junior Lauren Flynn led the Lions in digs with 13 a piece. Brittany Williams also led the team in kills with 9 as sophomores Morgan Ballard and Rachel Lance were next in line with seven kills apiece. Junior Perla Faudoa kept the Lions in the game with a team high 26 assists.
Even though the Lions saw their undefeated record go straight out the window with the loss, the final score doesn’t indicate how hard they played. Both teams were trading points in the first set until the Savage Storm slowly gained momentum as they scored three of the next four points to take a 12 to 9 lead. The Lions didn’t let the game turn into a blowout and never trailed by less than four points in the set. Sophomore Terry Ousley made an important score that tied the game at 19 and forced Southeastern Oklahoma State into a timeout. The timeout turned out to be just what the Savage Strom needed to regroup; they scored three straight points and ended up closing the set on a 6 to 3 run with Sophomore Jordan Parks pushing the Storm to win the first set with three kills, one block and a dig. The Lions also committed eight errors, which helped the Storm win the set.
The second match was a different story. Although the Lions scored the first point of the set, the Storm scored the next three points to get an early lead. The lead grew to seven as Southeastern Oklahoma State tried to make the Lions look more like cubs with strong team play and serving back everything the Lions hit at them. Pryor was forced into a timeout to regroup his team, but the Storm kept control of the set. The Lions lost the set 25 to 18, committing eight errors.
The third started just like the second set, with the Lions early. They quickly found themselves down four points before finally getting on the board. The lead increased to nine as the Storm pounced on the Lions again. However, in this match, the Lions showed their resiliency and why the future looks good for the team. They scored two straight points because of errors, but that was just the beginning. They scored seven of the next nine points to get the crowd into the game. Unfortunately, the comeback didn’t last as Southeastern Oklahoma State finished the match by scoring the next two points. Freshman Lunden Azuara led the Strom with nine kills and six digs and Sophomore Raelynn Beaty had a game high fourteen digs.
The Lions record fell to 2-1 as they head to Bolivar, MO to play Wayne State on Friday in the SBU tournament. Even with the loss against the Storm, the woman look poised for a good season. Coach Pryor has the Texas A&M Commerce Lions fighting hard and I wouldn’t be surprised if the team became the “Queens of the Jungle” at the end of the season.