Lions lose to Eastern New Mexico 44-21

Host Eastern New Mexico scored 23-straight points en route to a 44-21 win over Texas A&M University-Commerce in the Lone Star Conference North Division opener for both teams.

A&M-Commerce (1-3, 0-1 LSC North) had rallied from a 21-7 deficit with two touchdowns in nine seconds to tie the game at 21 midway through the second quarter.

Eastern New Mexico (2-2, 1-0 LSC North) rallied on the ensuing drive to come back and to take the lead for good on a 36-yard field goal by Taylor Cannon. To start the drive, the Greyhounds took the kickoff back to midfield. A pair of first downs put ENMU in field goal position and the Lions went into the halftime break with a three-point deficit. The Greyhounds put points on the board on their first two drives of the second half to extend the lead to 34-21.

Greyhounds quarterback Wesley Wood completed 44 of 73 passes for 437 yards and five touchdowns in the win. He found eight different receivers including Jesse Poku, who had 12 receptions for 103 yards and two touchdowns. The ENMU offense outgained the Lions, 590 to 249.

The A&M-Commerce offense was led by junior running back Marcus Graham, who ran the ball 22 times for 121 yards in the loss. Anchoring the defense were junior Matt Abram, who had 12 tackles and freshman Jake Williams, who had two sacks.

Trailing 14-0, midway through the second quarter, redshirt freshman Joel Wren stepped in front of a Wood pass and ran it back 31 yards to cut the deficit to seven. ENMU came right back with an eight play, 64-yard drive for the 14-point lead, 21-7.

Later in the quarter, A&M-Commerce came back with two touchdowns in nine seconds to tie the game at 21. First, Farkes found Julian Hayes for a 36-yard touchdown reception. To set up the touchdown, Graham rambled 23 yards to the Greyhounds 36-yard line.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Lions Leonard Jackson forced ENMU's Rodney Mitchell to fumble it that was picked up by Marcus Fore, who ran it back 24 yards to tie the game at 21.

The Lions will return home for three of its next four games, including its next contest, Saturday, Oct. 2 when they host Southeastern Oklahoma State at 6:00 p.m.

Volleyball

The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team dropped a 25-22, 25-16, 25-18 decision to visiting Angelo State in Lone Star Conference action on Thursday night at the A&M-Commerce Field House.

A&M-Commerce (4-7, 0-3 LSC) fell victim to a hot-hitting Angelo State squad that out hit the Lions by a .247 to .082 margin. In the loss, sophomore Rachel Robertson had a team-high and match-high 10 kills for A&M-Commerce.

Freshman Jordan Neal had 22 assists and freshman Dakota Crockett had 10 digs in the defeat for the Lions.

Angelo State (5-6, 2-1 LSC) spread the attack around throughout the match, including a team-best eight kills from Chelsea Gibson and Julie Kennedy and seven more from Alex Meredith. ASU has won all five of its matches in 2010 in three sets.

Plus, the Rambelles also got a match-high 31 assists from Alex Woosley and three service aces from Katie Coleman sparked the service game.

In the opening set, after a brief 3-3 tie, the first of three service aces by Coleman put the Rambelles ahead for the remainder of the set. Coleman, Gibson and Meredith each put down three kills en route to an opening set victory for the eighth time on the 2010 campaign.

The Rambelles raced out to a 12-5 advantage in the second set and took advantage of eight hitting errors and four service errors by the Lions to take a two-set lead with a 25-16 victory.

The Lions built a 15-12 advantage in the third set on the strength of an ASU attack error and back-to-back kills by Robertson and Naomi Mays. The lead prompted a Rambelle timeout. The set ended up tied at 17 to mark the eighth time in the set. Angelo State closed out the contest with an 8-1 run to secure the victory.

Freshman Kayla Bond and sophomore Rachel Robertson each had eight kills for the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team in a 26-24, 25-23, 25-17 loss to Abilene Christian on Saturday afternoon at the A&M-Commerce Field House.

The match featured 18 tie scores and six lead changes but it was the Wildcats, who prevailed with the win.

A&M-Commerce (4-8, 0-4 LSC) was outhit by a .149 to .135 margin but did outblock the Wildcats, 7-5. Freshman Jordan Neal and junior Sarah Owens each had two blocks.

In the victory, Jordan Schilling of ACU had a double double with a team-best and match-high 13 digs and 10 kills. With the win, the Wildcats raise their record to 10-2 overall and 4-0 in the Lone Star Conference.

In a tightly contested first set that featured seven tie scores and two lead changes. The Lions withstood four ACU set points to tie the set at 24. After an ACU timeout, back-to-back kills by the Wildcats gave the visitors a one-set advantage.

In the second set, the two teams were tied 10 more times. A balanced ACU attack with five players recording multiple kills and three service aces by Madelyn Robinett put the Wildcats up by two sets.

In the third set, ACU jumped out to a 3-0 advantage and never trailed for the remainder of the set. In the decisive set, Shawna Hines and Schilling each had four kills to pace an ACU attack that outhit the Lions by a .231 to .086. Bond and Neal, who had four and three kills, respectively, paced the A&M-Commerce attack.

Up next, A&M-Commerce hosts Texas Woman's on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the A&M-Commerce Field House.