Commerce, Texas – Despite a season-high 15 kills from Amanda Monge, SAU fell to Texas A&M-Commerce in five sets, 18-25, 25-13, 18-25, 25-17, 10-15, Friday evening in its second match of the day in Lion Fieldhouse at the Texas-A&M Commerce Tournament.
 
With SAU (0-7, 0-1 GAC) in a 7-10 hole in the first set, A&M Commerce (2-4, 0-1 LSC) would extend its lead with three straight points on two kills and an ace. The Lady Muleriders would bounce back for three straight points of their own. The Lions would score another point before another three-point SAU rally pulled the Lady Muleriders within one. This time it was on kills from Hailey McNee and Alli O'Banion and an assisted block. The Lions would take over the rest of the set, scoring nine of the next 14 points to secure the first set, relying heavily on Amy Davault's seven kills.
 
SAU utilized four kills, a service ace and a block to help build a 7-3 advantage in the second set. The Lady Muleriders would score five of the next seven and again hold a seven-point advantage at 17-10. SAU took advantage of eight A&M-Commerce errors and got five kills from Monge. The Lady Muleriders posted a .519 (15-27-1) attacking percentage in the second set, which marks a new season set-high.
 
The Lady Muleriders found themselves in a 6-12 deficit in the third set before scoring four straight on two Lion attacking errors and two blocks. After a Taylor Reaume service error, however, the Lions responded with three straight points to push their lead to 16-10. The Lions would use the attacking of Veronika Baric and Davault to help extend their lead to 21-15 before the Lady Muleriders scored three straight to cut into the deficit. A&M-Commerce would close the set on a four-point run to win the set and take a 2-1 set advantage.
 
With the fourth set at a 14-14 standstill, SAU broke through with four straight points behind the service of McNee, acquiring two kills from Monge and a kill apiece from McNee and junior Shelby Lauterbach to earn an 18-14 lead. The Lady Muleriders would finish out the set by scoring seven of the next 10 points to push the match to a deciding fifth set. Monge finished the set with five kills on 12 attempts, and O'Banion added two kills, a service ace and two blocks. The Lady Muleriders limited the Lions to a .095 (13-42-9) attacking percentage, complimented by three blocks.
 
SAU started fast in the fifth set, garnering a 5-1 lead with strong assistance from Monge's powerful jump serve. A&M-Commerce would score five of the next six points to bring the set within one. With a 6-5 Lady Mulerider advantage, kills from Aase, McNee and O'Banion would push the lead to 9-5. The Lions would bounce back with eight straight points to take a 14-9 lead before a service error cost them the serve. Chassidy Hill would get a kill for the Lions on the next point to clinch the match.
 
Monge finished the match with a season-high 15 kills, while O'Banion set a career-high in attacking percentage, swinging at a .438 (9-16-2) clip. Reaume also eclipsed her previous season high at SAU, assisting on 35 sets. Libero Hannah Rice went a perfect 20-for-20 on receptions, and Logan Tolbert was a force defensively, blocking a career-high eight attacks.
 
The Lady Muleriders return to the court at 11 a.m. CT tomorrow to face Dallas Baptist in Lion Fieldhouse.