COMMERCE, Texas - Kaia Saylor turned in a 12-kill, 13-dig double-double, but the Texas Woman's University volleyball team (3-9, 3-9 Lone Star Conference) fell 3-0 in a tightly-contested matchup against Texas A&M-Commerce (6-6, 6-6) on Wednesday night at the Field House. 

The Lions seized the early momentum, claiming a 6-3 advantage before TWU was able to knot the set at 6-6. From there, there were seven tie scores - the last at 23-23 - before TAMUC closed out a 25-23 set win to claim a 1-0 advantage. 

The second set was another back-and-forth affair, with 11 ties and seven lead changes. The set was last tied at 15-15 before TAMUC reeled off four straight points to claim a four-point (19-15) advantage. After a TAMUC kill gave the Lions set point at 24-21, the Pioneers pulled to within one (24-23) on a pair of attack errors before a kill gave the Lions a 2-0 advantage in the match. 

The Lions jumped ahead early in the third set, rolling out to a 7-2 lead. The Pioneers gradually narrowed the gap, pulling to within one (10-9) after a kill by Saylor. TAMUC scored five of the next six to take a 14-9 lead, but TWU scored four straight to pull to within one (14-13) again, and knotted the set at 18-18 after a 3-0 run. The Lions briefly reclaimed the lead, but TWU scored five of six to set up set point at 24-23. 

That would be the first of 11 set points between the two teams, but ultimately the Lions would come out ahead, responding to the Pioneers' final set point at 33-32 with three consecutive kills, to take the conclusive set 35-33 and the match 3-0. 

Bailey Wozniak led the Pioneers with 15 assists, while Cassidy Steadman added 12, and Kori James turned in a match-high 16 digs, while Tabitha Spray added 15. 

TWU outhit TAMUC .164 to .138 for the match, committing just 14 errors to the Lions' 31. The Pioneers outblocked TAMUC 14-7. 

With the loss, the Pioneers do not qualify for the spring 2021 Lone Star Conference volleyball championship, however, TWU's season will continue as the Pioneers are slated to return to action April 14-17 at the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II National Championship in Dallas. The Pioneers will play a minimum of four matches in the event, and the tournament field and schedule will be announced soon.