COMMERCE, Texas – Lamar University struggled in their first trip to Commerce, Texas dropping a 3-1 (25-20, 25-23, 19-25, 26-24) decision to the Lions Saturday afternoon.
 
The Cardinals (6-7/0-2 Southland) finished the day with a .270 attack percentage (60-20-161), and 11 blocks, while Commerce had 54 kills on 137 attempts (.270) with 17 miscues.
 
Senior Kaitlyn Gil led four Cardinals in double figures Saturday with 18 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Paige Dugan added 17 kills while Amber Johnson and Wiktoria Warpechowska each had 10.
 
After dropping the first set, the Cardinals stiffened in the second pushing Commerce to the end. After the homestanding Lions built a three-point lead, the Cardinals came charging right back. Big Red managed nine of the next 13 points to take a two-point lead, 17-15. It was a back-and-forth affair for the remainder of the set which saw the Lions grab a two-point lead heading into the third.
 
In the third, it was LU that jumped out to a big lead. Taking a 13-8 lead, Big Red would eventually push their advantage to eight points before taking the third, 25-19. The Cardinals posted a .324 attack percentage in the first set and followed that up with a .279 percentage (15 kills) in the third.
 
The fourth set was another close battle that unfortunately saw the Cards record their lowest attack percentage of the day. LU buried 15 attacks but also had seven errors and A&M-Commerce won the set and the match.
 
The Cardinal are back in action Tuesday when the travel to Corpus Christi, Texas to take on A&M-Corpus Christi. The match is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. from the Island campus.