STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton fell just short in their bid for back-to-back Lone Star Conference Tournament Championships by falling to No. 22 Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday afternoon in Wisdom Gym. Tarleton now awaits the official word on Sunday's NCAA Selection Show at 9 p.m. on NCAA.com to see if their No. 1 regional ranking will stand and send the national playoff tournament to Wisdom Gym next week.
 
The official announcement will be made in an online video, released on NCAA.com at 9 p.m. CT Sunday evening.
 
Commerce jumped out to an early lead in the opening set before Tarleton battled back and took a 16-15 lead. Despite three more tied scores, Tarleton kept the Lions at bay and never relinquished the lead en route to a 25-23 win in the opening set.
 
The Lions evened the match with a 25-17 win in the second set and took the edge in the match with a 25-22 win in the third.
 
With their backs against the wall in the fourth set, a service ace from Adriana Darthuy cut into the 12-5 Commerce lead and started a furious 14-6 rally to give the TexAnns their first lead of the set at 19-18. Tarleton twice pushed the score to set-point before it went to extra points.
 
Adriana Darthuy, Lauren Kersey, and Amber Strange led the team with eight kills each while Hannah McManus (6) and Sofia Tonga (5) combined for 11 more. Kayla Brannon led the team with 17 assists and a crucial kill shot with Tarleton trailing 27-26 to knot things up at 27-27 in the fourth set. Blanca Izquierdo added 15 assists, as well.
 
Adrianna Knutson led the team with 19 digs while Darthuy added 15. McManus (8) and Tonga (7) combined for 15 blocks in the set.
 
Darthuy, Knutson, and McManus were named to the All-Tournament team.
 
Tarleton will await their seed and opponent with Sunday's selection show.