MONTICELLO – Despite winning the first set with a .220 hitting percentage, the University of Arkansas at Monticello volleyball team lost to Texas A&M-Commerce 3-1 on Monday at home.

Final game scores were 25-20, 19-25, 18-25 and 22-25. With the loss, UAM drops to 2-23 overall, while TAMU-Commerce evens its overall record at 12-12.

In the first-set win for UAM, the Cotton Blossoms had 15 of its points come off kills, led by senior Monica Perkins-Miller’s six kills on 13 attempts with only one error for a .385 percentage.

Perkins-Miller’s hitting percentage went up to .471 in the second set, but her team fell to .169. The Lions, however, improved their percentage to .355 after posting 15 kills and only four errors on 31 attempts.

In the third set, both teams decreased their percentages, but UAM’s 11 errors with only nine kills allowed the Lions to capitalize and force UAM into a must-win situation.

In the final set, the teams rallied to a 13-all tie before the Lions used a 6-2 run to go up 19-15. However, UAM quickly posted a 5-0 scoring run to take a 20-19 lead, capped by a block solo by Perkins-Miller. From that point, TAMU-Commerce used an ace and two UAM attack errors to regain their final lead.

Perkins-Miller finished with a team-high 14 kills on 33 attempts with four errors for a .303 percentage. Sophomore teammate MacKenzie Hubbard pitched in with 12 kills on 36 attempts with six errors. Hubbard also tied senior teammate Stephanie Hatten for the team-high in digs with 13.

The Lions were led by Rachel Robertson’s match-high 15 kills on 25 attempts with only three errors for a final .480 percentage. Morgan Moeller also reached double-digits in kills with 10.