DENTON, Texas – The University of Arkansas at Monticello volleyball team dropped two matches on the first day of the 2011 Holiday Inn Express & Suites Classic, hosted by Texas Woman’s University.

UAM (2-13) drew the host Pioneers in game one, falling 3-0. TWU won the first set 25-15, the second 25-15, and the third 25-11 to sweep game one. UAM posted a negative hitting percentage in the game at -.056.

The second game with Texas A&M-Commerce started better. The Blossoms battled all the way to the wire, scoring four of the final six points to take the first set 25-22 off a set-ending kill from Amy Kleypas with an assist from Amy Bazemore.

UAM pulled close in the second set, within three late in the set, but TAMC pulled away every time that the Blossoms attacked. The set went back-and-forth and while UAM scored four of the last six points again, they couldn’t get back within reach before Commerce got to 25.

The third and fourth sets were not as close, 25-12 and 25-9. The Blossoms hit .047 percent for the second game compared to .264 for A&M.

Coach Shingler’s squad will have two more chances tomorrow to come away with a win in the classic. They will face Texas A&M-International at 9:30 a.m. and Missouri Western at 3:30 p.m. Live stats of the games are available at this link.