COLORADO SPRINGS – Fort Lewis College (5-1 overall) split two matches in the first day of the Hyatt Place Volleyball Invitational, hosted by UC-Colorado Springs yesterday. FLC dropped its first match of the season in four sets to the host Mountain Lions (4-3), but rallied in the evening for a three-set win over Grand Canyon (1-6).
“The UCCS loss was a real wake-up call,” said seventh-year FLC head coach Shelly Aaland. “[Against Grand Canyon] we played with the same energy and intensity of last weekend.” The Skyhawks opened their season a week earlier by going 4-0 at the Marriott/Residence Inn Oredigger Classic in Golden, Colo.
In the evening game, Fort Lewis beat Grand Canyon 25-17, 25-19, 25-21 in just 1:06.
FLC drew from senior leaders like Taylor Hillberry (eight kills, six blocks, .200 attack percentage), Chelsea Flaming (11 kills, nine digs, three blocks, .241 attack percentage) and Adriana Saiz (33 assists, seven digs, two kills, two blocks) and freshman right side hitter Taryn Pearce (nine kills and a team-high .467 attack percentage). Freshman libero Jenna Kinzer had 17 digs for FLC.
“Taylor's play generated the momentum and energy we needed to take it in three,” Aaland said of her senior middle blocker, who battled through an ankle injury that limited her effectiveness and playing time in the loss to UCCS earlier in the day.
UC-Colorado Springs used a big match from sophomore middle blocker Nikki Kinzer to defeat Fort Lewis 27-25, 22-25, 25-14, 25-22 in the morning game.
Kinzer, who is the older sister of FLC freshman libero Jenna Kinzer, recorded 20 kills, six blocks and a .326 attack percentage for the Mountain Lions.
The Mountain Lions christened their brand new arena, the Gollogly Center, in the game.
“UCCS came out slow as we built a 16-8 lead in the first set,” said Aaland. “Then they caught up and we could never match their pace after that. We had too many unforced errors.”
The Skyhawks had a chance to win the first set with a 25-24 lead, but Jessica Wilson had an attack error to level the score at 25-25. UCCS put away the first set with a block and an ace by Skylar Lewandowski to win 27-25.
FLC evened the game in the second set, finishing with three straight Flaming kills en route to a 25-22 win.
The third set saw the Mountain Lions built an 11-4 lead that they would never relinquish. UCCS had a .286 attack percentage in the third set (14 kills, four errors), while FLC struggled with a .031 hitting efficiency (eight kills, seven errors).
Using a new lineup that featured freshmen middles Taylor Frederking and Kristin Stephan, FLC held tight in the fourth set, ultimately losing 25-22.
Flaming led the Skyhawk attack with 15 kills, a .200 hitting efficiency, 14 digs and four blocks. Wilson added 12 kills, six digs and one service ace, while Saiz had 40 assists, six digs, three aces, two kills and one block. The younger Kinzer led all players with 26 digs and added a pair of aces.
FLC continues action at the Hyatt Place Volleyball Invitational today against Lees McRae (3-3) at 9 a.m. and Winona St. (3-3) at 4:30 p.m.
