Box score
DURANGO, Colo. — Fort Lewis (10-13 overall, 6-9 in the
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) relied on its defense to oust Western State Colorado (3-20, 2-13) in five sets tonight in Whalen Gymnasium, 26-24, 17-25, 25-19, 18-25, 15-13.
“It was perfect timing for our first five-set win, as we strive to stay competitive in the conference rankings,” said ninth-year FLC head coach Shelly Aaland. “Our defense, led by
Jenna Kinzer, enabled us to run a solid transition offense.”
Kinzer finished with 24 digs, including 12 in the first set as she single-handedly kept the Skyhawks alive in the 26-24 win in the opening frame. She was also effective from the service line, notching four of FLC's 10 aces, including two in the first set.
Fort Lewis' momentum was short-lived. Western State jumped out to a 8-2 lead in cruising to a dominating second set win. Setter Molly Dolson did most of the advantage with effective setter dumps, as she notched six of her nine kills in the second frame.
“It was a match of major swings of momentum,” said Aaland. “Fortunately, we came out on the winning side of that in the fifth game.”
Fort Lewis jumped out to 9-3 and 15-6 leads in the third set after Aaland subbed
Taylor Frederking for
Ashley Ellis at the middle blocker position. The move worked: Although Frederking only recorded one kill, she was big at the net, finishing with five blocks.
Western State turned the tables on FLC in the fourth, by reeling off five straight points — all on Skyhawk hitting errors — to build a 15-10 lead.
To earn the win and keep their playoff chances alive, the Skyhawks needed to do something they hadn't done all season long: win the deciding fifth set. FLC came into the match 0-3 in five-set matches this year, having previously lost a pair on their home court to New Mexico Highlands and Colorado Mesa as well as a neutral-site match in Oklahoma to Fort Hays State.
The Mountaineers, on the other hand, were fresh off a five-set win at Colorado Mesa last night (17-25, 25-23, 25-22, 16-25, 15-12).
After the teams traded side-outs to 5-5, Fort Lewis built an 8-5 lead on three straight Mountaineer attack errors. WSCU survived a pair of game points on a Kallee Cool kill and a block of
Hannah Starbuck by Dolson and Ashley Milan. But after an FLC timeout, Cool served the ball past the endline for the final point in the 15-13 FLC win.
Ashley Wells led the FLC attack with 17 kills to go along with a strong defensive night (20 digs).
Stephani Sonka was a monster from the right side, notching 15 kills and a .278 hitting efficiency. Setter
Ciara Krening distributed 46 assists and had 15 digs, while Starbuck had 14 digs and nine kills.
Kristin Stephan also had a productive line with nine kills, four blocks and three service aces.
Josie Hoskins led WSCU with 14 kills and 13 digs. Ali Smith added 10 kills, while Dolson had 34 assists, 16 digs and nine kills.
Fort Lewis remains in ninth place in the race for the eight-team RMAC playoffs, one game behind Colorado Mesa (13-10, 7-8), who was swept by No. 25 Adams State in Grand Junction, Colo., tonight.
The Skyhawks get a chance to climb even with the Mavs at 7 p.m. Tuesday, when they travel to Brownson Arena to face Colorado Mesa.
