GOODWELL, Okla. — Colorado Christian (4-0) defeated Fort Lewis (2-2) 25-19, 25-20, 25-19 this afternoon at the Noble Center in the Oklahoma Panhandle State University Aggies Challenge.
 
The loss dropped Fort Lewis to 2-2 at the tournament.
 
“We couldn't match their firepower,” said ninth-year FLC head coach Shelly Aaland. “We just didn't come out and compete in that last match.”
 
The Skyhawks lost a five-game thriller to Fort Hays State (15-25, 26-28, 15-25, 19-25, 15-7) less than two hours before the start of the Colorado Christian game.
 
“We had to come over right away (from OPSU's main gymnasium, Williams Fieldhouse) and get ready for the match,” said Aaland.
 
Still, the Skyhawk skipper found positives.
 
“There was a lot of good play,” she said. “Our serving was once again a strength. We just had too few spurts of good play. The scores reflect that we were in each game, but we just gave away too many points.”
 
She also cited the play of junior middle blocker Taylor Frederking. The Skyhawks used three middles in the tournament: Frederking, freshman Ashley Ellis, and junior Kristin Stephan. Stephan sprained her ankle early in the fourth set against Fort Hays State this morning and missed the remainder of today's action.
 
“Taylor had a much better match,” said Aaland. “Her connection with the setter was good.”
 
With the victory, Colorado Christian improved to 17-11 all-time against Fort Lewis. Today's game did not count in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings. The two teams will meet again midway through the RMAC regular season at 7 p.m. on October 12 in Durango.
 
Statistics for three of FLC's four games at the OPSU Aggies Challenge were kept manually rather than on a computer and will not be available until tomorrow at the earliest.
 
The Skyhawks hit the road for their last nonconference event of the season next weekend for a tournament at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. On Friday, Fort Lewis will face Midwestern State at 9 a.m. and Wayne State (Neb.) at 2 p.m. On Saturday, FLC will face Franklin Pierce at 9 a.m. and UC-Colorado Springs at 2 p.m.
 
Fort Lewis opens their RMAC and home schedules against Colorado State-Pueblo at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14 in Whalen Gymnasium.