2014 Skyhawks Volleyball Game Day Notes - Oct. 13

Scouting the Mavericks
Fort Lewis will travel to Grand Junction Tuesday night to face their travel partner - Colorado Mesa University.  The Mavericks are ranked No. 16 in the nation in this week's AVCA Division II poll.

The Mavericks rank in the top five in the conference in hitting percentage (fourth, .224), opponent hitting percentage (fourth, .152), assists (third, 13.68), kills (second, 14.54), and digs (third, 17.79).

Offensively, CMU is led by Abby Ney and Melissa Hess who rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the RMAC in hitting percentage.  Ney has 167 kills and hits at a .331 clip (52 errors, 347 attempts), while Hess has a .330 hitting percentage off of 204 kills (64 errors, 424 total attempts).

The last time the Skyhawks won at Colorado Mesa was Sept. 18, 2007.

Scouting the Grizzlies
The Skyhawks will return home from Tuesday night's match at Colorado Mesa and play host to Adams State on Friday at 7 p.m.

The Grizzlies are ranked in the middle of the conference in hitting percentage (eighth, .171), opponents hitting percentage (seventh, .182), assists (seventh, 11.31), kills (12.0/set), and aces (13.3/set).  The Grizzlies highest ranking in the conference is fourth in blocks (2.3/set), but they are ranked last in digs (13.3/set).

Mallory Grimsrud leads the Grizzlies and is ninth overall in the league in hitting percentage (.291).  She is also ranked second in the league in blocks with 1.17/set..  Teammate Lindsey Stindt has the fourth most kills in the RMAC with 3.77/set.  Setter Katelyn Schwartz is fifth in the league in assists (9.84/game) and service aces (0.38/set). 

Fort Lewis' last win at home against ASU was Oct. 5, 2013.

Individually Speaking
Several Skyhawks are ranked in the top 25 in the league.  Lindley Gallegos is second in service aces (0.42), Ally Dell'Amico is fourth in digs (4.87/set), Madi Bickle is 12th in blocks (0.88/set) and 18th in hitting percentage .233), Ashley Wells is 15th in kills (2.93/set), and Shelby Lehman is 14th in blocks (0.83/set). 

Last Time Out
Vs. NMHU
Ashley Wells tallied a match high 17 kills and Madi Bickle added 11 but the Fort Lewis College volleyball team fell short Friday night to New Mexico Highlands University, 3-2, at Whalen Gymnasium (22-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-18, 15-11).
 
Both teams entered the match tied in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with a 2-6 record.  The loss puts the Skyhawks at 5-12 overall and 2-7 in league matches.
 
Senior setter Heather Danny recorded 23 assists, three kills and a service ace.  Ciara Krening chipped in 14 assists and five digs.
 
Ally Dell'Amico totaled 18 digs, followed by Wells' 10 digs.
 
Fort Lewis blocked 12 of the Cowgirls attacks.
 
The Skyhawks hit .146 for the match, tallying 51 kills on 151 attempts (29 errors).

Vs. WNMU
Fort Lewis College entered Saturday's volleyball match with the same Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference record as their opponent, Western New Mexico University, but the Mustangs would take a one match lead at the end of the night, defeating the Skyhawks 3-1.
 
Fort Lewis drops to 6-13 overall and 2-8 in league matches.  WNMU improves to 6-11 overall and 3-7 in the league.
 
The Skyhawks won set one, 25-21, but dropped the next three, 25-20, 25-18, 25-23.
 
Ashley Wells posted a match high 19 kills and added 16 digs.  Heather Danny added 25 set assists, three kills and five digs. Ally Dell'Amico led both teams with 26 digs.  Madi Bickle recorded seven kills, two digs and seven blocks (two solo blocks).

Skyhawk Volleyball
Head coach Kelley Rifilato begins her second season on the sideline.  Fort Lewis is starting its 45th year of women's volleyball.  The Skyhawks are 576-633-5 all-time and have won four conference titles.