PUEBLO, Colo. – Backed by three players in double-figures in kills, the Fort Lewis College volleyball team broke open a 1-1 tie to take the final two sets on their way to defeating CSU-Pueblo 3-1 (25-23, 17-25, 25-20, 25-23) Friday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
With the win, FLC (9-11, 9-7 RMAC) has now won five straight games and move to within either a win Saturday or a loss by Adams State from clinching an RMAC Tournament spot. Chadron State at 6-9 also has a shot to tie the Skyhawks, but if the teams ended in a tie, FLC would control the tiebreaker from the earlier win this season. FLC also moved into a tie for seventh with UC-Colorado Springs after the Mountain Lions fell in three to Colorado Mesa on Friday.
Bailey Longacre led the way with 14 kills and hit .289, while Haley Christiansen and Ohiyah Shirley added double-doubles with Christiansen going for 12 kills and 19 digs, while Shirley added 12 kills and 16 digs. Kendra Swackenberg dished out 47 assists, Megan Graefe added 23 digs and Longacre, Tye Wedhorn and Maddie LeBlanc sent back three blocks apiece.
A pair of Longacre kills and one by Christiansen helped move FLC out to a 11-9 lead in the opening set. It continued to be a close set throughout until a kill by Longacre helped break a 20-all tie and send FLC to the set. During the run, a bad set by CSU-Pueblo (5-20, 3-13 RMAC), another kill by Longacre and after a few points by the ThunderWolves, Longacre ended the set with a kill at 25-23.
CSU-Pueblo jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the second set forcing a timeout. FLC fought back to within four at 19-15 following points from Christiansen, Longacre and Swackenberg. Just when it seemed the Skyhawks were back in the set, CSU-Pueblo closed the set on a 3-0 to take the second set 25-17.
In the pivotal third set, Wedhorn, Shirley and LeBlanc reeled off kills to help FLC jump out to a 6-3 lead forcing a CSU-Pueblo timeout. The ThunderWolves looked to take control at 12-9, when a timeout by FLC helped swing momentum and lead the Skyhawks back with Bella Valdez tallying a kill and a service ace to even the set at 16. Longacre and Christiansen delivered a pair of kills to help ignite a 6-0 run to help FLC seize control of the set. During the run, Shirley spun in a service ace, Longacre added two more kills to end the run with FLC ahead 22-17. Following a 3-0 run by the ThunderWolves to get to within two, a service error by CSU-Pueblo help trigger a 3-0 run to seal the set for FLC with Christiansen adding a kill and then an attack error boosted the Skyhawks to a 25-20 third set win and 2-1 match lead.
Tied 5-all in the fourth set, a kill by Shirley started a 5-1 run to help give FLC the early lead. Following the kill by Shirley, CSU-Pueblo committed a few attacking errors and then Shirley and Longacre capped the run with kills for the 10-6 lead. CSU-Pueblo didn't go away, slowly working their way back into the set and tying things up at 18 forcing a FLC timeout. Out of the break, Wedhorn smashed a kill, then teamed with LeBlanc for a block before Christiansen ended the run with a kill to push FLC out to a 21-18 lead forcing a ThunderWolves timeout. CSU-Pueblo made one last run with FLC at match point at 24-21, the ThunderWolves scored a pair of points to pull to within one when an attacking error gave FLC the set at 25-23 and the match at 3-1.
FLC hit .192 for the match with 53 kills to 19 errors in 177 attempts. CSU-Pueblo hit .166 with 56 kills to 24 errors in 193 chances. FLC held a 100-94 edge in digs, while CSU-Pueblo held a slight 8-6 advantage in blocks.
Brooke Schilling led CSU-Pueblo with 19 kills, Grace Hern had 47 assists, Page Heller added 31 digs and Berkley Hays sent back five blocks.
FLC will continue the road trip tomorrow (Saturday) night when they will play at New Mexico Highlands starting at 6 p.m. Adams State came back from two sets down to defeat the Cowgirls 3-2 on Friday night.
