DURANGO, Colo. – It was Senior Day and the Fort Lewis College volleyball team made sure their season would extend past Thursday night. The Skyhawks came in needing to at least win a set against Adams State University to win a tiebreaker and advance to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament and they did just that. After the Grizzlies won the first two sets, FLC regrouped taking the third set before Adams State won the fourth set for the 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 15-25, 25-23) in RMAC action inside Whalen Gym.

The teams knew going in that if FLC won, they would get in outright. If Adams State won in a sweep, they would've advanced on the third tiebreaker which is overall conference sets won by percentage. As it turned out, tiebreaker number two was needed which was overall conference sets won against each other which finished 4-3 in favor of the Skyhawks.

FLC will enter the RMAC Tournament for the first time since 2013 this coming Tuesday when they will play at the top seed that will be determined after games are completed Friday night. Right now, if Colorado School of Mines wins their game against UC-Colorado Springs, they will hold the top spot.

Before the game, the six Skyhawk seniors in Kendra Swackenberg, Haley Christiansen, Hannah Martinez, Megan Graefe, Maddie LeBlanc and Jessie Roukema were all honored.

Adams State (12-14, 9-9 RMAC) couldn't have asked for a better start to the game, as they hit .364 in the first set and then .262 in the second set.

After FLC (9-13, 9-9 RMAC) pulled to within a point against at 9-8, the Grizzlies went on a 3-0 run to jump out to a 12-8 lead. Trailing by six, the Skyhawks tried to fight back into the set when Tye Wedhorn tallied a kill and an attack error by the Grizzlies left Adams State with a 20-16 lead. The Grizzlies closed the set on a 5-1 run to grab the opening set at 25-17.

ASU kept the momentum going right into the second set as they reeled off the first five points. The Grizzlies kept coming as they pushed out to a 11-4 lead. Down 10 at 20-10, the Skyhawks started to find some momentum when a kill by LeBlanc started a 5-0 run. After a pair of Adams State errors, LeBlanc posted a solo block and then a kill by Bailey Longacre brought FLC to within five at 20-15. Down to set point, FLC responded with the next three points behind a Swackenberg kill, a service ace by Ohiyah Shirley and then a kill by Christiansen. FLC nearly made it four straight points, but an attacking error sailed out and gave Adams State a 25-19 second set win.

That meant everything literally came down to the third set for both teams. A FLC set win meant they would claim the tiebreaker, while an ASU set win would advance them to the tournament on the tiebreaker. Tied at three, three straight errors by the Grizzlies gave FLC some breathing room at 6-3. Longacre added a pair of kills to move the lead to 10-6. Still in front by two at 10-8, a pair of errors by Adams State helped open the door for a 4-0 FLC run. Wedhorn added a kill and then posted another point when she sent a Grecia Diaz Martinez attack back for a solo block moving FLC to a 14-8 lead. A 5-0 run followed that basically sealed the set for the Skyhawks with Wedhorn starting the run with a kill. She then teamed with LeBlanc for a double-block and she later closed the run with another solo block at 19-9. Christiansen ended the set with a kill at 25-15 which gave FLC the third set and guaranteed them a spot in the RMAC Tournament.

There was still a match to finish up, however, and the fourth set was a back-and-forth battle. Adams State had the first really separation in the set at 11-7 forcing a FLC timeout. FLC kept chipping away, coming up with big saves on defense and forcing Adams State into a pair of errors that had the Skyhawks within one at 17-16. Trailing 21-18, FLC roared back to even the set at 21 with a kill by LeBlanc and then after an error by the Grizzlies, Shirley fired in a kill at 21-all. Another Shirley kill tied the set at 23 before Adams State was able to get a kill and then a ball handling error on FLC gave the Grizzlies the fourth set win at 25-23 to take the match 3-1.

Wedhorn led the offense with 11 kills and sent back six blocks. Christiansen added nine kills and just missed a double-double with a team-high 16 digs. Swackenberg dished out 35 assists.

Diaz Martinez led Adams State with 13 kills, Rachael Ringler had 52 assists and Mackenzie Swanson had 20 digs.

FLC will now get ready for the RMAC Tournament that will begin this Tuesday on the road at the top seed.