COLORADO SPRINGS/GOLDEN, Colo. – The first road trip of the conference season is upon the Fort Lewis College volleyball team as they will play at UC-Colorado Springs and #25 Colorado Mines this Friday and Saturday in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
FLC (1-5, 1-1 RMAC) will face UC-Colorado Springs first on Friday starting at 7 p.m. and then on Saturday at 5 p.m. against #25 Colorado Mines. The Skyhawks are coming off of a split this past weekend at home in which they defeated Chadron State in four sets and then pushed MSU Denver to four sets.
As a team, FLC has 263 kills and are hitting .175. They have 239 assists, 24 service aces, 339 digs and 36 blocks. Haley Christiansen leads the team in points with 77.5, as she has 73 kills, a pair of service aces and four blocks. In addition to leading the team in kills, she also leads the way in digs with 85. Bailey Longacre is second on the team in points with 61, as she has 53 kills, a service ace and 11 blocks. Rounding out the three players with at least 50 points is Ohiyah Shirley who has 42 kills, three service aces and nine blocks.
Christiansen, Longacre and Shirley are 1-2-3 on the team in terms of kills, while Bella Valdez has a team0best 137 assists. Kendra Swackenberg adds 81. On defense, behind Christiansen's 85 digs, Megan Graefe has 71 and Valdez with 46. Longacre, Noni Thomas and Maddie LeBlanc all have at least 10 blocks.
As a team, FLC ranks seventh in the RMAC in team attacks per set (36.48), eighth in the RMAC in blocks per set (1.57) and ninth in hitting percentage. Individually, Valdez is seventh in the RMAC in aces per set (0.35) and 12th in assists per set (5.96), Christiansen is eighth in the RMAC in kills per set (3.17) and 12th in points per set (3.37).
Last year's meeting with UC-Colorado Springs that was also played in Colorado Springs went to the Mountain Lions, 3-0. In that game Longacre had seven kills and LeBlanc added six. Swackenberg had 24 assists, Graefe had 15 digs and Longacre had three blocks.
UCCS is 2-9 on the season with wins against Henderson State and Adams State, in non-conference play. They hold a 0-3 mark in RMAC games having fallen to Colorado Christian and Regis in four sets and in straight sets to Colorado Mines.
Four players have at least 86 kills with Alyssa Brinton leading the way with 128. Lauren Brown adds 95, Taylor Smith with 89 and Grace Nelson with 86. Raelynn Edge has been the main setter with 485 assists. On defense, Jordyn Kinsey has 224 digs and Brown has sent back 37 blocks.
To close the weekend on Saturday will be a matchup with #25 Colorado Mines at 5 p.m. The Orediggers are off to a hot start of 9-2 having defeated Davenport Cal State East Bay, Lee, Sioux Falls, Winona State, Quincy and then all three to start the RMAC slate in Regis and Colorado Christian, both in five sets and then this past Tuesday with a sweep of UC-Colorado Springs.
They will face Adams State on Friday night before FLC comes to town. Last year, the teams played twice with Colorado Mines taking both matchups, 3-0. In the first matchup in Durango, Hannah Martinez had six kills, while Longacre added five. Swackenberg had 20 assists, while Graefe had 16 digs and LeBlanc had four blocks. In the second meetings, LeBlanc led the offense with eight kills, Swackenberg had 22 assists, Graefe had 14 digs and Longacre had three blocks.
The Orediggers have been powered by three players offensive, all with at least 100 kills led by 144 from Abby Tiesman. Lindsey Jin adds 106 and Amanda Donais with 100. Drew Stokes set the offense with 467 assists, while on defense, Elle Duis has 216 digs and Tiesman has sent back 38 blocks.
Live video and stats will be available for both games.
