ST. GEORGE/SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Fort Lewis College volleyball team will stay on the road this weekend when they travel west to Utah to go against Dixie State University and Westminster College.
FLC (1-7, 1-3 RMAC) will face Dixie State for the first time this season, as the Trailblazers are new additions to the conference. But the match against Westminster will be a rematch from the season-opener for the Skyhawks when they played at Westminster on August 31 and the Griffins took a five-set back-and-forth match.
The Skyhawks faced a pair of tough matchups on the road this past week, falling to both UC-Colorado Springs and nationally-ranked Colorado Mines by 3-0 scores. Haley Christiansen leads the team with 90 points, posting 83 kills. She also leads the team with 108 digs. Bailey Longacre adds 75 points, with 63 kills and a team-high 16 blocks. Ohiyah Shirley is third on the team in points with 52.5, as she has 27 kills and nine blocks. Jacalyn Sharko adds 35 kills. Bella Valdez and Kendra Swackenberg each lead the team in assists with Valdez dishing out 156 and Swackenberg with 101. Valdez has nine service aces. On defense, Megan Graefe is second in digs with 89 and both Noni Thomas and Maddie LeBlanc are second on the team in blocks with 10 apiece.
As a team, FLC is ninth in the RMAC in blocks per set (1.52) and team attacks per set (36.10). Individually, Christiansen is seventh in the RMAC in attacks per set (9.34), 13th in kills per set (2.86) and 15th in digs per set (3.72). Valdez is 15th in assists per set (5.38) and Graefe is 16th in digs per set (3.71).
First up will be a matchup against Dixie State. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2011 when Dixie State took the 3-0 victory at a neutral site tournament in Grand Junction. FLC will face the Trailblazers on Friday night at 6 p.m.
This is the first year for Dixie State in the RMAC after competing in the Pac West. They hold a 9-2 record and 4-0 mark in the RMAC so far this season. So far in conference they've defeated South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State on the road, both via sweeps and then have a pair of home wins over Western State and Colorado Mesa in four sets. Dixie State is 5-1 at home this season.
Four players have at least 102 points this season, led by Megan Treanor's 153 points. She leads the team in kills with 129. To'a Faleao-Baich adds 138 points with 104 kills, 17 service aces and 29 blocks. Malary Marshall has 118 points with 82 kills and Lauren Gammell adds 102 points with 64 kills. Jordyn Nelson has a team-best 243 assists, while on defense, Sid Brandon has 165 digs and Gammell has 70 blocks.
To close the road trip, FLC will rematch with Westminster on Saturday at 4 p.m. Back on August 31, FLC and Westminster played a tough five-set battle that went to the Griffins. In that match, Shirley led the way with 19 kills, while Christiansen added 14 kills and Longacre with 10. Valdez had 34 assists, Christiansen posted 22 digs and Shirley sent back three blocks.
Westminster is off to a 4-8 start and 2-2 mark in the RMAC with wins over Black Hills State and Western State. They hold a 2-4 record at home. Audrey Green leads the team with 174.5 points, tallying 154 kills. Sydnee Simmons adds 89.5 points with 67 kills and a team-high 37 blocks. Lydia Miller (73) and Taylor Harvey (70) also add over 70 points. Green far and away leads the team in kills as the next closest is Miller with 70. Aggie Roese-Olsen has 212 assists, while Agatha Roese-Olsen adds 115. Hannah Stearman leads three players to have at least 105 digs as she has 171. While Simmons leads the way in blocks, Harvey is next with 29.
In the RMAC standings, Colorado Mines leads the way with a 5-0 mark, while Dixie State is second at 4-0. Colorado Mesa and Regis are tied for third with 4-1 marks, while MSU Denver also has just one loss and are in fifth at 3-1.
Live video and stats will be available for both games.
