DURANGO, Colo. – In a back-and-forth match throughout, it was only fitting that the teams played five sets. The Fort Lewis College volleyball team won the first two sets and then after dropping the next two, they claimed the fifth set to take the 3-2 (26-24, 26-24, 21-25, 18-25, 16-14) Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory against New Mexico Highlands University Friday night.

FLC (2-9, 2-5 RMAC) played tough late in several of the sets, especially the first, second and fifth sets. In the opening set, the Skyhawks looked to be in trouble, as NMHU (5-11, 3-5 RMAC) broke open a 22-all tie with the next two points to move to set point at 24-22. FLC didn't flinch, instead a kill by Bailey Longacre helped ignite a 4-0 rally to claim the set. After Longacre's kill, Tye Wedhorn added a pair of kills to set the stage for a Longacre ace at set point for the 26-24 first set win.

FLC looked ready to take the second set, using a 3-0 run late in the frame to take a 21-17 lead. During the run, Haley Christiansen and Audrey Stansberry tallied kills. The Cowgirls fought back to move to set point at 24-23. Just like the first set, FLC refused to go away. Longacre again helped ignite a late rally with a kill, as that started a 3-0 run to give FLC the set. After Longacre tied it at 24, Ohiyah Shirley added a kill and then a ball handling error on the Cowgirls gave FLC the 26-24 set win and 2-0 match lead.

The third set was there for the taking for both teams as well. Longacre helped tie the set late at 20 and after NMHU scored the next two points, a service error made it 22-21. This time, the Cowgirls were able to close the set with a kill by Camryn Nelson for the 25-21 third set win.

The Cowgirls gained control early in the fourth set and broke open a 10-7 advantage to move in front 14-7. The Skyhawks got back to within five a few times, first on a double-block by Wedhorn and Maddie LeBlanc and then on a kill by LeBlanc at 17-12. That would be as close as FLC could get the rest of the set, as a Tiffany Matchett kill gave NMHU the 25-18 fourth set win to move the match to a deciding fifth set.

FLC came out ready in the fifth set, scoring the first three points behind kills from Longacre and Kendra Swackenberg, before an NMHU error made it 3-0. NMHU didn't go away, as they fought back to tie and eventually take the lead at 13-10. The Skyhawks came right back with a kill by Christiansen and after a LeBlanc kill, Christiansen capped the 3-0 run with another kill to even the set at 13. After the Cowgirls scored the next point to move to match point, Christiansen answered with a kill to keep the match going. That fired up the Skyhawks, as they went on to record the next two points, both off attack errors with the last one being blocked by Wedhorn and LeBlanc for the 16-14 fifth set win and 3-2 match victory.

It was a pretty even match throughout, as NMHU had 77 kills to 21 errors in 202 chances (.277), while FLC had 71 kills to 20 errors in 191 chances (.267). Each team had six service aces, FLC held a 7-4 edge on blocks and NMHU had 71 assists to 62 for FLC.

Christiansen paced the way with 18 kills, as she added another double-double with 15 digs. Longacre added 16 kills and Shirley with 13. Longacre spun in three service aces. Wedhorn sent back five blocks, while Megan Graefe had 30 digs. Swackenberg set the offense with 51 assists and made it a double-double with 17 digs.

Matchett paced NMHU and had a match-high 27 kills. Celina Naranjo had 32 assists and Elena Rivera had 35 digs.

FLC will host CSU-Pueblo tomorrow (Saturday) night at 5 p.m. The ThunderWolves fell in four sets on Friday at Adams State.