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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Ohiyah Shirley 10.25
Maureen Pasley, FLC Athletics
FLC senior Ohiyah Shirley produced 14 kills and 16 digs in Friday's win over South Dakota School of Mines (File photo).
3
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 8-13,3-8 RMAC
2
South Dakota Mines SDSMT 9-12,5-7 RMAC
Winner
Fort Lewis FLC
8-13,3-8 RMAC
3
Final
2
South Dakota Mines SDSMT
9-12,5-7 RMAC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Fort Lewis FLC 25 16 17 29 15 (3)
South Dakota Mines SDSMT 23 25 25 27 9 (2)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Skyhawks storm back for five-set win on the road against South Dakota School of Mines

RAPID CITY, South Dakota — The Fort Lewis College volleyball team scored a crucial RMAC victory on Friday evening to begin its South Dakota road trip, rallying from down 2-1 and a 19-14 deficit in Set Four, to win a five-set stunner (25-23, 16-25, 17-25, 29-27 and 15-9) against South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

"This was an outstanding win for us. To respond like that, down 2-1 and with the crowd going crazy, I thought the girls stayed focused and kind of weathered our own storm," said Fort Lewis head coach, Tricia Melfy. "Bottom line, it was a great win on the road to start our weekend and keep us in the RMAC Tournament hunt."

The script flipped late in the fourth set when the Skyhawks (9-12 overall, 5-7 RMAC) went on a 7-0 run to retake a 21-19 lead, and then won a pivotal challenge when the set was tied at 21-21, to swing momentum back to their sideline.

Fort Lewis put a stamp on the 29-27 fourth-set victory when senior middle blocker Bailey Longacre produced back-to-back kills, two of her team-high 17 kills.

"It was kind of 'season on the line' type situation there in that fourth set. We knew we had to find a way to win this match if we want to make the RMAC Tournament," said Melfy, who's team has climbed within a game of the eighth and final playoff spot following Friday's victory. "We won that challenge at 21-21 after our 7-0 run and I think that sparked the girls. They had confidence going into that fifth set and just took off."

With the crowd silenced, the Skyhawks stormed out to a 10-3 lead in the fifth set and rolled to the 15-9 victory over the Hardrockers (9-12 overall, 5-7 RMAC) to clinch the match.

Longacre, in addition to her 17 kills on 35 swings (.457 hitting percentage), added five total blocks and 10 digs to help pace FLC, while senior outside hitter Ohiyah Shirley also produced a double-double with 14 kills and 16 digs.

In total, the Skyhawks had six players finish with double-digit dig totals and produced a season-high 101 digs; the most for the program since a 110-dig performance in a five-set win over Colorado State University-Pueblo in 2017.

"I didn't feel like we were relentless playing defense in those second and third sets. But late in Set Four, the girls were refusing to let balls drop," Melfy said. "It was a defensive blast in Set Four that changed everything. The girls really saw that 'If we want to go to the tournament, we better get it together tonight.' A switch flipped."

Freshman libero Kamryn Lopez led all Skyhawks with 20 digs. Junior outside hitter Alexa Treguboff popped up 17 digs, freshman setter Payton Harmann added 11 digs to go with 47 assists, and freshman defensive specialist Alexa Alameddin added a career-high 11 digs in her first extended playing time of the season.

"I felt like we needed to make a little bit of a change when things weren't really clicking. Alexa has been showing really well in practice and, when she went in, she responded really well," said Melfy of Alameddin. "She shut down the line and it was huge spark for us. I'm really proud of her."

The Skyhawks will look to ride Friday's momentum into another important match at 5:30 p.m. Saturday against Black Hills State University.

Fort Lewis is currently two games behind the Yellow Jackets, who sit in seventh place in the RMAC standings heading into Saturday's matchup.

"We've got to come out with the same mindset, defensively, as we had late in (Friday's) match. You can really annoy and frustrate a team if you are digging a lot of balls and putting a nice block up," Melfy said. "That's the momentum I want to take into tomorrow. But we also need to produce some more kills. Finishing with 55 kills in five sets isn't enough. We've got to put more balls down on the floor. That'll be our biggest focus; staying fired up and defense and seeing if we can be a little more effective on offense and that should take care of business."
 
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