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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Kamryn Lopez11.1
Maureen Pasley, FLC Athletics
FLC freshman Kamryn Lopez (#2) had a team-high nine digs in Friday's match against Colorado Mesa (File Photo)
0
Fort Lewis 19FLCVB 9-14, 5-9 RMAC
3
Winner Colorado Mesa CMVB 14-8, 10-4 RMAC
Fort Lewis 19FLCVB
9-14, 5-9 RMAC
0
Final
3
Colorado Mesa CMVB
14-8, 10-4 RMAC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Fort Lewis 19FLCVB 16 19 23 (0)
Colorado Mesa CMVB 25 25 25 (3)

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

Skyhawks produce best passing performance of the season, but fall on the road to Colorado Mesa

GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado — The Fort Lewis College volleyball team fell in three sets (25-16, 25-19 and 25-23) on the road against rivals Colorado Mesa University on Friday evening, remaining 1.5 games of the 10th and final playoff spot for the RMAC Tournament with three matches left in the regular season.

"Obviously, we're disappointed, but we did have some highlights. It was our best passing effort of the year, but we just didn't finish," said Fort Lewis head coach, Tricia Melfy.
Senior middle blocker Bailey Longacre, who earlier in the week was named a First-Team All-Academic in the RMAC, had a stellar evening, finishing with 10 kills and just one error on 21 swings (.429 hitting percentage).

Longacre has now recorded double-digit kill totals in six of her last seven matches, continuing a torrid three-week span where she has also posted four straight matches with a hitting percentage of .333 or higher.

"Bailey is connecting a lot better with (setter) Payton Harmann. It takes some time to build that relationship, but they've been connecting well lately," Melfy said. "Bailey makes great choices, clearly plays like a senior, and she gets those kills because she chooses the right set. I'm super proud of her tonight."

Unfortunately for the Skyhawks (9-14 overall, 5-9 RMAC), winners of four of their last six entering the evening, despite the excellent passing night they struggled to convert them into enough points to edge the Mavericks (14-8 overall, 10-4 RMAC). FLC finished with 31 team kills and a .119 hitting percentage, while CMU produced 48 kills and a .299 hitting percentage.

"We grade our passes and I think our passing rating was a 2.6 out of 3.0 and the goal is 2.4 or higher. Based on those numbers, we knew we passed well, which makes it really disappointing we could generate points off this great passing effort," Melfy said.

After falling 25-16 and 25-19 to begin the evening, FLC came to life and nearly forced a fourth set as Set Three featured five lead changes and 12 ties, the latest coming at 23-23, before CMU was able to hold on for the 25-23 final. 

Sophomore middle blocker Tye Wedhorn produced six kills and led the blocking effort for the Skyhawks as she tallied one solo block and four block assists. As a team, FLC held a 6-2 blocks advantage on the evening.

Senior outside hitter Ohiyah Shirley and freshman middle blocker Rylee Johnson each added four kills apiece to help pace the offense.

Freshman libero Kamryn Lopez led all FLC players in digs Friday with nine, followed by Harmann with seven digs to go with her 25 assists.

Fort Lewis will have a quick turnaround and look to bounce back Saturday when it takes on Western Colorado University in a pivotal Saturday afternoon matinee. Action is slated to get underway at 3 p.m.

"We're kind of in sense of urgency, must-win scenario," Melfy said. "We have to learn from to tonight and reflect individually about how we can be better (Saturday) to meet our team goals. We have to learn from tonight but move on as quickly as possible to get our minds focused on Western. We need to come out with a relentless pursuit of a victory."
 
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