Durango, Colo. – Sophomore outside hitter Chay Swenson earned a career-high 20 kills to lift the Fort Lewis College volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Chadron State College in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play on Friday evening. Fort Lewis improves to 2-7 overall and 2-3 in the conference while Chadron State drops to 3-9, 1-4 RMAC.

"Chay has been stepping up for her team every day this season. She prepared all week for this match and was dedicated to the scouting report. She's dialed in and taking risks and it's showing on the court through her leadership," said head coach Giedre Tarnauskaite.

Fort Lewis hit .072 for the match versus .205 for Chadron State. The biggest difference in the match came from the service line where the Skyhawks notched 14 aces to just six for the Eagles. Swenson's 20 kills led all players and she was followed by junior Payton Harmann who had eight kills. Harmann was the assist leader with 22 for the match. Junior Joviana Romero was key in the back row, as well as the service line, with 13 digs and four service aces to her credit.

"We have been working on relentless effort and aggressiveness on offense. That paid off for us tonight with Chadron being a very scrappy team. We took advantage of anything they gave us, and sticking to our game plan ended up working in our favor tonight," said Tarnauskaite.

Set One (25-21)
The Skyhawks saw a 5-3 lead to start the set behind a side out kill from Swenson on the right side. The lead remained on the side of the Skyhawks with a block bringing things to 10-7. The Eagles began to chip away at the lead, scoring two in a row before a Swenson kill brought the score to 14-11. FLC's lead grew behind a pair of errors and a kill from Lambos to force a Chadron State timeout at 17-13. The Skyhawks were the first to 20 points, taking a three-point advantage off a slide kill from junior Rylee Johnson. Fort Lewis found set point off an attacking error and took the first set thanks for a Chadron service error.

Set Two (17-25)
Chadron State responded with a 4-0 run to kick off the second set, forcing an early FLC timeout. The Skyhawks responded to pull within a pair before another scoring stretch had the Eagles ahead 13-4. Fort Lewis got the ball back, but a quick side out had the Eagles behind the service line again. The Skyhawks regained some composure through the middle of the set, capping off solid defensive efforts with a Lopez service ace to bring the score to 16-10. Chadron State enjoyed a 5-1 run to see a 21-12 lead before a roll shot from freshman Alexis Hobie found the floor. The late push wouldn't be enough as the Eagles took a 25-17 win.

Set Three (25-23)
FLC faced a 7-3 deficit to start the set and benefitted from a service run by Romero to go up 10-7. The Eagles halted the scoring run with a side out kill and tacked on another with a block at the net. The score remained close with ties coming at 11, 12, 13, and 14 before back-to-back service aces from Swenson had the Skyhawks up by two. The Eagles rallied to tie the score again, but FLC regained a two-point edge. The Skyhawks held on the lead to see set point at 24-23 and took the set off a kill from sophomore Lauren Burns.

Set Four (29-27)
The early part of set four mirrored the third with tied scores around every corner. The Eagles found separation at 8-6 after a block on the right side to bring on a timeout. Romero continued the tough serving, picking up her third and fourth aces of the evening to pull within one point. Hitting miscues by the Eagles gave Fort Lewis a 14-12 lead to force a Chadron State timeout. The short break did nothing to slow the roll of the Skyhawks as the team went up 17-13. Chadron State battled back to bring the score to 18-16 and force an FLC timeout. The Skyhawks took a 21-19 advantage thanks to a kill from Johnson, but the opposition had a quick side out to keep the lead at one. The Eagles fought off three match points to see a 24-23 deficit, and an attacking error on the Skyhawks had things tied. Lopez dropped in an ace to see another match point, but it was answered again by a Chadron State side out. FLC saw another match point and this time answered the call with Swenson's 20^th kill of the night ending things.

Up Next
Fort Lewis (2-7, 2-3 RMAC) has a quick turnaround as it is set to host No. 8 Colorado School of Mines (11-1, 4-0 RMAC) on Saturday for a 5:00 p.m. start.