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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Avynn La Rose 2.11
Darral Freund, MSU Denver Athletics
FLC sophomore Avynn La Rose had a career-high 14 kills in Thursday's victory over No. 22 UCCS (File Photo)
3
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 3-3,3-2 RMAC
2
UC-Colo. Springs UCCS 2-3,2-2 RMAC
Winner
Fort Lewis FLC
3-3,3-2 RMAC
3
Final
2
UC-Colo. Springs UCCS
2-3,2-2 RMAC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Fort Lewis FLC 23 25 25 16 15 (3)
UC-Colo. Springs UCCS 25 19 19 25 12 (2)

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

Skyhawks stun #22 UCCS in five sets, net first win over ranked foe since move to DII

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — Thursday's road win for the Fort Lewis College volleyball team went well beyond the final box score. The five-set stunner (22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 16-25 and 15-12) against No. 22 ranked University of Colorado at Colorado Springs was school history.

According to available records, Thursday's victory marked the first win for FLC over a top-25 nationally ranked opponent in the AVCA Coaches Poll since moving to the NCAA Division II level in 1994.

The Skyhawks came close on numerous occasions during the back-to-back NCAA Tournament teams in 2006-07, with the last close call coming in 2010 when they beat Abilene Christian in five sets on Sept. 3.

ACU was unranked at the time, but finished the year nationally ranked No. 22 in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

The cherry on top? Thursday's thriller also snapped a 15-match losing skid to UCCS (2-3 overall, 2-2 RMAC) that dated back to Oct. 18, 2008. FLC last beat UCCS on Oct. 13, 2007 at home in four sets en route to a RMAC Championship and NCAA Division II Tournament berth that season.

"It's very exciting to represent Fort Lewis on such a scale. I'm still trying to process it, honestly," said a jubilant first-year head coach, Giedre Tarnauskaite. "It's exciting to see our hard work and everything we've talked about get rewarded. We've challenged our team in so many ways this season. To shed some light on Fort Lewis is unbelievable. I told the team at the very beginning of the season that this was going to be a record-setting year. I think we're living it, setting new career highs, and now having this added to it is fantastic."

Fittingly, the historic evening ended on a kill spiked down from sophomore Avynn La Rose, who posted a career-high 14 kills and hit a blistering .632 for the Skyhawks (3-3 overall, 3-3 RMAC) as UCCS struggled to find an answer for the FLC middle blocker.

"I'm so proud of Avynn. She was unstoppable," Tarnauskaite said. "(UCCS) managed to get a block on her later on in the match, but for most of the night she was unstoppable."

The Skyhawks fed their middles early and often as fellow sophomore Rylee Johnson joined La Rose in double-figures with 12 kills. Johnson added two aces and a career-high eight digs, while the middle duo combined for 18 of their 32 kills through the first two sets to help FLC even the match at 1-1 after dropping the first set, 25-22.

"Rylee is a tremendous competitor and we know we can always rely on her to put the ball down. She also has a great serve, so for us to be able to keep her in the game and challenge the opponent we need defense. She's becoming a well-rounded player," Tarnauskaite said. "Those two sophomores made a huge difference in the win."

FLC responded with back-to-back set wins of 25-19, with the one hiccup on the night coming in a 25-16 loss in Set Four.

In the fifth set, after trailing by a 4-1 margin early, the Skyhawks stormed back on a 6-0 run, capped off by back-to-back kills from junior outside hitter Madi Nash for two of her six kills, to take a 7-4 lead for good en route to the 15-12 win.

Junior setter Makena Ahuna tallied 41 assists and three of the team's eight service aces, while sophomore defensive specialist Kamryn Lopez led the back row effort with a season-high 17 digs.

FLC as a team produced 60 digs to 59 for UCCS, while taking advantage of 19 service errors and five blocking errors for the Mountain Lions.

"Kam was able to stop the momentum for the UCCS middles. They were hitting really hard and attacking our left side of the court, but she was able to get some really big digs for us," Tarnauskaite said. "She was very disciplined and diligent at her job. She really owned her libero jersey today."

Senior outside hitter Alexa Treguboff and junior outside hitter Cameron Callahan were each solid on both sides of the ball Thursday, as well. Treguboff produced eight kills and 11 digs, while Callahan went for seven kills and 13 digs to round out the Skyhawks top performers.

Riding the high of two straight wins and a school record to boot, the Skyhawks will now turn their attention toward next Saturday's road pod against hosts South Dakota School of Mines (11 a.m.) and Colorado Mesa University (2 p.m.).

"This win will give us a boost of energy and it's what we needed as we continue to prepare for pods," Tarnauskaite said. "It'll be a long trip for us, but I think the team is just ready to go to work and carry that mentality of winning and being a threat."

 
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