Volleyball returned to Whalen Gymnasium for the first time since 2019 when Fort Lewis hosted Black Hills State and Westminster College in a three-game pod on Saturday.

The Skyhawks rebounded from a loss to the Yellow Jackets in the first contest of the day to claim a come-from-behind, four-set victory (16-25, 25-21, 25-23 and 25-23) over the Griffins in the nightcap.

"I'm glad that we showed up in the second match," Coach Giedre Tarnauskaite said after the Skyhawks (2-3 overall, 2-3 RMAC) bounced back to earn the split at home. "Westminster definitely pushed back on us, but I'm glad that our team persevered. I challenged them to really push ahead and regroup, and really focus on the next match, and I think it really paid off for us."

The Griffins (2-4 overall, 1-4 RMAC) were also coming off a loss to Black Hills State in an earlier pod contest, and they took control early against the Skyhawks to win the first set 25-16 on the strength of a 4-0 advantage in blocks. 

Tarnauskaite shook up her lineup a bit to start the second set and her squad responded with a gutsy 25-21 victory.

"I challenged all of our pin hitters to really find their moments and just be fearless and not afraid of the block, and put all of the pressure on our opponent," Tarnauskaite said.

The second set comeback featured six service aces and a 14-9 advantage in kills for Fort Lewis, and was fittingly capped off by a Madi Nash slam to even the match at a set apiece. The junior outside hitter did not start the second set, but caught fire when she returned to the floor and would finish the night with a career-high 18 kills and 15 digs to pace the Skyhawks in both categories.

"I'm very proud of how Madi showed up," Tarnauskaite remarked. "She just swung and kept mixing up the shots, and she was going fearless."

Libero Kamryn Lopez snapped off three of the Skyhawk's six aces in the set to help shift things in Fort Lewis' favor. She also slowed down the Westminster attack with 15 digs of her own.

"Kam's serving was a momentum changer for us," Tarnauskaite said. "It was the break that we needed."

The third set proved to be a true rubber match in every sense of the word, as it featured 12 ties and seven lead changes, but the Skyhawks continued to feed off the aggression of Nash, who notched seven kills on 17 attempts in the set and added a service ace of her own to keep the visitors at bay. Fort Lewis had to overcome four blocks by a Griffin team desperate to regain the advantage, but Tarnauskaite's squad proved equal to the challenge, logging a 36-34 edge in attack attempts and a 15-11 lead in kills.

Westminster would rally late to close to within a point at 24-23, but Avynn La Rose scored one of her nine kills to seal a 25-23 win and put the home team on top 2-1.

The Skyhawks kept their ears pinned back in the fourth set and tallied a whopping 51 attack attempts to 44 for the Griffins. That translated into an 18-14 advantage in kills for the Skyhawks, who again held off a late charge from the visitors to claim another 25-23 decision and walk off the floor with a 3-1 win.

Nash had seven more kills in the finale and a whopping nine digs to continue to set the tone for the Skyhawks. Rylee Johnson and Alexa Treguboff chipped in with five kills apiece in the fourth set, and finished with 10 and 11 respectively in the match. Treguboff added 13 digs in a balanced effort for the team's lone senior, and junior setter Makena Ahuna kept the hitters swinging by spreading it around to the tune of 43 set assists.

The bounce back victory over Westminster was just what Fort Lewis needed after a promising beginning went awry in their home opener earlier in the day.

Fort Lewis jumped out to a 5-0 lead against Black Hills State and cruised to a 25-14 victory in the first set of their 11 a.m. contest on the strength of a blistering .458 hitting percentage. The Skyhawks got kills from six different players in the first set and out-killed the Yellow Jackets 14-8 to take an early advantage in the match.

Ahuna started off the second set with an ace for Fort Lewis, but the visiting Yellow Jackets (2-1 overall, 2-1 RMAC) roared right back to take a 9-4 lead and never looked back. Fort Lewis was unable to mount a serious challenge, and Black Hills State evened the match at one set apiece with a convincing 25-12 win.

"It was a good teaching moment for us to see that we have to not only dominate, but stay consistent with how we perform," Tarnauskaite said after the visitors seized momentum from Fort Lewis with the second set win.

The Skyhawks continued to struggle in the early going of set number three, and the Yellow Jackets took advantage to roll out to a 21-8 bulge. A timeout by Tarnauskaite sparked a 12-2 Fort Lewis run, and the Skyhawks rallied to within three points of the visitors at 23-20. Unfortunately that was as close as they would get, as a pair of side-outs and a service error from Fort Lewis gave Black Hills a 25-21 victory and a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth set.

The Skyhawks tried to hold onto the momentum from the late third-set rally, and led by as many as three before the Yellow Jackets clawed their way back to even the fourth set at 13-13. It would be all Black Hills State from that point on, and they ended the match with a 12-2 run to claim their first win of the year.

Johnson led the way at the net for the Skyhawks with 11 kills on 20 attempts and a hitting percentage of .500, while LaRose and Treguboff added 8 kills each. LaRose was Fort Lewis' top stopper at the net with a stuff block and a trio of block assists, while Treguboff anchored the defense with 14 digs, followed by Lopez with 13.

Freshman Lauren Burns provided a bright spot in the opener when she came off the bench for the Skyhawks, and sparked their third set rally. She finished with five kills and a hitting percentage of .833 to go along with 7 digs and a block assist. The freshman contributed in the later contest as well, tallying 7 more digs and a couple of kills in the win over Westminster.

"Our freshmen had to play, and I think that was an energy boost, and also a confidence boost," Tarnauskaite said of the contributions of Burns and fellow freshman Chailyn Swenson, who finished the day with four kills and eight digs off the bench.

Fort Lewis will return to action on Thursday afternoon, when they hit the road for a 4 p.m. contest at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. The Mountain Lions will pose a challenge, as they currently boast a 2-1 record, and are coming off a win over Chadron State after starting the season with a split against Westminster.

"We're still a young team, and we're learning how to win. We're learning how to answer the pressure," Tarnauskaite said. "We now see we have work to do, and the team is on the same page and ready to go to work on Monday."