Colorado Mesa CMU 17-4,12-2 RMAC

Fort Lewis FLC 8-12,6-8 RMAC

Colorado Mesa CMU

17-4,12-2 RMAC

Final

Oct. 22, 2022

Fort Lewis FLC

8-12,6-8 RMAC

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Colorado Mesa CMU	19	25	25	25	(3)
Fort Lewis FLC	25	16	20	21	(1)

Summary
Box Score

Hayden Mangan, Fort Lewis Athletic Communications

Alexis Hobie led the Skyhawks with 11 kills in the match versus Colorado Mesa

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 10/22/2022 8:56:00 PM | Angela Roberts, Assistant AD - Communications

Skyhawks establish season highs in narrow 3-1 loss to No. 20 Mavericks

DURANGO, Colo. – The No. 20 Colorado Mesa University Mavericks battled back after dropping the opening set of a Saturday night Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matchup, stealing a 3-1 win from the Skyhawks to wrap up the Homecoming weekend.

Fort Lewis moves to 8-12 on the year and 6-8 in RMAC play while Mesa improves to 17-4, 12-2 RMAC. The Skyhawks maintain positioning in the league with a tie for seventh place with South Dakota Mines while Mesa is in a three-way tie for second place.

"We were not the same team that Mesa saw when we face each other in September," acknowledged head coach Giedre Tarnauskaite. "I always challenge the team to keep learning and getting better, and we certainly showed our growth tonight."

The difference-maker for the Skyhawks came at the service line where the team racked up 11 service aces—a season-high and the most since a 14-ace outing against Chadron State on October 1, 2021. Freshman Ella Butler served up a career-high six aces, bringing her season total to 30 and ranking third all-time in a four-set match.

In addition to the dimes at the service line, the Skyhawks put up a season-high 13 blocks—a vast improvement on their mark of six blocks when the teams faced in September. Tonight's outing marked the most blocks in a four-set match since a 2014 match versus, you guessed it, Colorado Mesa.

"I'm really proud of how we battled tonight. We came out fighting from the first point," said Tarnauskaite. "The team attacked them from the service line, had great blocks, and made amazing plays defensively."

Individually, the Skyhawks were led by sophomore Alexis Hobie who put away 11 kills to go along with six digs. Senior Kamryn Lopez had 19 digs and went errorless on 17 reception attempts. In addition to her serving spectacle, Butler led all players with eight blocks to mark a career-high. Senior Rylee Johnson put away seven kills and five blocks. Sophomore Natalia Lambos coordinated the offense with 27 assists, seven digs, and a career-high five blocks.

Set One (25-19)
The dominant serving was established immediately with the match's first point going to Fort Lewis off a Hobie ace. The teams went back and forth from there, but a key 4-0 run midway through had the Skyhawks up 13-7. Facing lineup changes and moving parts, the Mavericks committed a trio of errors throughout the run to aid in the lead. Mesa responded with two points from the setter VanDeList, but a cross-court attacking error provided a Skyhawk side out. Butler toed the line again and notched back-to-back service aces, followed by a block from Lauren Shea and Johnson to make it a 17-10 score. Mesa got within three points with kills from the middle, moving the set to a 22-19 score. Back at the service line, Butler dropped in her third ace and Shea capped it off with a kill through the block to take the set.

Set Two (16-25)
Mesa regrouped with a new starting lineup in set two and jumped ahead to a 5-1 advantage. Johnson got the team back in it with a kill and block to narrow the gap to 5-4. Fort Lewis stayed within striking distance midway through with a 12-10 kill from Shea, but an 8-2 run put Mesa ahead 20-12. The Skyhawks held off a pair of set points with a block from Butler and Lambos, but the hot hand of Mesa's Spitzer ended it in a 25-16 final.

Set Three (20-25)
The third set featured scoring runs from both sides as the score crept to 13-6 in favor of the visitors. Butler and Hobie added kills, followed by the pair combining for a block to cut the deficit to 15-11 before a side-out kill out of the middle stalled the growing momentum. The teams traded points from there with JJ Curry picking up two kills down the stretch as the score moved to 24-19. Fort Lewis earned a point off a service error, but another quick shot from the middle sealed it as the match moved to four sets.

Set Four (21-25)
Again, Mesa got off to a hot start to go ahead 9-2 behind four attacking errors from the Skyhawks. Undeterred, Fort Lewis made it a 10-7 score behind the block of Butler and the go-too arm of Hobie. Still trailing, the Skyhawks made a strong push midway through and scored four to see a 16-13 score. Butler picked up her fifth and sixth aces of the night throughout the run and kept the crafty offense of the opposition off-kilter. Down but never out, the difference makers, again, but away a pair of blocks to draw the score to 19-18. Mesa made a quick substitution, and the move seemed to do wonders as a pair of attacking errors led to a 23-19 lead. Shea popped in a kill through the block, but the Mavericks toughed it out with a kill from Wedhorn and a double block on the outside to take the match.

Up Next
Fort Lewis will head on its final regular season road trip of the season to face Colorado Christian University and No. 2 MSU Denver. Friday's match will be at 7:00 p.m. at the CCU Event Center in Lakewood, followed by a 4:00 p.m. Saturday match at the Auraria Event Center in Denver.

The Skyhawks last faced the Colorado Christian on November 5, 2021, and dropped the match in a 3-1 final. The Cougars are 13-10 this season and 8-6 in RMAC play.

Fort Lewis and MSU Denver faced off in the second match of the RMAC season, playing in a tight match inside Whalen Gymnasium. The Roadrunners took the match by a 3-1 final and sit at 20-1 on the year with an unblemished 13-0 overall record.

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