Fort Lewis FLC 0-1,0-0 RMAC

DBU DBU 1-0,0-0 Lone Star

Fort Lewis FLC

0-1,0-0 RMAC

Final

Sep. 01, 2023

DBU DBU

1-0,0-0 Lone Star

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	F
Fort Lewis FLC	19	17	16	(0)
DBU DBU	25	25	25	(3)

Fort Lewis FLC 1-1,0-0 RMAC

St. Edward's SE 0-2,0-0 Lone Star

Fort Lewis FLC

1-1,0-0 RMAC

Final

Sep. 01, 2023

St. Edward's SE

0-2,0-0 Lone Star

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	5	F
Fort Lewis FLC	9	17	25	25	17	(3)
St. Edward's SE	25	25	23	20	15	(2)

Angela Roberts, FLC Athletic Communications

Junior Sarah Wilkey totaled 27 digs on day one of the Patriot Classic, including a career-high 16 digs in the nightcap

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 9/1/2023 5:50:00 PM | Angela Roberts, Assistant AD - Communications

Skyhawks pull off reverse sweep, split day one of Patriot Classic

TYLER, Texas – The Fort Lewis College volleyball team pulled off a reverse sweep in its second match of the day to split the season-opener at the Patriot Classic. The Skyhawks fell to Dallas Baptist University in game one before topping St. Edward's University to wrap up the outing.

Match One: Dallas Baptist 3, Fort Lewis 0
Fort Lewis was limited to a .116 hitting efficiency compared to a .279 clip for Dallas Baptist. The Patriots held an edge in digs with 40 versus 25 for the Skyhawks. Senior Chay Swenson led the team with seven kills, followed by senior JJ Curry and sophomore Ella Butler with six apiece. Junior Natalia Lambos coordinated the offense and compiled 23 assists. Defensively, junior Sarah Wilkey paced the group with 11 digs, one of which dropped in for a kill. Freshmen Alina Nunez and Jordyn Romano made their collegiate debuts in the season-opener.

Match Breakdown
Dallas Baptist managed to take an early 3-0 lead with a trio of kills before a service error and Swenson's first kill of the season made it a one-point game. The Skyhawks went on to enjoy a 3-0 scoring run to tie it up at sixes. The Patriots regained a slim lead, but a commanding block by Lauren Shea and Romano tied the score again. Fort Lewis found its first lead of the morning on a thunderous Swenson kill to force a timeout with a 14-12 advantage. Out of the timeout, Curry racked up a pair of well-placed kills to extend the lead to 17-13. Dallas Baptist rallied with an 8-1 scoring run to reclaim a lead at 21-18. Three Skyhawks errors pushed the Patriots to set point before a right side kill secured a 25-19 opening win.

Fort Lewis came out in set two with a diverse offense, garnering kills from both pins, the middle, and setter to jump ahead 9-6. The Patriots battled back from the service line to knot it up, and both sides went blow for blow as the score drifted to 12 all. Fort Lewis fell behind again but gained some momentum after kills from Butler and Hobie made it 20-16. Shaky serve receive plagued the Skyhawks toward the end of the set, and a late attack error sealed the set for the Patriots. After two sets, Curry led Fort Lewis with six kills, followed by Swenson's five on 11 swings (.364).

Much like the match opener, Dallas Baptist jumped ahead on an early run in set three. The Skyhawks rallied with a kill from Hobie and block by Butler and Swenson to pull within one, but a pair of aces extended the lead further. Fort Lewis crept back in the set thanks to work from Hobie and an ace by Lambos to tie the set at 10-10. The Patriots rattled off four-straight kills to reclaim a lead at 19-11 before Swenson's seventh kills of the match slowed the roll. The Skyhawks played even from there, but the lead was insurmountable as the Patriots closed the set at 25-16 with a kill.

Match Two: Fort Lewis 3, St. Edward's 2
After hitting negative through the first two sets, Fort Lewis turned it around to hit .112 for the match. The Skyhawks totaled five aces, seven blocks, and 70 digs in the match. Junior Alexis Hobie led the team with 17 kills to go along with 15 digs. Curry followed with 11 kills, 11 digs, and four blocks. Wilkey led the way with a career-high 16 digs, followed by sophomore Chloe Ruhl who had 14 in her debut. Senior Jade Martinez matched a career-high with 34 assists in four sets of work. Freshmen Jordan DeJesus and Logan Spragg made their collegiate debuts in the win.

Match Breakdown
The Hilltoppers got up early with a 6-0 scoring run sending the Skyhawks into an early timeout in set one. Shea reset the squad with a kill out of the break, sending a wrist-away shot down the line for a side out. St. Edward's regained control and took advantage of a handful of Fort Lewis miscues to force the set's second timeout at 12-2. The Skyhawks earned kills from Curry and Hobie, but the ball continued to fall in favor of the Hilltoppers as the score drifted to 22-7. St. Edward's closed it out with a kill to take a 25-9 opening set, hitting .478 versus a -.063 mark for Fort Lewis.

The second set got off to an improved start with a successful joust from Curry dropping in for a 4-2 Skyhawks advantage. The teams tied it up on three occasions before DeJesus' first career kill made it 11-9. St. Edward's managed to reclaim the lead with a 4-0 scoring run to bring on a timeout with the score at 18-13. The Hilltoppers' defense shined in the later points, and a block ended the set in a 25-17 score.

DeJesus commanded the early portion of the third set, sending down a trio of kills from both pins to go along with a block for a 6-4 lead. Butler got in on the attack as well, running a pair of plays behind the setter to maintain a two-point cushion. The Hilltoppers gained a point out of a timeout but went on to commit three-straight errors to increase the Skyhawks' lead to 16-11. St. Edward's went to work to narrow the margin with back-to-back kills making it an 18-17 score. A quick timeout did the trick as kills from Butler and Hobie and a solo stuff by Spragg sent the score to 21-17. DeJesus made it set point with a tool off the block and gave her team the set with her sixth kill, ending the third in a 25-23 score.

Momentum carried over into the fourth as the Skyhawks owned a 7-3 lead behind a block from Curry and Butler. St. Edward's climbed back into the lead, but the duo of Hobie and Curry downed a pair of kills to see a 12-11 edge. The ensuing sequences featured five tied scores to bring on a Fort Lewis timeout at 16 all. The Skyhawks went ahead 19-17 out of the break thanks to a pair of kills and an ace from Butler, forcing a timeout by the Hilltoppers. Hobie went to work from there, stringing together three kills to make it 23-18. Another kill from the junior made it set point, and Spragg finished it off with a tool off the block to send the match to a decisive fifth set.

The Hilltoppers wasted no time establishing a lead in the fifth, finding space in the block for an early 4-0 lead to prompt a quick timeout. Fort Lewis found its first point of the set via a service error added to the score with an ace. The team added another two points, the final on a well-placed bump kill from Wilkey to make it 5-4. St. Edward's regained control with four-straight points to make it 9-4 before Curry notched a kill for a side out. The Skyhawks pulled within two thanks to another kill from Curry to force a timeout with the score at 10-8. Fort Lewis didn't waiver out of the break, scoring three-straight to see an 11-10 lead. St. Edward's recorded blocks on back-to-back plays to tie the score at 13-13, and the set would knot up against at 14 and 15. Finally, the Skyhawks earned match point and secured the win on an ace by Martinez.

Comments from Coach Tarnauskaite
"We knew that we would be challenged at this tournament and see some tough teams. We needed to be prepared to compete for every point, and I believe we did that today. Our roster depth is incredible this season, and as a coach, that's what you want. Some of our new players saw court time, and they performed at a high level. Today's success was definitely a team effort."

Up Next
Fort Lewis (1-1) competes in day two of the Patriot Classic tomorrow, first with an 11:30 a.m. match against (RV) UT Tyler. The Skyhawks will wrap up opening weekend with a 2:00 p.m. first serve against Southern Nazarene.

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