Fort Lewis FLC 1-2,0-0 RMAC

UT Tyler UTT 3-0,0-0 Lone Star

Fort Lewis FLC

1-2,0-0 RMAC

Final

Sep. 02, 2023

UT Tyler UTT

3-0,0-0 Lone Star

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Fort Lewis FLC	10	22	26	26	(1)
UT Tyler UTT	25	25	24	28	(3)

Southern Nazarene SN 3-1,0-0 GAC

Fort Lewis FLC 1-3,0-0 RMAC

Southern Nazarene SN

3-1,0-0 GAC

Final

Sep. 02, 2023

Fort Lewis FLC

1-3,0-0 RMAC

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Southern Nazarene SN	25	18	25	25	(3)
Fort Lewis FLC	22	25	20	17	(1)

Angela Roberts, FLC Athletic Communications

Sophomore Ella Butler compiled 11 aces on Saturday, including a career high of 7 in match one

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 9/2/2023 4:44:00 PM | Angela Roberts, Assistant AD - Communications

Skyhawks fall in final games of Patriot Classic

TYLER, Texas – The Fort Lewis College volleyball team wrapped up opening weekend with a pair of four-set losses at the Patriot Classic, bringing home a 1-3 record as they look ahead to next week's home tournament.

Match One: (RV) UT Tyler 3, Fort Lewis 1
Fort Lewis hit .116 for the match compared to a .245 clip for UT Tyler. The Skyhawks edged out the Patriots from the service line with nine versus four for the opposition. Sophomore Ella Butler led the team with a career-high seven aces to go along with 10 kills. Junior Alexis Hobie picked up another double-double with 20 kills and 10 digs. Junior Sarah Wilkey established a career-high with 17 digs, followed by freshman Alina Nunez's 11-dig effort. Junior Natalia Lambos recorded 35 assists and seven digs.

Match Breakdown
The Fort Lewis freshmen showed up early with kills from Logan Spragg and Jordan DeJesus leading to a 4-4 tied score. The Patriots went on to double them up before a tool off the block by senior JJ Curry earned a side out. The teams went point for point from there as a savvy slice by Hobie caught the line to make it 10-7. UT Tyler caught fire from there, going on a scoring run to force a timeout at 16-9. Despite the break in action, the Patriots continued to hammer away with kills from the pin making it 20-9. Butler found a kill down the stretch, but a hitting error ended things in a 25-10 score.

Senior Lauren Shea joined the match in the second set and immediately contributed with a pair of kills to see the score at 6-4 in favor of the home team. Nunez got in on the offensive action as well, sending her first kill of the match to the deep corner for a 9-5 score. UT Tyler used stout serving to enjoy a 4-0 scoring run to go ahead 13-5 as the teams headed into a timeout. The Skyhawks strung together points thanks to a kill from Butler and Nunez's first career ace before an attacking error gave the Patriots a side out. Butler continued to contribute, this time at the service line with a pair of aces to bring on a UT Tyler timeout at 16-12. Fort Lewis pulled within one, taking advantage of some scrappy play and a huge block by Spragg to see things at 19-18. The Patriots managed to pull away slightly and split the defenders to close out the set, 25-22.

The third set opened with a pair of service aces from Butler, the team's leading server in 2022. Things continued to roll for the Skyhawks with a pair of Hobie kills and another block by Spragg saw a 6-1 advantage. The Patriots clawed their way back into the set and took an eventual lead thanks to an attacking error to make it 8-7. The teams went point for point from there with a sharp kill from Hobie making it 15-13. Fort Lewis was the first to 20 points when a shot down the line dropped for a Butler kill, but UT Tyler managed to knot it up at 20-20. The teams were tied again at 22's before UT Tyler pulled away for set point. Hobie preserved the set with a kill, followed by Butler's fifth ace of the match to make it 24-24. The Skyhawks regained momentum and closed out the set with another kill by Hobie for a 26-24 final.

The fourth set was tight in the early going with ties at three, four, five, and six before the Skyhawks saw separation with an 11-8 advantage. Fort Lewis built on the lead with another Butler ace to go up 13-8 before a run allowed UT Tyler to tie things up. It was a set of two-point runs from there as both sides benefitted from short bursts. The Skyhawks were the first to 20 for the second-straight set when a Butler kill out of the middle gave her team a three-point lead. The Patriots didn't falter, though, and used a 5-0 run to reclaim a lead at 22-20. DeJesus put away a pair of kills out of a quick break to make it a one-point game before a UT Tyler error tied things at 23-all. The set tied on three more occasions, but a pair of kills from the pin sealed the win for the Patriots in 28-26 fashion.

Match Two: Southern Nazarene 3, Fort Lewis 1
Fort Lewis hit .170 for the match versus a .207 efficiency for Southern Nazarene. The teams totaled 21 aces and 15 blocks, and the Skyhawks held a 44-40 advantage in digs. Butler led the team with 12 kills (.526), followed by Hobie's eight-kill outing. Freshman Jordyn Romero provided offense out of the middle with five kills (.400) to go along with a pair of blocks. Wilkey led the team with 13 digs, followed by sophomore Chloe Ruhl and Nunez who each contributed 11. Wilkey and Butler combined for nine aces.

Match Breakdown
Fort Lewis maintained a comfortable lead early in set one, getting ahead by three points thanks to a kill from DeJesus. Then, the Skyhawks saw a four-point edge after an ace from Lambos found the score at 12-8. The Storm battled to tie things at 13-13 before Fort Lewis worked to go up 16-14. The set would tie up again, this time at 19's before a pair of kills by Hobie forced a Southern Nazarene timeout. The opposing squad rattled off a trio of aces and ended the set with a well-placed tip to steal the opening set by a score of 25-22.

Set two was a chess match from the jump with the early points seeing lead changes and tied scores throughout. Fort Lewis eventually broke away with a 3-0 scoring run, capped by a block from Romano and Hobie to go ahead 15-12. The lead grew to four when Nunez sent a kill down the line for an 18-14 score. Nunez continued to control the set with a deep kill and a service ace to bring things to 21-18. The team closed out the set on a four-point run to knot the match at one set apiece.

The tides turned in set three when Southern Nazarene used a 6-0 run to see an 8-4 advantage. Fort Lewis added five points thanks to kills from four different players to cut the deficit to 10-9. The Skyhawks eventually tied the score at 14-14 with Hobie's eighth kill of the match, a thumb-down shot down the line that caught the defender on her heels. The Storm followed it up with a scoring run to go up by five, but the Skyhawks chipped away to make it a 19-17 set. Despite keeping it close late in the set, the Storm managed to pull away with a 25-20 win.

Southern Nazarene pressed forward as the fourth set got underway, using its block and court awareness to build a 9-4 lead. Fort Lewis stayed in the set, though, and used a block by Butler and Shea to make it 13-8. Wilkey went to work from the service line and compiled three aces and a kill to push the score to 13-12. Fort Lewis finally broke through and claimed the lead with back-to-back kills from Butler and Shea saw the score at 14-13. In a set of runs, the Storm reclaimed a 22-15 lead with the help of a flurry of attacking woes. Butler recorded a kill in the final points of the set, but the Storm closed it out with one of their own for a 25-17 victory.

Comments from Coach Tarnauskaite
"Every game we play, no matter the outcome, is a learning opportunity for our team. We have some work to do and adjustments to make to get ready for our home tournament. It has been a while since Fort Lewis volleyball has hosted a tournament, and we are excited to play in front of our home crowd."

Up Next
Fort Lewis (1-3) will be home next week for the inaugural FLC Tournament as we welcome five programs to Whalen for a three-day event. The tournament information, including a comprehensive schedule, can be found here.

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