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Kaitlyn Silva

Volleyball heads to regional pod to face Adams State and NMHU

9/28/2023 3:00:00 PM

By: Angela Roberts, Assistant AD - Communications
DURANGO, Colo. – Fort Lewis College volleyball is on the road this week for a pair of "pod" matches against Adams State University and New Mexico Highlands. The matches are considered nonconference and will not affect the final Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings.

Last Time Out
The Skyhawks opened the weekend with a loss to Colorado Christian on the road. The Cougars hit .319 for the match and held the Skyhawks to a .147 clip. A big piece of the puzzle for the match came from the block where Colorado Christian edged out Fort Lewis by a 9-3 margin. Senior JJ Curry led the team with 10 kills (.333), followed by junior Alexis Hobie who contributed eight. Junior Natalia Lambos recorded 22 assists to go along with two kills. Junior Sarah Wilkey led all players with 15 digs.

The following night, Fort Lewis battled in a five-set match against Chadron State, ultimately falling to the Eagles to close out the weekend. The match was defensive with the teams combining for 29 blocks and 144 digs. The Eagles held a narrow advantage in hitting percentage at .123 compared to a .115 clip for the Skyhawks. Serving was another key area for both sides with Chadron State edging out Fort Lewis 14-11.

Butler's 16 kills led the team, and she also contributed eight blocks and three service aces. Junior Alexis Hobie followed with 13 kills and 10 digs. Senior JJ Curry recorded 12 kills to go along with seven digs. Junior Sarah Wilkey had a career night in the back row with 22 digs to lead the team. Junior Natalia Lambos had a double-double with 42 assists and 13 digs in addition to seven blocks.

Scouting Adams State University
The Grizzlies are 3-9 overall and 2-2 in conference play following a 3-1 win over Black Hills State last week. As a team, Adams State hits .162 while allowing the opposition a .242 efficiency. The Grizzlies edge out their opponents with two blocks per set.

Individually, Cindy Garcia leads the way with 2.97 kills per set. She is followed by Anna Huggins who records 2.44 per set. The team has used three setters throughout the year in a two-setter offense. Remi Vargas leads the way with 4.27 assists per set and has seen the court in 41 sets. Defensively, Ailee Bugas leads the team with 2.46 digs per set. Natalie Gallegos and Katie Bauer own marks of .98 and .92 blocks per set, respectively.

Fort Lewis is 21-29 all-time against Adams State after winning last season's meeting in four sets. Hobie and Butler each had nine kills in the match and Lambos dished out 48 assists.

Scouting New Mexico Highlands
The Cowgirls are 1-12 this season with their lone win coming in the season opener over Ouachita Baptist University. The team is hitting .117 compared to a .264 mark for their opponents.

The team is led by Angelina Burton who averages 2.41 kills per set, followed by Jaylee Gonzales at 2.23 kills per set. The duo of Megan Waghorn and Ashleigh Meyer have coordinated the offense and each average over four assists per set. Defensively, Abby Carlsen leads the way at 4.05 digs per set and 250 reception attempts.

Fort Lewis is 29-24 all-time against New Mexico Highlands, winning both meetings last season in four sets. In the home match, the Skyhawks took the fourth set by a 31-29 final to secure a spot in the RMAC Tournament. Hobie had 15 kills and 16 digs, followed by Shea's 13 kills, 12 digs performance.

Around the RMAC
The conference has three teams ranked in the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll, released Monday. MSU Denver leads the way at No. 7, moving up one spot after sweeping conference play last week. Colorado Mesa follows at No. 11 with an 11-1 record, followed by No. 13 Regis University. Colorado School of Mines is receiving votes in the poll.

Fort Lewis ranks fifth in the conference in opponent-hitting percentage (.183). Sophomore Ella Butler leads the league with .71 aces per set. Junior Natalia Lambos is averaging 9.28 assists per set to rank fifth in the conference. Junior Alexis Hobie ranks sixth in the league at 3.19 kills per set. Junior Sarah Wilkey is seventh in the conference with 3.64 digs per set.

Inside the Numbers         
The Skyhawks average 11.7 kills per set and 10.7 assists per set this season. The team had a season-high hitting percentage of .279 in a win over East Central. Boasting a deep lineup, Fort Lewis has eight players averaging at least one kill per set. Hobie is leading the way with 3.19 per set, followed by Curry's 2.34 per set. Lambos is averaging a career-best 9.28 assists per set to go along with 1.86 digs per set. Wilkey leads the way on defense with 3.64 digs per set. Sophomore Ella Butler leads the team with .81 blocks per set, followed by freshman Jordyn Romano's .71 per set average.

Up Next
Fort Lewis is back home next week for a pair of matches against Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines. Friday's match against BHSU will begin at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday's will kick off at 1:00 p.m.

On Saturday, Fort Lewis will welcome Nike N7 to Whalen Gymnasium for volleyball's inaugural celebration of Native American Heritage. Since its creation in 2009, the Nike N7 Fund has awarded more than $7.5 million in grants to 259 Native American and Aboriginal communities and organizations, reaching more than 500,000 youths. The N7 Fund supports organizations that provide sports and physical activity programming to youth in these communities.

This year marks the first time that Skyhawks volleyball is participating in the event. Fort Lewis is one of only 11 institutions nationwide — Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts, Gonzaga, Florida State, Marquette, University of New Mexico, San Diego State, Stanford, Haskell Indian Nations, Mesa Community College, and Fort Lewis College — to participate in the games.
 
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