Tex. A&M Int'l TAMIU 4-1,0-0 Lone Star

Fort Lewis FLC 2-3,0-0 RMAC

Tex. A&M Int'l TAMIU

4-1,0-0 Lone Star

Final

Sep. 07, 2023

Fort Lewis FLC

2-3,0-0 RMAC

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	F
Tex. A&M Int'l TAMIU	21	20	20	(0)
Fort Lewis FLC	25	25	25	(3)

Summary
Box Score

JoJo Lutz, Fort Lewis Athletic Communications

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 9/7/2023 8:07:00 PM | Angela Roberts, Assistant AD - Communications

Volleyball sweeps Texas A&M International in Skyhawks Invitational opener

DURANGO, Colo. – The Fort Lewis College volleyball team welcomed fans back to Whalen Gymnasium in impressive fashion, handing Texas A&M International its first loss to the season in sweeping fashion to kick off the 2023 Skyhawks Invitational.

Fort Lewis was superior in every statistical category, holding TAMIU to a season-low hitting percentage of .010 versus a .178 clip for the home squad. The Skyhawks out-killed the Dustdevils 36-27 and backed up the offense with 48 digs compared to 46 for the opposition.

Senior Lauren Shea led the diverse offense with a season-high 10 kills to go along with three blocks. Senior JJ Curry followed with seven kills and four blocks. The freshman middle blocking duo of Logan Spragg and Jordyn Romano combined for six kills on 18 errorless swings. Junior Natalia Lambos had 31 assists, seven digs, and three kills. Junior Sarah Wilkey led the team with 13 digs, followed by sophomore Chloe Ruhl who contributed seven.

Match Breakdown
In set one, it was the Dustdevils who saw an early lead, but a kill by Curry and a pair of miscues allowed the Skyhawks to tie it up at 6-6. The teams played even from there, seeing tied scores all the way until 12 apiece. Then, Fort Lewis enjoyed a 5-1 scoring surge behind a kill from Shea and combined block of Curry and Romano to go up 17-13. The visitors fought back to knot it up again, this time at 17-all, but a pair of attacking errors and kill by junior Alexis Hobie had the home team in front 21-17. Spragg and Hobie added a block to make it set point, and Hobie went on to put away a kill for a 25-21 opener.

The Skyhawks carried the energy into set two, getting ahead 7-5 with a back row kill by freshman Alina Nunez. TAMIU went on to tie the score and claim its first lead of the set with a block to make it 12-11. The visitors went up by as many as three points, but Fort Lewis saw a 5-0 burst to bring the score to 20-18. Shea added a solo block to see set point and closed the door with a kill through the block to end it in a 25-20 score.

The third set was tight in the early goings, but kills by Shea and Curry, followed by an ace from Ruhl, gave Fort Lewis an 8-4 advantage. Momentum stayed in the hands of the home team, and back-to-back kills from senior Chay Swenson extended the lead to 14-8. The Dustdevils got a pair of points back, but it would be another 5-0 scoring run for the Skyhawks to make it a 19-10 set. The visitors managed to chip away at the deficit, pulling within four points on two occasions. Fort Lewis remained poised down the stretch, though, and Shea's final kill of the night closed out the match at 25-20.

Comments from Coach Tarnauskaite
"Playing at home is always great, and winning the home opener against a really good team felt even better. I'm happy with the improvements that we made as a team to give ourselves the best shot at winning. We had two freshmen middles on the court, and I'm impressed with how they commanded the position with their offense. I'm also happy with how Natalia executed our game plan and ran the court. She created many one on one opportunities for our hitters."

Up Next
Fort Lewis (2-3) is back in Whalen tomorrow for a pair of matches against (RV) Angelo State University (3:00 p.m.) and East Central University (7:00 p.m.). Fans are welcome to enjoy a full day of volleyball with matches running from 9:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

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