PUEBLO, Colo. – The Fort Lewis College volleyball team capped off a perfect weekend at the Royce Cappis Invitational with a pair of four-set victories on Saturday, taking down Florida Tech and host CSU Pueblo to extend its winning streak to four matches.
The Skyhawks improved to 5-3 overall after going 4-0 on the weekend, including Friday's wins over (RV) Minnesota Duluth and Adelphi.
Match One: Fort Lewis 3, Florida Tech 1
Fort Lewis shook off a slow start and put together a dominant offensive performance over the final three sets to earn a 3-1 win over Florida Tech by scores of 22-25, 25-18, 25-10, and 25-19.
The Skyhawks hit .319 for the match with 54 kills and just 17 errors on 116 attempts. Fort Lewis held Florida Tech to a .091 efficiency while owning advantages in kills, assists, and digs.
Senior Alina Nunez led the offense with 14 kills while hitting .480, followed closely by sophomore Caroline Munson with 13 kills and a .526 efficiency. Senior Jordan DeJesus rounded out the double-digit performers with 10 kills on .412 hitting to go along with eight digs.
Senior Addie Garn dished out 23 assists while adding six digs, three kills, and an ace. Sophomore Arianna Reyna followed with 17 assists, while sophomore Alyx Daugherty led the back row with nine digs and two aces.
Fort Lewis held an early advantage in the opening set, building a 14-8 lead before Florida Tech chipped away at the deficit. The Panthers eventually tied the score at 19-19 and carried the momentum from there, closing out the frame for a 25-22 win.
The Skyhawks responded quickly in set two, using a 5-0 scoring run to take a 6-2 lead. Florida Tech narrowed the difference before Fort Lewis rebuilt its advantage behind kills from Nunez and freshman Sydney Vogel. The Panthers pulled within three points late, but the Skyhawks closed the set on a 5-1 run to even the match with a 25-18 win.
Fort Lewis took complete control in the third set, holding Florida Tech to just 10 points. The Skyhawks carried the momentum into the fourth and hit .500 with 14 kills and just three errors. Fort Lewis used an extended scoring run to build a double-digit advantage before closing out the 25-19 win.
Match Two: Fort Lewis 3, CSU Pueblo 1
The Skyhawks closed out the weekend with a 3-1 win over host CSU Pueblo, taking the match by scores of 25-19, 19-25, 25-17, and 25-21.
Fort Lewis hit .227 for the match compared to a .217 mark for CSU Pueblo. The Skyhawks piled up 60 kills and held a 60-46 advantage in the category while also leading in assists (54-43), digs (71-66), and service aces (8-1).
Nunez capped off a stellar weekend with a match-high 18 kills on just 37 swings, committing only one error to hit .459. DeJesus followed with 12 kills and 10 digs for a double-double, while Vogel added nine kills. Sophomore Caleigh Sommers contributed eight kills on .250 hitting, followed by Munson with seven.
Daugherty anchored the defense with 26 digs and a match-high four service aces. Reyna added 22 assists and 10 digs, while Garn dished out a team-high 24 assists to go along with nine digs. Senior Ellie Ames led the effort at the net with three blocks.
Fort Lewis established itself early in the opening set, using kills from Munson, DeJesus, and Nunez to build a 10-4 lead. The ThunderWolves worked their way back into the set, but the Skyhawks maintained control down the stretch to take the opener, 25-19.
CSU Pueblo answered in set two with its best offensive performance of the match, hitting .357 with 13 kills and just three errors. The ThunderWolves pulled away to even the match with a 25-19 win.
The Skyhawks bounced back in the third set and held CSU Pueblo to a .059 hitting percentage. Fort Lewis took advantage of seven attacking errors by the ThunderWolves while putting away 12 kills of its own to regain control of the match with a 25-17 win.
Fort Lewis saved its best offensive set for the fourth, putting away 18 kills while hitting .316. CSU Pueblo managed to hit .355 in the frame, but the Skyhawks' offensive volume proved to be the difference. Fort Lewis held off the ThunderWolves late to secure a 25-21 win and complete the perfect weekend.
Up Next
Fort Lewis (5-3) heads north next weekend for a pair of road matches. The Skyhawks take on Black Hills State on Friday at 6 p.m. in Spearfish, South Dakota, before traveling to Rapid City for a Saturday matchup against South Dakota Mines.
