by By Angela Roberts
LAS VEGAS, N.M. – Four players reach double-digit kills in a four-set win for Fort Lewis College volleyball to open the regional pod against Adams State University on Friday night.
Fort Lewis hit .275 on the night, the second-best efficiency this season, compared to a .236 mark for Adams State. The Skyhawks totaled 70 kills and 57 digs on the night. The team was led offensively by junior Alexis Hobie who put away a career-high 22 kills on 42 swings (.405). Junior JJ Curry followed with a career-high 18 kills to go along with six digs. Sophomore Ella Butler and senior Lauren Shea followed with 13 kills and 12 kills, respectively.
Junior Natalia Lambos coordinated the attack and totaled 43 assists and seven digs. Sophomore Sarah Wilkey led all players with 19 digs, followed by freshman Alina Nunez who had eight. Sophomore Chloe Ruhl added seven digs and an ace.
“We were challenged tonight when it came to consistency, and I was happy to see up fight through it,” said head coach Giedre Tarnauskaite. “Our comeback win in set two shows that we have a lot of resiliency in us. Our defense was relentless, and I thought that Sarah had an outstanding performance.”
The first set was close through the opening 10 points before a 6-1 scoring run had the Skyhawks ahead 11-5. The Grizzlies rattled off three points to pull within a pair before a kill by freshman Jordyn Romano extended the lead. Adams State came back to reclaim a lead at 16-15, but Fort Lewis responded with kills from three players and a Hobie ace to see a 20-16 lead. The Skyhawks ended the set with three straight points, capped off by a Butler kill, to take the opener by a 25-20 score.
The Grizzlies saw the lead in set two thanks to a pair of long runs to go ahead 16-6. Fort Lewis began chipping away with two, three-point runs to make it 17-12. Adams State was the first to 20 points, but Fort Lewis battled back to make it 20-19 on a Curry kill. The Skyhawks buckled down and enjoyed a five-point run with kills from Shea, Curry, and Butler to find set point. The Grizzlies got one back, but Curry closed it out with a kill for a 25-22 come-from-behind win.
Fort Lewis was the team that benefited from an early scoring surge to see an 8-1 lead. The Grizzlies came back to take the lead and extended it to 17-11 off a kill. Fort Lewis scored four in a row to pull within a pair before a side-out block had the score at 18-15. The Skyhawks went on the save three set points, but a kill closed it out in favor of Adams State.
In set four, the teams traded points and eventually tied it up at 11-all. Shea gave Fort Lewis its first lead with a kill at 12-11, and the teams went on to see a trio of tied scores from there. The Skyhawks earned three points, two off of Butler aces, to extend the lead to 20-16. The Grizzlies didn’t go away without a fight, though, pulling within one before another 3-0 run had the Skyhawks up 23-19. Hobie and Shea combined for the final two points of the match to give Fort Lewis the win.
