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Skyhawks stumble after a hard 5

FLC volleyball ‘really fought hard’ but can’t overcome errors

Fort Lewis College showed its improvement in a five-set battle Thursday night.

The FLC Skyhawks volleyball team had no problem getting going in their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener against Colorado Christian. It was finishing that was more problematic, as FLC (3-6, 0-1 RMAC) dropped the match 3-2 (15-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-23, 16-14) to the Cougars (7-3, 1-0 RMAC) inside Whalen Gymnasium.

Errors cost the Skyhawks, as they committed 21 in the match, but 31 errors by the Cougars led to a very close contest.

“I thought we really fought hard,” FLC head coach Kelley Rifilato said. “I think we had a little too many unforced errors, and they were in stretches. ... But it was way better than it has been over the course of the last two weekends.”

FLC came out strong in its 10-point Game 1 victory. The 6-2 formation with two setters threw the Cougars off a bit.

“The Skyhawks came out on fire in Game 1. We were not able to match their pace,” Colorado Christian head coach Verlyn Rosenthal said. “The Skyhawks did a great job of getting us off-balance at some really key moments, and they executed what clearly was their game plan. It was a great call by their coach.”

By having two setters, the Skyhawks were able to put more big bodies at the net, and that helped the team’s blocking ability.

“I love having a bigger block up. I totally believe in our block, and I love having three hitters,” said FLC senior setter Ciara Krening, who shared setting duties with sophomore Kennedy Clark.

Krening led the Skyhawks with 25 assists, and Clark added 19 more.

The big blockers up front forced the Cougars to find different angles to attack. FLC totaled 12 block assists and three solo blocks.

“That is a strong category for us. Those are only the balls we got points for, and it doesn’t show all those,” Rifilato said of her team’s block. “I felt like we were getting a hand, or two hands or four hands on a lot of balls, forcing them to do different shots.”

FLC freshman opposite hitter Emily Dellenbach and senior outside hitter Ashley Wells led FLC with 12 kills each. Shelby Lehman, a junior, had nine more kills, and senior Stephani Sonka had eight more.

“It was a fun competition. It was good rallies back and forth, but it was overall really well-played,” said Wells, who also had 20 digs in the match. “Like coach said, just those little errors can be fixed, and we’re back on top.”

FLC trailed the fourth game 21-13 before it mounted a comeback. Still, the Cougars were able to hang on and force a fifth set with a 25-23 win.

The Skyhawks quickly went down 8-4 in the decisive fifth set, and it was too big of a hole to dig out of. FLC cut the deficit to 13-12 and eventually tied the set at 14, but two consecutive points gave the Cougars the victory.

“We started out really strong in Game 5,” Rosenthal said. “I’m not entirely sure how we got out of here with a win, but I think we reached deep late. We let them chase us a bit, and we were able to outlast a good team at the end.”

Krening said she was proud of her team’s fight, and the Skyhawks believe they will gain confidence from the close match going into games this weekend.

FLC will host Regis at 5 p.m. Friday, then Black Hills State at 3 p.m. Saturday.

“Every point that you fight for, to come back that far always drives and pushes into that next game and makes you want to fight as hard and keep that competition,” Wells said. “We can only get better from here on.”

jlivingston@durangoherald.com



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