This was supposed to be a weekend for the Fort Lewis College volleyball team to gain some ground on its home floor.
Regis had other ideas.
The Rangers swept the Skyhawks 3-0 – 25-13, 25-22, 25-8 – on Saturday in Whalen Gymnasium to drop FLC to 1-2 in its longest homestand of the season so far.
“We thought we were going to make a run here and hold our home court,” FLC head coach Kelley Rifilato said. “The fact that we weren’t able to do that puts us at a disadvantage.”
Regis hit a ruthlessly efficient .418 for the match, culminating in a 14-kill fifth set on only 23 attempts and only one error.
Katie Klein led the Rangers with 13 kills, while Caitie Breaux added 11.
“It’s definitely a challenge, especially because they play opposite positions,” FLC middle Kristin Stephan said. “You’re kind of going back and forth, and they have the option to send it out or send it back depending on where the pass is.”
Stephan had five kills for the Skyhawks, who were led by Mallory Dill’s seven.
FLC committed 29 errors in the match, including 13 unforced hitting errors and three ballhandling errors.
Regis forced the Skyhawks to play out of system often while staying in system far more often.
“When we were on the run, we weren’t very good,” Rifilato said.
The Skyhawks hung much closer in the second game, hitting .265 compared to their match average of .079.
It was tied at 21 before Regis scored four of the next five points to end it and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
FLC will return to the familiarity of the road for its next match against Adams State at 7 p.m. Friday in Alamosa. FLC has played 16 of its 21 matches this season away from Whalen Gym.
“You don’t ever want to have this feeling, so you work harder,” Dill said.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
