Playing from behind didn’t bother the Fort Lewis College volleyball team Tuesday against Colorado Mesa at home.
The Skyhawks overcame at least a three-point deficit in every game of their 3-2 (25-27, 25-23, 25-20, 16-25, 15-8) win over the Mavericks in Whalen Gymnasium.
FLC (8-16, 8-8 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) trailed by eight points in the second game before tying it at 23 and winning the game by two.
Skyhawks’ head coach Kelly Rifilato would tell her team they needed to side out, forcing them to recall a drill from their practices that forced them to side out in every rotation or start over.
“It is tough, but it’s great in a situation like a game to 15 where you don’t have a lot of points to work with,” Rifilato said. “We did start out a little slow in the fifth game but found our groove midway through.”
Colorado Mesa (19-6, 11-5 RMAC) led 4-1 in the fifth game, forcing a timeout.
Ashley Wells took over from there. She collected six of her team-leading 20 kills in the fifth game to give FLC its second consecutive win.
Mallory Dill also had 12 kills for FLC, while Stephani Sonka and Madi Bickle had seven.
“We moved the ball around, and when it was open, it did come to me,” Wells said. “I had to make sure I did my job.”
Wells picked up a double-double with 10 digs.
The Skyhawks controlled stretches of the match with their block, making 17 stuff blocks for points, while the presence of their blockers forced the Mavericks into errors or to give away free balls.
Colorado Mesa beat FLC 66-56 in digs, primarily because the Mavericks covered blocks and reset their offense.
Bickle led the team with 10 blocks, three of them solo, while Kristin Stephan made four solo blocks and seven total.
“Very effective, I think; (the blocks) always made them out of system, and it’d give us another chance,” Wells said.
The Skyhawks clawed back to .500 in league play with three games remaining, all at home.
FLC currently sits in eighth place in the RMAC standings, and they lead UC-Colorado Springs by 1½ games.
The top eight teams will qualify for the RMAC tournament.
“You’re going to play all the tough teams (in the tournament); it’s not easy games,” Bickle said. “It builds your momentum and builds your team up.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
