After playing three games to begin its season in New Mexico last week, the Fort Lewis College volleyball team will conclude its nonconference schedule this weekend at the Lonestar Tournament hosted by Lubbock Christian University in Texas.
FLC is currently 1-2, beating the hosts to begin the Western New Mexico Tournament, but then dropping a pair of tight, five-set matches.
“I am extremely proud of our performance this weekend,” said head coach Giedre Tarnauskaite. “We faced some tough competition and showed up to battle. The depth of our roster is amazing, and I feel confident in each player being able to contribute at any given moment.”
FLC swept Western New Mexico, 25-17, 25-21 and 25-13 to start the tournament.
Returning All-RMAC player Alexis Hobie led all players with 15 kills on 23 attempts to go along with a pair of aces.
Senior Rylee Johnson knocked down nine kills on 12 errorless swings. Sophomore Natalia Lambos took the reins as the starting setter and distributed 29 assists to five players throughout the match. Lambos led the squad with eight digs, followed by seven from senior libero Kamryn Lopez.
In its next two games against Wisconsin Parkside and Cal State East Bay, however, the Skyhawks ended up falling in five.
Parkside won the first set, 25-12, but FLC rallied and won the next two, 25-22 and 25-16. The fourth and fifth sets were knotted, at 20-20 and 14-14, but Parkside prevailed in them both, 25-21 and 16-14.
Against Cal State East Bay, FLC lost the first two sets, 25-22 and 25-15, but came back and won the next two by the same scores, 25-15 and 25-22, to force a decisive Game 5.
Ella Butler kicked off a run in the fifth set with a thunderous kill, followed by a solo stuff, to give FLC a 14-13 lead, but East Bay scored three in a row to take the match.
At the Lonestar tournament, FLC is scheduled to take on Southwestern Oklahoma, Lubbock Christian and Texas Permian Basin.
