Fort Lewis College opened the 2014 season with a high-scoring, 3-2 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma on Friday in their first of four matches this weekend at Midwestern State’s tournament in Wichita Falls, Texas.
FLC lost its second match 3-1 to host Midwestern State.
Northwestern Oklahoma (1-1) won the first and fourth sets 25-20, 25-23, while FLC won Set 2 25-20, Set 3 25-22 and the fifth and decisive set 15-12.
FLC rallied in the second set with a .300 attack percentage.
Madi Bickle, Emily Dellenbach, Stephani Sonka and Ashley Wells had 11 kills each for the Skyhawks, “which is just awesome,” FLC head coach Kelley Rifilato said of the Skyhawks’ balance.
“And give or take, Shelby Lehman was right there, too,” Rifilato said.
Lehman finished with nine kills, including a pair in Set 5.
“She helped us, defensively, turn things around for us in the fifth set,” Rifilato said.
“In the fifth set, we didn’t attack very well ... but some way we found a way to not collect errors.”
Ciara Krening led FLC with 35 assists.
Ally Dell’Amico led FLC with 31 digs.
“Overall, we played pretty strong,” Rifilato said.
Midwestern State beat FLC 25-11, 22-25, 25-11, 25-20.
“They were super athletic, super fast,” Rifilato said. “They weren’t very big at all, but they could jump, they could move.
“We were really inconsistent.”
Against the Mustangs, Heather Danny led FLC with 33 assists, Dell’Amico with 24 digs and Sonka with 10 kills.
Rifilato singled out the play of freshman middle Hannah Hargrove and senior defensive specialist Tehya Smith.
FLC (1-1) will play Cameron and No. 10 Washburn on Saturday in Wichita Falls.
“We’re going to have to put it all together and be more consistent,” Rifilato said of playing top-10 Washburn. “We’ve got a lot to build on, but we’ve got to pick up the pace.”
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