When head coach Tricia Melfy saw a brief gap in her initial 2019 season schedule, she saw an opportunity as well. She wanted to take the next step in developing Fort Lewis College’s volleyball program, and one way she could do that was to do something the program had never done before: Host a non-conference tournament against fellow regional powers.
Hosting the Skyhawks Invitational on Sept. 12-14 will be just one of many showcase matches in the upcoming 2019 season, as Fort Lewis will look to qualify for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament for the second time in as many seasons after it qualified for the first time since 2013 last fall.
“When you go back and look at last year, the schedule was already set by the time that I took over, so we had next to no preseason matches or spring ball at all,” Melfy said. “I needed to fix that situation, and I knew that we needed more play in the preseason and non-conference schedule to give players more of an opportunity to prove what they can do.
“I was excited to add matches, and I looked at two things, adding matches against teams within our region to help with RPI and strength of schedule. The second piece that went in was travel, and we hit the road so much and I thought that we don’t put on a show often enough. We need to host a tournament because we don’t have to travel, we’ll get four more home matches and an opportunity to showcase what we’re doing as a program,” she said.
The Skyhawks will open the season Sept. 6-7 at the Kathleen Brasfield Angelo State University Invitational against Southeastern Oklahoma State, Northwestern Oklahoma State, Angelo State and Texas A&M-Kingsville. Unlike in soccer where it’s almost an annual occurrence, FLC and Angelo State have not met since the 2003 season. The Rams have made the Division II NCAA Tournament in each of the last eight seasons.
The next weekend is the Skyhawks Invitational, in which FLC will play Western New Mexico, Texas A&M International, Washburn University in Kansas, which made the final four last season, and will end the home invitational against three-time national champions West Texas A&M.
“Of the nine non-conference matches, five are considered to be within our region, plus I don’t have to play an RMAC school to get a match unlike last year, when we opened the season in Westminster,” Melfy said. “I just think that bringing these regional teams and national powers to Fort Lewis will be huge for us as a program moving forward.”
The Skyhawks had a successful spring season, as they won all three matches, which included victories against Adams State University, Otero Junior College and New Mexico Highlands University.
“The girls had a big spring season, and the girls were very excited,” Melfy said. “Courtney Bayles came in for us and immediately made an impact. She hadn’t played a lot at her last school, so I think it was about getting confidence in her, and she really seemed to fit in with everybody, and when the rest of our new incoming players come in this summer, I think it’s going to be huge for us to get everyone together and really see where we are at. The spring season was promising, for sure,” Melfy said.
Melfy added that the exposure from the spring season and non-conference will be big for when RMAC play rolls around. The Skyhawks will open with two games on the road, at Metropolitan State University in Denver on Sept. 20 and at Chadron State on Sept. 21.
FLC will then return home for back-to-back weekends of conference play, against Colorado School of Mines on Sept. 27 and the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs on Sept. 28, then Westminster College and Dixie State the next weekend.
FLC will end the season with home matches against Highlands on Nov. 8 and Colorado State University-Pueblo on Nov. 9 before closing the regular season at Adams State in Alamosa on Nov. 15. The RMAC Tournament begins Nov. 19.
The Skyhawks will be returning a number of players from last year’s squad, including seniors-to-be Bailey Longacre and Ohiyah Shirley. Incoming transfers include Bayles, Liza Doppler, Chandler Karr, Courtney Laliberte and Alexa Treguboff.
There will be five incoming true freshmen, which includes Avynn La Rose, Payton Harmann, Rylee Johnson, Joviana Romero and Alexa Alameddin.
“The buildup has been steady, and it was a great spring. We’re looking forward to summer workouts, and I think it could be a huge season for us,” Melfy said. “The scheduling was a big part of it, and now, we can go prove ourselves that we’re ready for these big regional matches.”
bploen@ durangoherald.com
