The Fort Lewis College volleyball team has made it a habit of getting key wins at Whalen Gymnasium this season, whether it was their first win of the season or a key conference victory, the Skyhawks have found a way to get it done.
That was the case Saturday evening as the Skyhawks defeated South Dakota School of Mines and Technology at Whalen Gym in four sets, winning 25-22, 25-12, 21-25 and 25-17. Fort Lewis improved to 5-1 at home and with the win, moved into eighth place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – the last spot for the conference tournament.
Fort Lewis head coach Tricia Melfy thought that her team’s defense was one of the best performances of the season.
“I would say, defensively, it was one of our best matches,” Melfy said. “In terms of serve-receiving, and, as a whole, we haven’t slided out that well all year, and tonight we did as a whole, and our defense was great.”
The Skyhawks (6-11, 6-7 RMAC) got off to a good start in the first set as they were able to grab an early 4-0 lead. South Dakota Mines would later tie the set at 18, but the Skyhawks would use a late run to take the first set 25-22. Fort Lewis recorded a hitting percentage of .244 and Kendra Swackenberg led the way with 12 assists while four Skyhawks had four kills apiece.
In the second set, Fort Lewis had 16 kills and hit .368 to easily take the second set 25-12. The Hardrockers (4-18, 1-12 RMAC) hit just .024 percent in the second set.
Hardrockers head coach Lauren Torvi said that during the second set intermission, she told her team to forget the first two sets and start fresh.
“We’ve been relying on the fact that hard work wins games, and so does being a good teammate,” Torvi said. “We talked about how we have to forget about all the things that just happened, getting beat 25-12 and just move on, and that’s what they did. You have to be able to move on very quickly, and we did a very good job of that tonight.”
The Hardrockers came out with a new approach in the third and fourth set and continued to battle. In the third set, South Dakota Mines took a 10-8 lead, and after Fort Lewis tied it at 20, the Hardrockers went on a 5-1 run to snatch the set from the Skyhawks. Sophomore Middle blocker Rayleigh Peterson had three kills out of the Hardrockers final points in the set.
In the fourth and final set, Fort Lewis’ front row proved to be too much for the Hardrockers, and despite leading 9-4, FLC used its front row effectively, stormed back and did not relinquish the lead after that.
Bailey Longacre paced the Skyhawks with 17 kills and thought that even after going down in the final set, the Skyhawks knew their offense could pick up at any time.
“I think it was our side that set up that opportunity for me,” Longacre said. “Kendra (Swackenberg) and I have been getting better as we go along, and it’s been really fun growing with her these past three years, and being able to get 17 kills, it was great.”
Melfy said that the weekend wins will go a long way for the overall confidence of the team.
“These girls, they’ve had it in them, and I don’t know that they’ve ever believed it,” Melfy said. “I think they’re finally able to believe it, and you can just see it in their faces; They are so happy and so proud of how hard they’re working, but to finally get rewarded for it, honestly, I’m not sure what’s going to happen moving forward, but it’s kind of hard to not go forward with confidence.”
With the conference win, Longacre said it was the most wins she, or any member of the team had experienced since they arrived at Fort Lewis. She said it will motivate her down the stretch as the Skyhawks look to sneak in to the conference tournament at the end of the month.
“This is the most wins that I’ve had in conference here at Fort Lewis since I’ve been here,” Longacre said. “So, that alone is very motivating, and going forward, playing teams that we know we can win, and should win, is a lot of fun. I’m really looking forward to the next few weekends and making it to the RMAC tournament.”
Longacre finished with 17 kills to lead the Skyhawks, while Swackenberg had 45 assists and Megan Graefe had 22 digs.
The Skyhawks will look to continue their winning ways next weekend, when they will take on Wester State Colorado at 7 p.m. at Whalen Gym. They will then play Colorado Mesa at 5 p.m. Saturday also at Whalen Gym.
bploen@durangoherald.com
