The Fort Lewis College volleyball team was unable to pull off an upset against No. 25 Colorado School of Mines Friday night inside Whalen Gymnasium, as the Skyhawks fell in three sets, 25-18, 25-16 and 25-20.
In a similar start to the teams’ last meeting, the first round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference last November, Fort Lewis was able to get off to an early lead. But in much the same manner as in 2018, the Orediggers (9-2, 2-1 RMAC) brought a steady presence of outside hitting, and controlled much of the tempo.
Fort Lewis head coach Tricia Melfy was pleased with her team’s effort but said there were still too many mistakes made on the floor.
“I thought we played with heart and were competitive all night,” Melfy said. “We had some opportunities and we never quit. But there were still too many mistakes, and mistakes that we can control. Mines did a great job of taking the opportunities they were given, and we didn’t quite do that tonight.”
The Orediggers recorded 45 kills in the match, while Fort Lewis had 26. Mines had 14 kills in the first set, 13 in the second set and 18 in the final set. Abby Tiesman led all hitters with 12 kills for the Orediggers, while Taylor Hicken had 10. Fort Lewis was paced by Alexa Treguboff, who finished with seven kills. Kamryn Lopez had 10 digs, while Payton Harmann had 20 assists.
The Skyhawks (4-9, 0-3 RMAC) got off to a quick 5-0 lead in the opening set, but the Orediggers did not panic from an early deficit, and scored six consecutive points to take its first lead of the match at 6-5.
Later in the set after Tye Wedhorn scored her first block of the night, Harmann tied the match at 11 on a tip kill. Mines then went on a 4-0 run and did not look back. While Bailey Longacre got the Skyhawks within four at 18-14, they were unable to bring the set closer, as Mines closed the first set on a 5-2 run. Tiesman recorded seven kills and five digs for the Orediggers, while Treguboff paced the Skyhawks with three kills. Harmann had six assists.
After a slow start, Colorado School of Mines head coach Jamie Magalei thought that changing up shot selections on a stingy Fort Lewis defense made a significant difference in the match.
“Our outside hitting was a little slow to start, and that was a main piece of our conversation during set timeouts and in between sets,” Magalei said. “We changed up our shot selections, and that tended to help a little bit. Our middles were scoring, and (Tiesman) did a great job of keeping us in line offensively.”
In the second set, the Orediggers continued to slam points down via kills, as Mines got off to a 5-1 lead and would extend it to 8-4. The Skyhawks recorded seven kills in the second set, but also had seven hitting errors, which helped extend Mines’ lead. Mines closed the set on a 7-2 run, and an attack error from Ohiyah Shirley sent the Skyhawks into the locker room down two sets.
In the final set, Shirley bounced back in a big way with a key kill to give the Skyhawks an early 6-5 lead. Mines then went on a 4-3 run later to make it 15-11. However, the Skyhawks were able to close the gap on three separate occasions to bring it within two points. Holding onto a 22-20 lead after a timeout, Mines closed the match on a 3-0 run to take the final set and the match, 25-20.
The Skyhawks will take on the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (3-7, 1-1 RMAC) at 5 p.m. Saturday inside Whalen Gymnasium.
“We were doing some great things tonight,” Melfy said. “Hopefully, with a few less letdowns, and those controllable errors, we’ve got a better shot tomorrow night. I hope we come out the same way we did tonight, just with a little more control.”
bploen@ durangoherald.com
