Every year Fort Lewis volleyball head coach Giedre Tarnauskaite has led the Skyhawks, they have improved their win total.
Last season, the Skyhawks finished 13-13 overall and 6-8 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. They bring back most of their roster for the 2024 season.
The Durango Herald is looking at all FLC fall sports and their offseason acquisitions from high school or the transfer portal. Previous articles have been done on FLC women’s soccer, football and men’s soccer.
FLC is returning its top five points scorers from last year and returns 10 players from last year’s roster. Therefore, Tarnauskaite is only bringing in one freshman and three transfers.
“We are returning a big group and I think that's going to be key this year for our success,” Tarnauskaite said. “All that experience that we have with the senior class, especially since some of them should be four-year starters for us. That experience of knowing the RMAC is going to help us. There's a lot of excitement. Some of the juniors and sophomores got some more experience, especially the ones who were freshmen last year. Now they're sophomores and they got some playing time. They know what to expect.”
In this past year’s recruiting cycle, Tarnauskaite said she prioritized finding players who would be a good fit, regardless of whether they’re a transfer or a freshman. She wanted players who understood FLC, her program’s culture and are ready to compete. Tarnauskaite said this philosophy has been a key in the Skyhawks’ improvement over her first four years as head coach.
This year, the lone freshman on FLC’s roster is Maddy Shumway. She is from Riverton, Utah and went to Herriman High School in Utah. Shumway is a 5-foot-6-inch defensive specialist/libero.
“I'm really looking for her to add to our ball control,” Tarnauskaite said about Shumway. “She's our libero/DS and she played for one of the top clubs in Utah. I know the experience that they have there really correlates to what they experience in college. It's very challenging. Maddy will be great and will help us with the ball control because at the end of the day when you're competing in such a competitive conference, serving and passing really makes a difference.”
Another defensive specialist Tarnauskaite is bringing in is Emery Pomroy, a sophomore transfer from Round Rock, Texas.
Tarnauskaite wanted to bring in two defensive specialists because she looked at her roster from an opponent’s perspective and how she would scout against her own team. She realized she wanted her team to have more confidence in service. Tarnauskaite knows that serving and receiving are critical and if your team can’t pass, the team can’t do much else.
The Skyhawks will have Shumway, Pomroy and junior returner Chloe Ruhl battling it out for playing time at the libero position, according to Tarnauskaite.
“They all come at it from different angles,” Tarnauskaite said about those three players. “Chloe has the advantage of knowing my expectations, the system, the conference. So she uses that to her advantage. I can see her winning that spot. Emery comes with a lot of experience. She comes from Texas. Texas has competitive volleyball … when I watched her play, I knew right away I had to have her because her mental game and her vision of the court are amazing.”
Tarnauskaite loves how Shumway plays beyond her years. Shumway loves the game and has been committed to it from a young age. She’s a perfectionist who will go to the gym to practice at 5 a.m. before anyone else, then will practice with the team and come back in the afternoon to lift weights, according to Tarnauskaite.
Another addition is middle blocker Ivy Schoditsch. The junior is originally from Chicago and went to Ferris State University before transferring to FLC. Tarnauskaite recruited her out of high school but Schoditsch chose Ferris State. Tarnauskaite and her had a great relationship so Schoditsch reached out after entering the transfer portal and it was the right time for her to come to FLC.
Ryli Kalahiki is the other transfer. She’s originally from Hawaii and is a junior who was last at Linfield University. She’s a 5-foot-9-inch right-side player. Tarnauskaite said she has great ball control, reads the game well and has an advantage as a lefty-hitter.
“In general, in Hawaii culture, the players start very young and have amazing ball control,” Tarnauskaite said. “That was no different with Ryli. She knew of Fort Lewis and she knew of this area. Ryli actually came here during her Thanksgiving break. So she hiked and she had some friends. She reached out when she was in the transfer portal. She knows this area, she wanted to come here, she wanted to play volleyball and she was looking for a competitive program where she can be pushed.”
Tarnauskaite expects all her returning players to help lead the new players. But two leaders stand out for Tarnauskaite in senior setter Natalia Lambos and fifth-year outside hitter JJ Curry.
Lambos has been starting since her freshman year. She is the team’s quarterback who holds the team together and knows each player’s personality to help lead them, according to Tarnauskaite.
Curry is a player coaches dream about, according to Tarnauskaite. She doesn’t have to be told anything twice and will bring energy and competition.
The team has bonded at the summer camps FLC volleyball holds. They’ll also be going camping before the season so everyone can get to know each other better before training begins on Aug. 19.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
