Saturday provided a win five seniors could hang their hats on.
The Fort Lewis College volleyball team struggled through its fourth consecutive losing season in 2014. But the year ended on a high note, as the Skyhawks (8-18, 5-13 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) swept Adams State 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-19) on Saturday in Alamosa.
FLC senior Ashley Wells capped off her career by earning the game-winning kill. The kill tied her for the match high with 13 along with Adams State’s Lindsey Stindt.
The Skyhawks hit a .287 percentage in the match. It only was the third 3-0 win of the season for FLC, with the others coming Sept. 12 against Adelphia and Sept. 20 against Black Hills State.
The win avenged a home loss to the Grizzlies (14-13, 8-10 RMAC) earlier this season, a 3-2 defeat Oct. 17.
Wells hit .321 in the match and added two blocks.
Madi Bickle added 10 kills, and Shelby Lehman and Stephani Sonka had seven kills each for the Skyhawks. Lehman hit a match-high .545 percent and also added two blocks.
FLC senior setter Heather Danny had 42 assists. FLC had four aces and beat the Grizzlies 46-37 in digs. Sophomore libero Ally Dell’Amico led FLC with 15 digs, and junior defensive specialist Lindley Gallegos added 14 more.
FLC will not play in the RMAC Tournament, and the loss ensured the Grizzlies wouldn’t climb past Colorado Christian for the sixth and final spot in the bracket.
FLC will finish the season 12th out of 14 teams in the conference. The Skyhawks were picked to finish eighth.
FLC will graduate five seniors – Danny, Ciara Krening, Tehya Smith, Sonka and Wells – from this year’s team, with three current juniors and five current sophomores set to return.
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