The Fort Lewis College volleyball team were swept in a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matches on Friday and Saturday against Regis and Colorado Christian.
On Friday, the Skyhawks fell in three sets to Regis, 25-11, 25-23 and 25-13. In the first set, the Skyhawks led late in the set, 23-21, before the Rangers went on a 4-0 run to snatch the first set from Fort Lewis. In the second set, the Skyhawks (4-11, 4-7 RMAC) were leading 9-7 and were tied at 18 before Regis pulled away on another 4-0 run to win the set 25-23.
In the final set, the Rangers (12-7, 8-2 RMAC) led 7-2 after a quick start, and eventually 12-6. Regis recorded a .482 hitting percentage to take control of the set and win the match with a 25-13 game.
Kendra Swackenberg and Tye Wedhorn led the Skyhawks with six kills apiece, while Swackenberg had 18 assists. Megan Graefe tallied 15 digs. Fort Lewis hit just .101 percent in the match as a team.
Saturday’s results did not fare much better against Colorado Christian as the Cougars also won in straight sets, 25-17, 25-9 and 25-19.
The Cougars (9-11, 7-4 RMAC) recorded 51 of their 61 total points from kills. The Skyhawks hit just .095 percent as a team.
Katie Henry and Ashley Drye recorded 11 kills each for the Cougars, while Bailey Longacre paced Fort Lewis with nine. Swackenberg once again led the skyhawks with 21 assists, while Kylee Wurster led Colorado Christian with 42. Christiansen and Graefe did all they could to keep the Skyhawks in the match, recording 12 digs a piece, while Maiela Gonzalez had 19 for Colorado Christian.
The Skyhawks will return home when they will play Black Hills State at 7 p.m. Friday night at Whalen Gymnasium.
The Fort Lewis cross-country teams fared well Saturday at the Roadrunner Invitational, hosted by Metropolitan State Univerity-Denver, with the Skyhawks women finishing in fifth as team, registering 202 points and the men took seventh with 234. Senior Madison Obernesser led Fort Lewis, finishing 50th overall with a time of 24 minutes, 30.7 seconds. Right behind Obernesser was freshman Angel Curley, who finished with a time of 24:31.1 and took 51st overall. Makiah Salzano and Karla Delacruz finished back-to-back for Fort Lewis, with tines of 24:41.0 and 24:41.6 seconds, respectively.
Wyoming dominated the field on Saturday and took home the team title, with 19 points, with the Cowboys finishing in second and third and 4-6 as well. Christine Thorn, a former Black Hills State standout, won the race with a time of 21:44.0.
On the men’s side, junior Andrew Rome led the Skyhawks with a time of 27:30.0, which was 67th overall, while freshman Andrew Day ran a time of 27:50.2, which was good for 85th.
Easton Allred, a high school junior who raced unnattched, won the 8-kilometer event with a time of 24:59.7, which was a meet record.
The Skyhawks will race at the Fort Hays Univeristy Tiger Open next Saturday at Fort Hays State in Kansas. The starting time has not been announced.
bploen@durangoherald.com
