Rylee Johnson provided the spark that the Fort Lewis College volleyball team needed after the Skyhawks went down a set in Friday’s match against Texas A&M International during the second day of the Skyhawks Volleyball Classic.
The freshman had seven kills and two digs in her first game after she was cleared from injury, and the Skyhawks finished with 54 kills en route to a 3-1 comeback – 23-25, 25-12, 25-11 and 25-18.
“I haven’t played volleyball in a month, so for coach (Tricia) Melfy to trust me in my first day back, that’s a confidence builder,” Johnson said. “I wanted to play and prove it to my team, really. I normally am a middle but have been transitioning to the right side, so getting used to that and, after being out a month, I just wanted to give everything to my team and my coaches.”
The Skyhawks (4-4) got off to a slow start, and had a chance to take the first set after it was tied at 23, but two consecutive attack errors foiled the plan. In the second set, Bailey Longacre and Ohiyah Shirley were able to space the court with their kill shots, and it paid off, as the Skyhawks closed the set on a 7-3 run, including winning the final five points.
It was a similar story in the third set, as FLC had a hitting percentage of .414, and was 9-of-12 on sideouts. In the final set, the Skyhawks closed it out from the service line, as Shirley recorded one of her three aces on the afternoon. Longacre recorded a key kill to make it 12-10 after freshman libero Kamryn Lopez kept the play alive with one of her 15 digs. Shirley ended it with her team-high 12th kill.
Mackenzie Catalina led all hitters with 16 kills for the Dustdevils (1-4), while Allison Wade had 11 assists and six digs.
“I think we had a slow mentality to start, but once we started picking it up, we were able to put balls away,” Longacre said. “Coach is very defensive-minded, but that makes us be more offensive, and it showed. I think it’s good momentum to go into tonight strong.”
In the second match Friday, the Skyhawks fell 3-0 to mighty No. 4 Washburn (6-0). Washburn made it easy to see why it received two first-place votes in the latest Division II coaches poll with set wins of 25-14, 25-12 and 25-16.
Washburn spread around the attack with 10 kills from Allison Maxwell, seven from Genna Berg and six from Kelsey Gordon.
Shirley led FLC with five kills, while Payton harmann had three and Longacre two.
Allison Sadler had four aces for Washburn, and Taylor Antonowich added three. Sadler had a match-high 31 assists, and Faith Rottinghaus had 20 digs.
Harmann led FLC with 11 assists. Alex Treguboff was the leader in digs with four.
FLC will close out its home tournament at 4:30 p.m. Saturday against West Texas A&M.
Men’s Soccer
Men’s SoccerAfter the Skyhawks took a 2-0 lead, the match got tense when St. Edward’s rallied with two goals in 15 minutes to tie the game in Colorado Springs.
Played at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, FLC (2-0-1) went back-and-forth with the Texas-based team. With 2 minutes, 1 second to play in regulation of a 2-2 game, FLC’s Ryan Lee netted a goal to send the Skyhawks to a 3-2 road win.
Loic Jean-Baptiste opened the day with a pair of goals for FLC. His first game in the 30th minute with an assist from Ty Lang. The Skyhawks took that 1-0 lead into halftime. Jean-Baptiste added his second of the match in the 48th minute.
Parker Fyfe made it a one-goal game for St. Edward’s (0-3) with a strike in the 57th minute. He was assisted by Kieran Furse. Only 15 minutes later, St. Edward’s was awarded a penalty kick, and Fyfe slotted his shot past FLC goalkeeper Peter Byrne for the goal. Byrne made four saves in the win.
After FLC had 10 shots in the first half, it was limited to only three in the second half. The match saw 32 fouls whistled for and fie yellow cars, with two on FLC.
The Skyhawks will remain in Colorado Springs to play at noon Sunday against another Texas opponent in St. Mary’s.
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