Few balls found the floor when Fort Lewis College and UC-Colorado Springs met on the volleyball court Thursday in Colorado Springs.

The teams combined for 145 digs in a 3-2 (15-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-19, 15-13) win for the Mountain Lions.

“The rallies were super long,” FLC head coach Kelley Rifilato said. “There were moments like the first set when we were so on, everything was going our way, we were able to be so balanced offensively. I don’t know if we got complacent or what it was, I guess predictable is what it was.”

The Skyhawks (4-8, 1-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) couldn’t hold a 2-1 lead in the match, dropping the final two sets.

“We battled through the fifth set,” Rifilato said. “It was 13-13, and we hit the ball wide literally an inch. That was the difference in the game.”

The Skyhawks led by 10 points in the third set but had to hold on for a two-point win, changing the momentum of the match.

“We made a handful of errors. There were some things, balls were hit off blocks and what have you, that’s where a couple reception errors, a serving error,” Rifilato said. “They kind of led into one another.”

Kim Catlett had a dominant night for UCCS (5-7, 2-2 RMAC) with 21 kills.

Lauren Hahn (13) and Cassidy Bush (12) also picked up double-digit kills for the Mountain Lions, which hit .180 as a team.

“They have two really versatile outside hitters that didn’t hit the same shot twice and had great court vision,” Rifilato said.

The Skyhawks hit .164 as a team, led by senior Ashley Wells’ 15 kills. She also added 18 digs for the double-double.

FLC freshman Emily Dellenbach had 12 kills.

Ciara Krening led FLC with 27 assists, while Kennedy Clark had 14.

Skyhawks’ libero Ally Dell’Amico led the team with 20 digs.

FLC will play Metro State at 7 p.m. Friday in Denver.

“Last year, we had a lot of success with our left-side blockers blocking their right side, their go-to,” Rifilato said of Metro State and Roadrunners’ star Lauren Quijano.

“We’ve got to be able to slow her down. I think Metro and Mines are very similar in that we need to keep them out of system. We have to be a tough serving team to keep them away from the net.”

After Metro State, FLC will play Colorado Mines on Saturday in Golden, then Western State on Oct. 3 in Gunnison and CSU-Pueblo on Oct. 4 in Pueblo before returning home to face N.M. Highlands and Western N.M. on Oct. 10-11, respectively.

FLC will play six of its final 10 games of the regular season at Whalen Gymnasium.

heraldsports@ durangoherald.com