DURANGO, Colo. – Fort Lewis used an 11-2 run to rally back and take the first set, then had all the momentum for the next two as the Skyhawks defeated Chadron State volleyball 25-22, 25-15, 25-17 in an RMAC match on Friday night from Whalen Gymnasium.
Chadron State lost its third straight and is now 5-6 overall and 0-3 in the RMAC. Fort Lewis improved to 6-5 overall and 1-2 in RMAC play.
Mataya Ward collected nine kills to lead the Eagles.
Kally Kirkwood and
Brandi Helzer had five kills apiece, with Helzer having the highest hitting percentage of the three at .231.
Sydney Strode and
Sarah Meservey had four kills each and both hit over .300.
The Eagles had a season-low one ace and one block, while the Skyhawks had seven aces and four blocks. The home team also had more kills (45-32) and digs (64-61) than CSC.
Chadron State started strongly in the first set. Fort Lewis spotted the Eagles a 10-5 lead with the help of a stretch of four Skyhawk attack errors in six points. Kills from
Kally Kirkwood and
Mataya Ward sandwiched around a
Cydnie Eskew service ace plus another kill from Ward two points later made it 20-14, CSC.
The match turned after that. Fort Lewis scored two points, committed a service error to give serve back to the Eagles, then won seven straight points to take a 23-21 lead.
Gibson Beckler halted the run with a kill, but Jordan DeJesus and Alina Nunez finished off the set with kills to give the hosts an opening-frame win, 25-22.
In the second set, Chadron State hit an even .000 with eight kills and eight errors in 28 attempts. The Eagles hit .115 for the match, with a high mark of .179 in the third.
After a first set where Fort Lewis hit .150, the Skyhawks hit .310 and .342 in the final two sets on their way to the sweep. After committing eight attack errors in the first set, the Skyhawks cleaned things up and made only six combined in the final two sets.
Avery Lacy led the team with 13 digs while
Josie Loosvelt also tallied in double digits with 11.
Mataya Ward and
Jillian Donovan had eight digs apiece. Donovan recorded a team-high 11 assists while
Cydnie Eskew had nine in addition to the team's only ace.
Kally Kirkwood and
Sydney Strode combined on the team's only block.
Chadron State continues on the road on Saturday night when the Eagles battle Western Colorado in Gunnison at 6 p.m. The Mountaineers (6-5, 2-1 RMAC) swept Regis on Friday night.
