Senior Avynn La Rose set a career high with 17 kills en route to Fort Lewis College’s third-straight five-set win Saturday.
FLC beat Black Hill State 25-19, 13-25, 24-26, 25-20 and 15-11.
It was FLC’s third consecutive win, each in five sets, improving their record to 6-10 overall and 6-6 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Black Hills State dropped to 5-15 overall and 2-10 in the league.
“Today came down to our leadership and our ability to dig deep. Taking back-to-back five-set matches at home shows that we have a relentless mentality when we step on the court,” said head coach Giedre Tarnauskaite. “We know that it is on us to show up every day, and our focus on the little things has made that attainable for us.”
FLC had 61 kills for the match compared with 55 for BHSU. The Yellow Jackets were elite on the blocking front, putting up 15 to just four for the Skyhawks. La Rose led the team with 17 kills and was followed by sophomore Chay Swenson and freshman Alexis Hobie, who contributed 13 apiece. Freshman Natalia Lambos followed with 10 kills. Junior Payton Harmann led the way with 32 assists in four sets of work. Defensively, junior Kamryn Lopez’s 15 digs led the team.
A difficult second quarter put the Fort Lewis College football team in an early hole Saturday in its road clash against Chadron State College, with the Eagles scoring 35 points in the quarter to build its cushion in a 60-7 final.
Fort Lewis (0-8 overall, 0-7 RMAC) hung tough with the Eagles (4-4, 4-3) as Chadron held a slim 8-0 lead through the game’s opening 15 minutes.
Unfortunately for the Skyhawks, the Eagles’ offense ramped up in the second quarter with four touchdown drives and added a 55-yard punt return touchdown with 3:53 remaining in the half to take a 43-0 lead into the locker room.
The FLC offense was unable to find its footing against a solid CSC defense front, with the Skyhawks ending the afternoon with 26 total yards of offense.
Junior quarterback Armon Hickson came off the bench in the second half and gave the offense a jolt, finishing 8-for-11 through the air for 50 yards. Fellow junior Dylan Holt nabbed a team-high three catches for 14 yards.
Defensively, junior defensive back Clayton Rutz continued his recent emergence as he put FLC on the scoreboard with 2:14 remaining in the third quarter via a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown.
The interception was the second in as many weeks for Rutz, who finished with four total tackles Saturday, and was his fourth caused turnover in the past two weeks after forcing a pair of fumbles in Week 7 against Colorado Mesa University.
Redshirt sophomore defensive back Jayden Helms, the second-leading tackler in NCAA Division II football and nation’s leader in solo tackles, added to his impressive season with nine total tackles. Through eight weeks, Helms has 97 total tackles and 58 solo tackles; he entered the contest with a three-solo-tackle lead over Southwest Minnesota State linebacker Onte Burns (52).
The Skyhawks will look to bounce back at noon Saturday when they host Colorado State University Pueblo on Senior Day.
The Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team had its three-game winning streak come to an end Sunday, falling by a 1-0 overtime final to Metropolitan State University of Denver to conclude the home portion of its schedule.
Fort Lewis (7-7-1 overall, 4-4-0 RMAC) dominated possession and shot attempts (21-13), but was unable to sneak a chance past MSU (7-8-1, 4-4-0) goalkeeper Ross Miller.
MSU broke through with the game’s only goal in the 94th minute, taking advantage of a free kick from 40 yards out when Alec Nguyen put a ball into the box for Aaron Biggerstaff, who was able to get his right foot on it for the game-winner.
With the loss, the Skyhawks head into the final weekend of the regular season in a four-way tie for fifth place in the RMAC standings. Fort Lewis, Metro State, UCCS and Colorado Christian are all deadlocked with 12 points apiece vying for one of the six qualifying spots for the RMAC tournament.
FLC will play at Regis (7-7-1, 3-5-0) Friday and at South Dakota Mines (1-13-1, 0-8-0) Sunday.
A game-winning goal in the 86th minute led to a 3-2 loss for the Fort Lewis College women’s soccer team in a back-and-forth affair with Regis University on Sunday. The loss moves FLC to 3-8-2 overall and 1-6-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, and Regis improves to 11-4-0, 8-2-0.
Junior Madyson Barela scored her team-best fourth goal of the season while sophomore Aubrey Swindle added her third goal of the year. Barela’s goal put FLC up 1-0 in the 23rd minute while Swindle’s goal gave FLC a 2-1 lead. Regis, however, scored the last two goals to win the match.