DURANGO, Colorado — The Adams State University volleyball team earned a hard-fought five-set victory over Fort Lewis College on Friday evening, defeating the Skyhawks 3-2 at Whalen Gymnasium. The Grizzlies won by set scores of 23-25, 25-23, 20-25, 26-24 and 15-13 to improve to 12-9 (6-3 RMAC).
Adams State opened the match with a competitive first set but came up just short, falling 25-23 as Fort Lewis took an early 1-0 lead. The Grizzlies responded in the second set, earning a narrow 25-23 victory to even the match at one set apiece.
Fort Lewis regained the advantage in the third set, taking a 25-20 win to move within one set of securing the match. Facing a must-win fourth set, Adams State responded with determination, battling through a tightly contested frame before pulling out a 26-24 victory to force a decisive fifth set.
In the final set, both teams continued to battle, but the Grizzlies came through in the clutch, earning a 15-13 win to complete the comeback and secure the 3-2 road victory.
Overall, tonight's match was truly back and forth as there were 16 tie scores and 9 lead changes through tonight's five sets. As well, the teams were evenly matched on both the offensive and defensive sides as Adams State recorded 62 kills, 60 assists, eight service aces and 79 digs, while Fort Lewis had 64 kills, 58 assists, five service aces and 81 digs.
Ultimately, with such a tight match there had to be a separator and tonight that was the Grizzlies strong defense. Adams State finished with six solo blocks and 20 block assists, collecting two more solo blocks and eight more block assists compared to Fort Lewis. With this strong edge defensively the Grizzlies were able to close out tonight's hard fought win.
Individually, Sienna Markovich led Adams State with 14 kills while committing just two errors on 42 attacks, finishing with a .286 hitting percentage. Markovich also recorded 11 digs, giving her a double-double for the match. Isa Folau added 13 kills and a team-high four service aces, while Lizzie Macintosh contributed 12 kills and five total blocks.
Ellie Miller and Isabella DeLaRosa helped direct the Grizzlies' offense, combining for 49 assists, with Miller recording a team-high 25 assists. Defensively, Ashlyn Jones paced Adams State with 22 digs, while Miller added 12. At the net, Rowan Tribelhorn recorded seven total blocks, including two solo blocks, as the Grizzlies finished with 26 total blocks.
Looking Forward
The Grizzlies will look to carry their momentum into their next RMAC matchup as they continue conference play tomorrow, October 17th, with a match against Western Colorado. The match will be held in Gunnison, Colorado with the match beginning at 1 PM MST. Adams State will aim to build on tonight's five-set victory and keep climbing the conference standings as the RMAC regular season progresses.
