DURANGO, Colorado — The Adams State Volleyball team dropped a hard-fought five-set RMAC road match Thursday evening, falling 3-2 to Fort Lewis at Whalen Gymnasium. The match was the first of two matches in Durango, Colorado in the RMAC Power Pod for the Grizzlies as they will finish up Pod play tomorrow with a match against Colorado Christian University. With tonight's loss, the Grizzlies move to 12-11(6-4 RMAC).
Adams State and Fort Lewis battled back and forth in two tightly contested opening sets, with neither team able to gain a clear advantage. The Grizzlies came out on top in the first set, edging the Skyhawks 27-25. Fort Lewis then responded in the second set, matching Adams State point for point before narrowly claiming a 27-25 victory to even the match at one set apiece. The Skyhawks carried that momentum into the third set, securing a 25-19 win to take a 2-1 lead.
Facing a must-win fourth set, the Grizzlies responded with a 25-20 victory to force a decisive fifth set. However, Fort Lewis controlled the final frame, earning a 15-7 win to secure the 3-2 match victory.
Offensively, Sienna Markovich led Adams State with 11 kills, while Katie Bauer and Rowan Tribelhorn each contributed 10 and nine kills, respectively. Bauer also recorded eight block assists and finished with 16 points to lead the Grizzlies. Tribelhorn added two solo blocks and seven block assists for nine total blocks, giving her 14.5 points on the night to finish second behind Markovich.
Isabella DeLaRosa led the offense with 27 assists, while Ellie Miller followed suit with 13 assists of her own. The two combined for 40 of the 48 Grizzly assists. Defensively, Ashlyn Jones led Adams State with 27 digs, followed by DeLaRosa with 18 and Isa Folau with 14.
Overall, the Grizzlies finished with 53 kills, 48 assists, 5 serving aces, 92 digs and 32 total blocks.
Looking Forward
Up next for the Grizzlies, Adams State will look to bounce back as it continues RMAC Power Pod play with a matchup against Colorado Christian University in Durango, Colorado. The match against CCU is scheduled for tomorrow night, October 23, at 6 p.m. MST. Adams State will aim to regroup and build on Thursday's hard-fought performance as the Grizzlies look to get back in the win column and finish the final stretch of the season strong.
