.jpg)
For a second, or maybe a minute, it looked like the spectacular comeback was finished.
The Skyhawks women’s volleyball battled back after losing the first two sets against University Colorado Colorado Springs at home on Saturday night and tied the match at 2-2.
But at the start of the fifth set, FLC found itself in a 5-1 hole. The Skyhawks then battled back like they had all night and went on an 8-1 run. FLC was flying around, the energy was at its peak and the team was playing its best volleyball. FLC won the fifth set 15-10 to complete its comeback, the reverse sweep and a 3-2 win.
The Skyhawks improved to 9-12 overall and 5-6 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with the 21-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-10 win. The Mountain Lions fell to 9-11 overall and 5-6 in RMAC play with the loss.
“I'm glad that we got a reverse sweep against the team that's always been challenging for us,” FLC head coach Giedre Tarnauskaite said. “We had a slow start, for sure, and I had to remind the team about the discipline and execution. That's what the name of the game for us was: Discipline and execution. So I'm glad that the team focused on those things. I told them, ‘If we want to win, we need to hit certain criteria.’ I said it's up to you to make the choice if you execute, and we did, so I'm very happy about it.”
FLC had a well-balanced attack in the win. Junior middle blocker Ella Butler had 15 kills and sophomore outside hitter Jordan DeJesus also had 15 kills. Redshirt freshman Avery Dembickie had a fantastic game, finishing with 13 kills. She was playing in the middle out of position. Sophomore outside hitter Alina Nunez also had 13 kills. Fifth-year right side Lauren Shea had 10 kills.
Senior setter Natalia Lambos had 58 assists for the Skyhawks in the win. Tarnauskaite knew from scouting UCCS that Lambos would need to spread the ball out for FLC to be successful. Tarnauskaite said the game came down to Lambos’ decision-making.
Rylee Pitts led the Mountain Lions with 16 kills. Payton Tompkins had 15 kills for UCCS.
UCCS took an early 8-4 lead in the first set after multiple hitting errors and a serving error by the Skyhawks. The Mountain Lions were serving tough early and had a few aces early.
Then the hitting errors went away and the Skyhawks were playing better defense. Nunez tipped a ball over the net for a 10-9 FLC lead.
Butler had a strong start to the first set. Her blocking was fantastic, she had a few powerful spikes at the net and had an ace.
A DeJesus kill pushed the Skyhawks’ lead to 16-13. FLC seemed to have a response to most of the UCCS hits, prompting a timeout by UCCS down 17-13. The Mountain Lions had more of a response after the timeout and looked more composed.
The offense then disappeared from FLC. Attacks weren’t as powerful or placed as well and UCCS capitalized to tie the set at 21. The Mountain Lions finished the first set on an 8-0 run to win it 25-21.
The Skyhawks weren’t as crisp with their setting and hitting in the second set. UCCS had better blocking and found space in FLC’s defense. UCCS took the second set 25-19 and led 2-0.
“We never had the flow of the game,” Tarnauskaite said. “We are the team that looks for that. So I told them, ‘If you're looking for that, it will never happen against this team because of the way they compete and the way our matchup is.’ We have to be uncomfortable with the flow.”
“That means that our serve-receive will be challenged. That means that our sets will be challenged, our hitters will have to step up and not just wait for a perfect set. Once they receive that message, that's when we start turning things around.”
UCCS continued to find space with its kills, while FLC had some nice finesse shots to keep the start of the third set close.
Dembickie had a nice kill down the center and a block at the net for a 14-11 lead. Multiple times, a long rally occurred with the Skyhawks up three. Each ended with a backbreaking point for UCCS.
FLC responded with some nice play around the net. Nunez had a nice play near the net for a kill and a hitting error by UCCS gave FLC a 23-22 lead.
UCCS looked to have tied the game thanks to a serving error and a kill down the middle for a 24-24 tie. But the play was reviewed and the Mountain Lions were called for a net violation, giving the Skyhawks the 25-23 set win.
A Lambos ace put the Skyhawks up 9-6 in the fourth set. FLC had good energy and were blocking very well early. The Skyhawks seemed to be anticipating the Mountain Lions’ hits better.
UCCS came back into the set with some better blocking and defending. The Mountain Lions took a 16-15 lead after two FLC hitting errors. The momentum swung back to FLC after two hitting errors by UCCS and the Skyhawks led 19-17.
The Mountain Lions looked to have a kill off a powerful hit. Freshman setter Emery Pomroy had other thoughts as she returned it over the net. A fantastic save by FLC followed. DeJesus ended the point with an improbable kill and a 23-20 lead. The Skyhawks won the fourth set 25-20.
After UCCS started the fifth set up 5-1, FLC responded with a kill by Nunez and a block by Lambos and Dembickie for a 6-6 tie. Butler was serving tough during this run and had an ace to put FLC up 8-6.
Dembickie had back-to-back excellent blocks. The Skyhawks had some phenomenal saves by Pomroy and junior Chloe Ruhl. A DeJesus kill put FLC 12-8. A Butler block gave FLC a 14-9 lead. Butler finished the set with a kill down the middle for the match win.
“For a coach to see a redshirt freshman who didn’t had a minute of playing time last year, to step in a role that's not her primary role … to even be near the statistical category that she executed today as a middle it's just incredible,” Tarnauskaite said about Dembickie. “For her to do it coming off the bench with minimal experience, it's absolutely incredible. It's what I told her at the end of the game. It just gives me goosebumps to see her perform at such a level.”
FLC plays against Adams State in Colorado Springs on Friday at 6 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
