DURANGO -- The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs' seven-match winning streak came to an end Saturday as the Mountain Lions dropped a 3-1 decision to the Fort Lewis Skyhawks at the Whalen Athletic Center.
The result will loom large come playoff time. UCCS dropped to 11-2 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, tied with Fort Lewis and Nebraska-Kearney. Western New Mexico and Metro State are lurking close behind at 10-3.
A win could have put the Mountain Lions in the driver's seat as far as hosting the conference playoff tournament. That honor will now likely not be determined until the final week of the season and, even then, it may come down to a tiebreaker.
Brooke Akers and
Heidi Fehringer led the Mountain Lions (13-9) with 13 kills each and
Lauren Orth added 10, but UCCS was inefficient offensively. The Mountain Lions committed 38 hitting errors, 20 more than the Skyhawks, and hit just .138.
Fort Lewis (15-6) was led by defending RMAC player of the year Nicole Schwab, who had 19 kills while hitting .395. Jessica Bailey added 13 kills without an error as she posted a remarkable .591 hitting mark.
UCCS setters
Cortney Weedman and
Jessica Stewart had 16 and 10 digs respectively as the Skyhawks tried to keep the Mountain Lions out of system by tipping to the setters, a tactic attempted by many teams this season.
Two kills each by Akers and Orth helped UCCS break away from a 25-all tie in Game 1 and snag a 30-27 decision. Fort Lewis answered by dominating the second game, outhitting UCCS .417 to -.057 to roll to an easy 30-14 win.
Game 3 was tied at 21 when Sara Feehan put down three of her 13 kills to spark a 4-0 Skyhawk rally. The Mountain Lions closed to within one at 27-26 but Cora Vorwald had a kill and an assisted block (with Melissa Childs) as Fort Lewis held on 30-27.
Being down two games to one has been no reason for panic for UCCS. The Mountain Lions trailed each of their past three matches 2-1 and came back to win them all.
Apparently, they went to the comeback well one time too many. Fort Lewis opened with a 4-0 lead and UCCS could never close the gap.
Despite the loss, UCCS has still won 11 of its past 13 matches.
