GUNNISON, Colo. – The final day of the Mountaineer Volleyball Classic saw many of Academy of Art volleyball's sets go down to the wire as tournament host Western Colorado made a late move to win 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-16, 28-26) before Fort Lewis managed to outlast the Urban Knights in two frames as part of a 3-0 (31-29, 25-11, 27-25) victory inside Paul Wright Gym.
MATCH #1 – WCU 3, ART U 1
Multiple runs by the Mountaineers enabled them to gain an 18-6 lead in the day's opening set, but Academy of Art came roaring back with seven unanswered as part of a 10-1 surge powered by multiple kills from graduate student opposite
Claire Ricard and freshman outside hitter
Kerrigan Habing. Despite shortening the gap to just three points at 19-16, ART U could not complete the comeback in an eventual 25-20 final favoring Western Colorado.
Habing was once again key in the Knights 8-4 start to the second frame, sending down two kills on either end of combining with graduate student middle blocker/outside hitter
Fina Tuinauvai for a block. Kills from junior right side/middle blocker
Katherine Von Kraut and others helped Academy of Art maintain its advantage then it was senior setter
Elly McInerney who authored a kill to prevent a tie score late, sending ART U to even the match with a 25-22 result.
Both sides had success offensively and defensively in a back-and-forth third set, but momentum began to shift to WCU on the home team's 7-2 push that took them from down 11-8 to up 15-13. Habing, McInerney, and sophomore outside hitter
Paola Divis each had kills thereafter, but the Mountaineers steadily worked toward a win 25-16.
After four consecutive points put the Knights ahead 11-9 in the fourth, they would be tested again, relinquishing the lead briefly then taking it back on a 6-2 burst with Von Kraut and Ricard at the forefront both as a defensive tandem and swinging for kills. Western Colorado fought back, however, threatening to take set point at 24-23, but Ricard and Habing's put-aways tipped the scales to ART U for their own set point. The score would tie once again at 26-26 before WCU managed to hold on for the 28-26 victory.
MATCH #2 – FLC 3, ART U 0
Building a 13-7 advantage out of the gate, Fort Lewis found themselves up just 18-17 following multiple kills from sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter
Alohi Garcia. Academy of Art soon rattled off five straight, including back-to-back kills off the hand of Ricard, and even had a potential set point at 24-23, but as the shot at a win was repeatedly exchanged, the teams stared at a 28-28 deadlock. The Knights had one more opportunity to close it out only for the Skyhawks to score three points in a row and prevail 31-29.
Runs in the initial portion of the second set quickly put FLC ahead and the 25-11 final would put their side in a decisive position heading into the third. There, service aces by sophomore libero
LC-Reece Nakagawa and kills by Divis bounced ART U back against Fort Lewis' opening advantage before a truly impressive 8-0 run dramatically shifted the momentum as Academy of Art turned a six-point deficit into a two-point lead with Divis catching fire. Up 24-22 on another Divis kill, Academy of Art could not seal the deal, dropping five of the next six points to fall 27-25 in the contest.
Academy of Art moves to 1-7 on the season with the trio of Ricard, Tuinauvai, and Habing each posting 11 kills in the opening contest before Divis' nine kills paced the team in the finale. McInerney opened with 41 assists then added 21 versus Fort Lewis while Nakagawa totaled 19 digs and 14 digs. The Knights' 18 block assists plus one block solo combined for a season-best 10 total in the young season. Both Ricard and Nakagawa were named to the Mountaineer Volleyball Classic All-Tournament Team.
With Seyun Park's 17 kills leading the way, Western Colorado moves to 2-6 overall while Fort Lewis, now 2-5 on the year, got 12 kills from Alexis Hobie.
ART U returns to Paul Wright Gym tomorrow for matchups with tournament host Western Colorado and Fort Lewis once again at 9 a.m. MT (8 a.m. PT) and 1 p.m. MT (noon PT).
