DURANGO, Colo. – Despite a late rally by Fort Lewis College, the Western New Mexico University volleyball team was able to finish off the Skyhawks in four sets claiming the 3-1 victory (25-17, 20-25, 25-18, 26-24) Friday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.

WNMU moves to 17-7 on the season and 12-4 in RMAC play to remain tied for fourth in the conference with Regis after the Ranges won in straight sets against Black Hills State. The other top teams in the conference also claimed straight set wins including Colorado Mines, Colorado Mesa and MSU Denver.

The offense was firing on all cylinders for the Lady Mustangs with four players recording double-digit kills led by 15 from Kalie Lyle (Phoenix, AZ/Sandra Day O' Connor ) as she hit .333. Shannon Rich (Folsom, CA/Folsom) was right behind and came away with the top mark of .455 hitting percentage putting down 13 kills. Sheila Menezes (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Escola Estadual Prof. Antonio Ablas Filho) added 11 and Heather Verrill (Barstow, CA/Barstow ) with 10. WNMU hit .219 (63-30-151) and limited FLC (5-19, 2-14 RMAC) to a .116 percentage (42-24-155).

The Lady Mustangs began to pull away from a tight first set when Verrill collected a kill at 13-10. The lead would move to seven at 20-13 with points by Menezes, Lyle and a double-block from Rich and Kelli McGhiey (Pearl City, HI/Sacred Hearts Academy ) while the Skyhawks had three errors. Just three points away at 22-17, Verrill triggered a 3-0 run to close the set with a kill and then a pair of FLC errors followed with set point coming on a double-block by Verrill and Menezes for the 25-17 set win. The WNMU offense was not to be denied in the opening set as they hit a sizzling .452 (17-3-31).

The Skyhawks responded in the second set moving in front 13-9. WNMU slowly began to work their way back into the set with Morgan Lyneis (Victorville, CA/Apple Valley) and McGhiey collecting back-to-back kills to knot the set at 17. McGhiey then gave WNMU the lead on the next point with a kill, but that would turn out to be the last lead of the set for the Lady Mustangs. FLC closed on an 8-2 run to take the set at 25-20.

The Skyhawks kept the momentum going even out of the break to take and early 10-6 lead in the third set. Lyle would help turn the fortunes around for the Lady Mustangs as her kill at 10-7 would push WNMU on a 8-2 run to take a 14-12 lead. During the stretch Lyle added another kill, while McGhiey, Rich and Menezes posted points. It would be a back-and-forth set over the next several points before a Menezes ace broke a 17-all tie and WNMU never looked back. The Lady Mustangs ended up going on an 8-1 run down the stretch to take the set at 25-18. Lyle came through with four kills, Rich added another and FLC had a pair of errors.

The fourth set was up in the air throughout until late when WNMU began to make their move. WNMU looked to be in good shape holding a 20-18, but then the teams would end up tying three times down the stretch. The Lady Mustangs were a point away at 24-22 on a kill by Rich, just to watch the Skyhawks respond with the next two points to knot the set at 24. WNMU kept their focus and came through with kills from McGhiey and Menezes to pull out the set at 26-24 and win the match, 3-1.

In addition to the big offensive night, Chyler Imai (Kapaau, HI/Kohala) (30) and Opal Drapeau (Denver, CO/Bishop Machebeuf Catholic ) (23) set the table accounting for 53 of the 61 team assists. On defense, Ashley Mataele (Laie, HI/Kahuku) was all over the place coming through with big digs as she had 23. In terms of blocking, McGhiey had five with two coming solo, while Rich added three and Verrill with two.

Matisse Monty led FLC with 10 kills and also had a team-high 16 digs.

WNMU, winners of two straight, will remain on the road Saturday night when they play at Adams State University beginning at 7 p.m. The Grizzlies posted a 3-0 win over New Mexico Highlands tonight.