DURANGO, Colo.  Western Colorado volleyball heads into the second week of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference competition with Tuesday evening's away match at Fort Lewis College.

THE MOUNTAINEERS HEADING INTO THE MATCH | SEASON STATS
Western is coming off a 1-1 home weekend in which it won its RMAC-opening match Friday against South Dakota School of Mines in an exciting five-setter, 3-2.

The Mountaineers and Fort Lewis played once in the 2021 season, with Western taking a 3-1 decision from the visiting Skyhawks.

Defensive play at the net has been a strong suit this season for the Mountaineers. They are sixth in the league in blocking at 1.84 blocks per set. Randi Wellhoefer leads the way for Western, registering two solo blocks (BS) and 25 block assists (BA) for 14.5 total blocks (TB) and a 0.87/set average that ranks 11th in the league.

Jaeda Davis-Golliher (5 BS/14 BA) with 12.0 total blocks trails only Wellhoefer in the Western statistics, while Savanna Meyer (3/11, 8.5 TB) is next, followed by Caroline Parker (2/12, 8.0 TB).

Cleaning up behind the blocks are Elizabeth Rupprecht and Emily Mangone. Rupprecht – who had a match-high 15 digs in the five-set win over S.D. Mines – leads with 87 digs, with Mangone chipping in another 70 to the team total.

Net play on the attack is led by Mangone and Davis-Golliher. Mangone leads with 68 kills and Davis-Golliher is next with 63.

Setting up the attack, and with nearly identical results, are Hailee Martinez (138 set assists) and Lexi Wilmoth (135).

Adding points from behind the service line is Mangone, who sits sixth in the RMAC with a service aces mark of .47 per set, from a total of 14 through nine matches.

FORT LEWIS HEADING INTO THE MATCH | SEASON STATS
The Skyhawks are 3-5 overall and, like the Mountaineers, are 1-1 in league play. In its last match, Fort Lewis surrendered a 3-1 home decision to No. 4 Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Fort Lewis is tough to play against right from the serve. As a team they've dropped in 60 service aces, led by Ella Butler's 13 and Alexis Hobie's 11.

Hobie ranks 12th in the RMAC on the attack with 85 kills, certainly with the majority of those set up by Natalia Lambos who ranks 10th in the RMAC with 239 set assists – out of a total of 302 assists for the entire team.

Defensively, the Skyhawks have four players with at least 55 digs. Lauren Shea is the leader by a slim margin with 60 on the year.

The tandem of Butler and Rylee Johnson set up the block for the Skyhawks. Butler has 18 block assists to lead the team and added to her 3 solo blocks also leads with 12. 0 total blocks. Johnson's 6 solo blocks tops the Skyhawks, and her 11 BAs add up to 11.5 total blocks.

UP NEXT
Following the match at Fort Lewis, Western Colorado returns to play a home RMAC match Saturday against Regis University.