Dominique Davis
The Paw Print
The woman’s volleyball season continues to roll as the Grizzlies took to the road for the last time during RMAC play.
The Grizzlies headed to Durango and Grand Junction this weekend to face the Fort Lewis Skyhawks and the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks. With their regular season games coming to a close, the Grizzlies are more than ready to continue their success into the RMAC playoffs and hopefully even farther than that.
This weekend was a big weekend for the Grizzlies, so they knew that they really had to play their best game. The Grizzlies have always seemed to do well on the road and on their opponent’s court, and that again was true this weekend.
Friday night, the Grizzlies dominated the Skyhawks in the Whalen Gymnasium. The 24th team in the nation recorded 38 kills in the 25-13, 25-12, 25-15 victory against the Skyhawks. This win was the fifth straight for the Grizzlies and helped them to improve to an 18-4 overall record and 11-3 in the RMAC.
With this win, the Grizzlies also confirmed a spot in next month’s RMAC tournament. The Skyhawks had 25 hitting errors, which definitely helped the Grizzlies with their win. The Skyhawks are now 9-13 overall and 5-9 in the conference. The loss against the Grizzlies was their sixth straight loss.
Senior outside hitter, Dominique Davis (Denver, Colo.) led the team with 10 kills. Junior setter Gabriella Rifilato (Bayfield, Colo.) tallied 33 assists and nine digs for the Grizzlies. Freshman defensive specialist, Katherine Rifilato (Bayfield, Colo.) had a match-high of 11 digs. The Grizzlies have beaten the Skyhawks four consecutive times in the past two years.
Saturday night’s game against the Colorado Mesa Mavericks was one that was extremely important for the Grizzlies. The Mavericks defeated the Grizzlies in five on their home court on Sept. 28 so this game was definitely a game of revenge and determination for the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies outhit the Mavericks with a .305 hitting percentage and also out-blocked the Mavericks 7-5 in the 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 three set sweep.
After a big win in the Brownson Arena, ASU improved to 19-4 overall and to 12-3 in the RMAC. That was the Mavericks seventh straight loss this season. The Grizzlies are 10-1 on the road this season. Senior Kelly Regimbal from the Mavericks, tallied 11 kills on Saturday night.
Junior Letisha Spencer (Rio Rancho, New Mexico), put down nine kills with zero errors, hitting a perfect .600 . She also had three blocks.
Junior Deprece Washington (Johnstown, Colo.) had nine kills and led the Grizzlies with four blocks. Senior outside hitter Dominique Davis recorded 14 kills on a .458 hitting effort.
Senior Libero Valerie Garcia (Colorado Springs, Colo.) tallied a match high 13 digs, out-digging Megan Rush across the net.
Junior Gabriella Rifilato had 34 assists, eight digs, and three aces on the night. The Grizzlies also had eleven service errors on the night.
The Grizzlies will now head back home for their last four games of the regular season. The first game of the weekend will start at 7 p.m. on Friday night in Plachy Hall against New Mexico Highlands University in a “Blackout” night.
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