FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 8-24-06

College Volleyball: Fort Lewis (Colo.) 3, AASU 1

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Armstrong Atlantic State volleyball squad opened up the 2006 season with a 3-1 loss to Fort Lewis in the first match of the AmeriSuites Mountain Lion Invitational, hosted by Colorado - Colorado Springs, on Thursday evening. Game scores were 30-21, 24-30, 15-30, 31-33.

Despite a long travel day that began at 1:00 a.m. Eastern time in Savannah, the Pirates opened up the match strong against the Skyhawks, hitting .303 in game one to take a 30-21 win. Fort Lewis then turned to their blocking to win the next two games easily, then AASU had two chances to send it to a game five as the Pirates served up 29-28 and 31-30, but could not close out the contest.

Fort Lewis recorded 13 blocks on the night as a team and was led offensively by Nicole Schwab's 17 kills. Armstrong Atlantic got 13 kills apiece from seniors Traci Knuth and Christina Flores. Carly Lacey notched 44 assists to pace Fort Lewis, while Margaret Thornton tallied 27 to lead AASU. The Pirates will play two matches on Friday in the AmeriSuites Mountain Lion Invitational, facing Georgian Court at 9:00 a.m. and then taking on host Colorado - Colorado Springs at 8:15 p.m.

- Pirates -