Air Force Academy
Omaha
Falcons Fall to Omaha in Five-Set Heartbreaker
9/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
With 14 kills, junior Maggie Sherrill was one of four Falcons to record double-digit kill totals. Classmates Akokwe Clement and Taylor Parker added 13 and 11, respectively, while freshman Shelley Spires contributed 10. Parker also paced all players with a .381 average (11k-3e-21a), while teaming up with Sherrill for a team-leading two blocks. Senior Hillary Keltner broke the 50-assist mark for the second time this season (51), while junior Raquel Rosas collected half of the team's eight service aces.
Air Force jumped out quickly on Omaha, taking five of the first six points behind kills from Clement and Parker, as well a service ace from Rosas, and forcing the Mavs into their first timeout. Air Force continued to roll, improving its advantage to seven (13-6) off of another ace from Rosas and a combined four kills from Sherrill, Keltner, Clement and Rosas. Omaha pulled within three at the 17-14 mark, but the Falcons closed out the set on an 8-1 run. Bradley Powers and Clement both accounted for a service ace, while Keltner, Spires and freshman Piper Heineck all tallied kills, as the Falcons took the first set 25-15.
Clement opened the second set with a kill, but the two squads traded points during a span that included eight ties, before three straight errors by Omaha gave the Falcons an 11-9 lead. The Mavericks evened the score at 11, but Air Force regained a two-point advantage off of an ace from Rosas and a kill from Sherrill. The teams continued to swap points, as another kill by Sherrill evened the score at 16. Keltner put down a kill that gave the Falcons an 18-17 lead and sparked a 7-3 run to close out the set. Sherrill and Rosas combined for three kills during that stretch, while Bradley Powers added her second ace of the match as Air Force took a 25-20 victory.
A kill from Rosas started the third set, while additional scores from Sherrill and Spires helped the Falcons to an 8-5 advantage. The Mavs evened the set at eight, but another kill from Spires, as well as a block from Sherrill and Parker, put the Falcons up two (11-9). Omaha scored 11 of the next 16 points to take a four-point advantage at 20-16. Spires put down a kill that sparked a 7-2 run from Air Force that included a pair of kills from Parker, as well as a kill and a block from Rosas. Despite taking a 23-22 lead, Omaha claimed the final three points to win the set 25-23.
Omaha took the first point of the fourth set and quickly doubled-up the Falcons by a 14-7 margin, despite kills from Parker, Clement, Keltner and Sherrill. Parker put down another kill that snapped a 4-0 run by the Mavs, while kills from Spires and Rosas put the Falcons at the 10-point mark (17-10). Sherrill, Clement, Spires and Keltner added kills, but Omaha evened the match with a 25-20 victory.
Three kills and an assisted block from Sherrill highlighted a 6-2 opening for Air Force, but a 5-1 run by the Mavs evened the set at seven. Clement scored a pair of kills to put the Falcons up two (10-8) and a kill from Spires kept the Falcons ahead one (11-10), but Omaha scored five of the final six points to win the deciding set by a 15-12 margin.
"After the first game and a half, Omaha did a very good job of making us earn points," head coach Matt McShane said after the loss. "They got us out of system quite a bit ... they served and passed really well. It made it hard for us to get the ball to our middles. I think everyone (in the locker room) is disappointed. We know that we can play better, and I think that's all it would've took ... us to play just a little better and we could've won that match."
Air Force closes out the Billiken Invitational this evening, when they face host Saint Louis at 7:00 p.m.
