Air Force Academy
Weber State
Falcons Drop 3-1 Decision to Weber State
9/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Junior Akokwe Clement paced the Falcons with 16 kills, while adding 11 digs for her third double-double of the season. In addition to hitting at a team-best .364 clip, Clement was one of six Falcons to tally aces in the match. Senior Hillary Keltner and junior Raquel Rosas each recorded two, while Clement, junior Rachael Bradley Powers, senior Emma Dridge and junior Rebecca Bates each notched one. Keltner also added 40 assists to the Falcons' stat line.
Defensively, Bradley Powers collected a team-high 13 digs, while Dridge and Bates each tallied 12 and Clement added 11. Parker, junior Maggie Sherrill and senior Kristen Holt all assisted on two blocks.
Air Force jumped out to a fast 6-0 lead, backed by an ace from Rosas, a kill from Sherrill and a block from Sherrill and Parker. The blocking duo also accounted for a pair of kills to help put the Falcons up 10-2. Service aces from Dridge and Bates bookended a kill from Clement, while a kill from Rosas put Air Force up 10 (17-7). Rosas added another kill and her second ace of the game to keep the Falcons' lead at 10 (21-11). The Falcons closed out the set with three straight points (Sherrill, Clement, Parker) to take the set by a 25-14 margin.
While the Falcons held the advantage in the opening set, the second set was managed by Weber State. Air Force struck first, but despite kills from Clement (two) and Sherrill, the Falcons found themselves in a 9-5 hole. In her first play after subbing in, senior Victoria Foster recorded a kill to halt a 4-0 run by the Wildcats, who eventually stretched their lead to 11 (21-10). Freshman Piper Heineck added a kill during her first series of the match and Air Force started to dig into Weber State's lead as Foster (two) and Clement paced the Falcons to a 6-1 run (23-17). Holt added one final kill, but the Wildcats took the set, 25-18, to even the match at one.
Air Force earned a kill (Sherrill) and blocks (Holt/Keltner) to start the third set, but the Wildcats took an early 5-2 lead. Another kill by Sherrill and an ace from Keltner brought the Falcons within one (5-4), but Weber State doubled them up 12-6. Bradley Powers put down a service ace, while a kill by Parker and a Sherrill/Holt block brought the Falcons within two (14-12). An attacking error by the Wildcats evened the score at 17, while another error gave the Falcons their first lead since the opening set (19-18). Weber State accounted for the next three points, before Parker put down a pair of scores to bring the score within one (22-21). Back-to-back scores by Sherrill and Holt tied the set at 23, but the Wildcats took the final two points to win the set 25-23.
Clement put down the opening point of the fourth set, while Foster and Parker teamed up for a block to give the Falcons an early 3-2 lead. Consecutive kills from Foster and Clement kept Air Force ahead by two (7-5), but Weber State scored 10 of the next 12 points to go ahead 15-9. Heineck (16-11), Clement (18-13, 19-14), Foster (20-15) and Holt (21-16) kept the Falcons within five, while Clement added another pair of kills to shrink the margin to four (23-19, 24-20), but Weber State scored the final point to take the 25-21 victory.
Air Force returns to action later today, when it faces Abilene Christian at 4:00 p.m. (CT).
