Air Force Academy

Sept. 19, 2006

After three straight weeks on the road, the Air Force volleyball team returns to the Academy for a pair of Mountain West Conference match-ups.  The Falcons will host the league's newest member, TCU, on Friday, Sept. 22, before closing out the weekend with New Mexico on Saturday, Sept. 23. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., in Clune Arena.

Match Notes 05: vs. TCU, New Mexico
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TCU HORNED FROGS

2006 Record: 12-2

Head Coach: Prentice Lewis

Series Record: TCU leads 3-2

Who to Watch: Anna Vaughn (3.81 kpg); Calli Corley (4.74 dpg)

Notables: TCU has won eight of nine

NEW MEXICO LOBOS

2006 Record: 4-8

Head Coach: Kelley McKee

Series Record: New Mexico leads 14-3

Who to Watch: Kelly Therkelsen (3.00 kpg, 0.97 bpg)

Notables: New Mexico lost its MWC opener to Wyoming (3-0)

HISTORY 101: With a 3-0 sweep over TCU on Nov. 6, 2005, Air Force snapped a 17-match winless streak.  The Falcons took the first two sets 30-23 and 30-24, before holding off the Horned Frogs by a 31-29 margin in the third game to pick up their fifth victory of the season.  The victory was also the Falcons' first in conference action since a sweep of Wyoming to close out the 2003 season.

SAME OLD RIVALRY: Despite a six-year gap in competition, Air Force and TCU quickly renewed their rivalry last season, facing one another on three occasions.  During their lone season together in the Western Athletic Conference, the two programs split a 1-1 record. Last year, the squads also split the regular season, with the Horned Frogs taking the deciding match in the Mountain West Conference tournament play-in match.

STOP RIGHT THERE: Air Force didn't seemed fazed by the fact that BYU is ranked second on the Mountain West Conference blocking statistics, as it held the Cougars without a single stop for nearly all of the first two sets. In fact, for the match, the Falcons out-blocked BYU. Air Force accounted for 5.0 (1 solo-8 assisted) blocks to 3.5 (7 assisted) blocks.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU: Serving as the starting middle at BYU, sophomore Jasamine Pettie celebrated her 20th birthday on the volleyball court. In addition to leading the Falcons (and tying for a match-best) with three blocks, Pettie accounted for a pair of kills.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW: Freshman Tyner Apt made her collegiate debut on Sept. 15 at BYU.  Stepping onto the court in front of over 2300 Cougar fans, Apt responded with her first career dig.

ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Sophomore Kristina Stewart earned the first all-tournament selection of her career at the Comfort Inn Invitational, hosted by Morehead State. She posted a team-leading 29 kills over the three-match, 10-game weekend (2.90 kpg). Stewart also ranked second on the team with four aces and 25 digs, while adding two assists and another pair of blocks.

OVERTIME, VOLLEYBALL STYLE: The goal is to be the first team to reach 30 points and win by two. That being said, Air Force and Western Carolina played a pair of grueling overtime games on Sept. 9. Air Force dropped the first game by a 35-33 margin, but claimed the second set by a 34-32 score. The first game was the longest for the Falcons since a 36-34 thriller in Denver in 2004.

`RANK' YOU VERY MUCH: The Falcons are currently ranked third in the Mountain West Conference with 1.88 aces per game. Only TCU (2.45) and New Mexico (1.95) are ranked higher at this stage of the season. Individually, Rebecca Gerton and Kim Kallabis are ranked sixth and 10th in the conference, respectively, with aces-per-game totals of 0.46 and 0.38.

TAKING IT TO THE TOP: With 16 total aces against Norfolk State, Air Force is tied for the lead in the MWC single-match statistics.  Individually, junior Rebecca Gerton is ranked second for the five she put down. Freshman Jocelyn Booker is currently tied for fifth on the league's single-match blocking list, as she was part of eight stops on Morgan State.

MORE ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Freshman Katie Batchelder picked up her first collegiate honor this weekend, as she was named to the William and Mary Invitational all-tournament team.  Batchelder collected an Air Force-leading 26 kills over the 12-game tournament. The native of Chico, Calif., also ranked among the team's top performers in service aces (5) and digs (26).

TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM: The Falcons' 3-0 win over Norfolk State on Friday morning was the first victory of the 2006 fall season for any Air Force athletic team.

GIVE ME AN ACE: With 16 service aces in their three-game victory over Norfolk State, the Falcons set a new Academy (NCAA Division I) single-match record.  Air Force surpassed the previous record of 13, which was set during a four-game match against Denver in 2003. Rebecca Gerton served up five of the team's aces, while Katie Batchelder chipped in four.  Kim Kallabis, Nicole Hartig and Jaclyn Fleming each added a pair. 

NO POWER ... NO PROBLEM: Air Force played nearly its entire three-game match with Norfolk State under the security lights provided by the Kaplan Arena emergency generator system, as hurricane remnants moving along the East Coast caused a massive power outage across campus. Despite a 30-minute delay in the action, Air Force rolled to its first victory of the season.           

HOME SWEET (NEW) HOME: The Falcons made their 2006 debut at the Academy on Aug. 28.  It is the first time since 2000 that Air Force has opened the season at home. This year also marks the first time since 1998 that Air Force will play its entire home schedule in Clune Arena. The Falcons hosted two tournaments in Clune Arena last season, but haven't played a full slate of games in the 5,939-seat venue since the 1998 season - its last year in the WAC.

THE LEADER OF THE PACK: Junior Kim Kallabis, the most experienced returning player, was chosen as captain of the 2006 squad. She becomes the first non-senior to hold the captain title outright since Katherine Dehne in 1997.