Air Force Academy

Nov. 9, 2007

The Air Force volleyball team begins its last week of regular season action on Monday, Nov. 12, when it travels up Interstate-25 to face No. 18 Colorado State in Mountain West Conference action. In their next to last match of the regular season, the Falcons will head to Fort Collins, Colo., to face the one of the conference's top teams. Action is slated to begin at 7 p.m., at the Rams' Moby Arena.

Weekly Release 12: at No. 18 Colorado State

COLORADO STATE AT A GLANCE

Colorado State is currently 10-2 in conference action and 17-5 overall, but have two matches prior to their meeting with the Falcons. In conference matches only, the Rams lead the Mountain West in hitting percentage (.275), kills-per-game (17.68), assists-per-game (16.07) and blocks (3.70). Individually, Mekana Barnes leads the league in blocks-per-game (1.83) and is second with a .351 hitting percentage, while Ashley Fronstrom (14.41 apg) and Jaime Strauss (4.84 kpg) are ranked all second in their individual categories.

WHAT A WIN!!

Until its thrilling 30-24 victory over San Diego State on Nov. 2, Air Force had not won a game in regular season Mountain West Conference action since Nov. 11, 2005, although it did take one from TCU on Nov. 22, 2005, in the conference tournament.

BLOCK PARTY

The story of the night on Nov. 2 was blocking, as the two teams combined for 28 total blocks. Air Force's 14 blocks shattered the previous best of 9.5, which was set against North Carolina A&T in early September. The six solo blocks bested the previous high of four, while the 16 assisted stops were the third-best total on the year.

BUILDING BLOCKS

Michelle Harrington led the Falcons with season-best eight blocks, including a pair of individual stops. Jasamine Pettie collected five blocks (one solo, four assisted) and Nichole Stilwell added two solo stops and a pair of assisted blocks. Katie Batchelder (one solo, two assisted) and Caroline Kurtz (two assisted) rounded out the Falcons' blocking machine.

PUTTING UP A WALL

The Falcons recorded just one block during the first set with San Diego State on Nov. 2, but came back with a fury to tally 13 over the final three games. Air Force accounted for six in the second game, while adding five in the fourth. And, in turn, while the Falcons allowed nine total blocks in the first to San Diego State, Air Force stopped the Aztecs defense in the final three games by allowing just five.

SENIOR SALUTE!

Playing in her final match at Clune Arena on Nov. 2, senior Kim Kallabis collected 33 assists, which was her sixth-best single-match output of the season. Also playing in her final home match, libero Morgan Dolan lit up her personal statistics, as she tallied a career-high 22 digs and her second-ever kill.

CLIMBING UP THE LADDER

To date, freshman Nichole Stilwell has assisted on 58 blocks, which is just one shy of entering the Falcons' NCAA Division I single-season record book. Tiffany Bishop and Kristin Hamlett are currently tied for 10th, with 59 assisted blocks during their respective 2002 and 2004 seasons.

KALLABIS IS CLIMBING

With 49 assists during the Nov. 1-2 weekend, senior Kim Kallabis became just the sixth player in Division I era to tally at least 600 assists in a single season. In addition, with those 49 helpers, Kallabis moved from ninth to seventh in the single-season standings. She is now 60 assists shy of sixth-place.

NOW SERVING

Backed by the luck of the coin toss, Air Force has earned the right to the first serve in 22 of 28 matches. In addition, the Falcons have served first in the fifth-game during three of four such games.

WE'VE GOT SPIRIT, YES WE DO!

The Air Force volleyball staff began a new tradition at TCU on Sept. 21, as they unveiled the new "Spirit Award". The honor is given to the athlete that shows the most team spirit during a match. Julia Hansen was the most spirited during the match with UNLV, while the entire team was awarded the honor against San Diego State.

REACHING THE PLATEAU

Six Falcons have already accounted for over 100 kills this season - two more than the number of players that accomplished that feat all of last season. Katie Batchelder leads the team with 229 kills, while Caroline Kurtz (185), Nichole Stilwell (178), Michelle Harrington (166), Jasamine Pettie (132) and Kristina Stewart (128) have also entered triple-digit tally club.

DIGGING IT UP

Air Force has seven players with at least 100 digs, while two have crossed the 200-dig mark. Caroline Kurtz leads the team with 206 digs, while Katie Batchelder has accounted for 202. With a 35-dig weekend, Morgan Dolan jumped into third-place with 167 digs. Kim Kallabis (162), Rebecca Gerton (130), Kristina Stewart (120) and Kelly Spencer (107).

A HELPING HAND

With 49 assists over the last two matches, senior Kim Kallabis moved into ninth place on the Falcons' all-time career assist list. Over her four-year career, Kallabis has earned 1,449 helpers. Since entering NCAA Division I, only three other Falcons (Kristin Huitt, Tharommony In and Carly Siefken) have made the program's all-time assist list, although Katherine Dehne spent the all but one year at the Division I level (the team moved from Division II prior to the 1996 season.

TAKING IT MATCH BY MATCH

Katie Batchelder's 29 kills against Marist remains the third-best single-match total in the MWC. In addition, Batchelder leads the conference with seven aces against Quinnipiac and is ranked fourth with a 31.5 point-total against Marist. Air Force's 95 total digs against North Carolina A&T is ranked fourth, while its 15 total aces against Quinnipiac is tied for second and its 14 against Texas Southern is third. In Mountain West Conference matches, Stephanie Stanford is second in the league with a four-ace output against TCU.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Sophomore Katie Batchelder leads the Falcons with seven double-doubles, highlighted by a 29 kills-18 digs performance against Quinnipiac. Freshman Caroline Kurtz and senior Kim Kallabis have each accounted for three double-double outputs this season.