Air Force Academy

Nov. 14, 2007

The Air Force volleyball team wraps up the Mountain West Conference season the same way it began - facing Wyoming. The Falcons will travel to Laramie, Wyo., on Friday, Nov. 16, to conclude the regular season with the Cowgirls at the UniWyo Sports Complex. The first serve will take place at 8 p.m., and action will be televised on The Mtn - Mountain West Sports Network.

Weekly Release 13: at Wyoming

WE'RE GONNA BE ON TV

This Friday's match at Wyoming will be televised by The Mtn. - Mountain West Sports Network. It will mark the first regular season television appearance for the Falcons. The Mtn can be found on Channel 167 in Colorado Springs and Comcast Channel 411 in Denver. The match will be called by Andrea Lloyd and Mary Kay Mauro.

WYOMING AT A GLANCE

The Cowgirls, who have been out of action since Nov. 7, are currently 11-13 on the season and 5-10 in Mountain West Conference action. Wyoming is led offensively by Rachel Smith and Angie Hellbaum, who average 4.63 and 4.14 kills per game, respectively. Carissa Lee and Lauren Scott carry the defensive load, as Lee averages 4.16 digs per game and Scott collects nearly one block (0.92) per game.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

Junior Ellen Bina will celebrate her 26th birthday on Saturday, Nov. 18. Bina was prior enlisted for four years before coming to the Academy, serving as a jet engine mechanic on the F-15 Eagle at Lakenheath Air Base, England.  In all, eight Falcons will turn a year older during the volleyball season.

MISS SMARTY-PANTS

Kim Kallabis was selected to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America District VII Second-Team, the College Sports Information Directors of America. Holding a dual-major GPA of 3.68 in mathematics and operations research, Kallabis is just the fourth Air Force volleyball player to earn academic all-district honors from CoSIDA. She joins Katherine Dehne (1999), Laura Terry (1999) and Delavane Diaz (2003) as the program's recipients of this prestigious selection.

CLIMBING UP THE LADDER

Freshman Nichole Stilwell jumped into the program's Division I single-season assisted blocks list at Colorado State, as she helped on a pair of stops. With 60 assisted blocks on the year, Stilwell moved past Tiffany Bishop (2002) and Kristin Hamlett (2004) for ninth-place. She is just more assisted block shy of eighth and just five shy of cracking the top three.

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.

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 50 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 23 of 29 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. Kristina Stewart was the most spirited during the match at Colorado 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 233 kills, while Caroline Kurtz (194) is just six shy of the 200-kill plateau. Nichole Stilwell (182), Michelle Harrington (168), Jasamine Pettie (136) and Kristina Stewart (131) 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 213 digs, while Katie Batchelder has accounted for 203. With a 35-dig weekend during Nov. 1-2, Morgan Dolan jumped into third-place with 173 digs. Kim Kallabis (169), Rebecca Gerton (130), Kristina Stewart (122) and Kelly Spencer (107) round out the group.

A HELPING HAND

With 59 assists over the last three matches, senior Kim Kallabis moved into ninth place on the Falcons' all-time career assist list. Over her four-year career, Kallabis has earned 1,459 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.