Air Force Academy
UNLV
Falcons Fall to UNLV, 3-1
10/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 19, 2002
The Air Force volleyball team lost the suffered a disappointing loss to UNLV, falling in four games (26-30, 22-30, 30-27, 26-30 ). The Falcons had a chance to improve in the conference standings against the last place Rebels, but they were unable to grab the road victory.
The opening game of the match went back and forth, with the teams exchanging leads throughout. The Rebels used a four-point run late to pull away and grab the game win. UNLV used the momentum gained in game one to grab a commanding 30-22 victory in game two. The Falcons led in kills, digs and assists but due to eight service errors and 17 attacking errors, found themselves down two games to one.
The Falcons started off slowly in game three and trailed 7-2 early. The team would battle back, winning five straight points to tie the score. After six ties, the Falcons took an 18-15 lead - their largest lead of the game. The Rebels tied the score at 21 apiece and the see-saw battle continued. Air Force scored four of the next five points to take a commanding lead, but the Rebels refused to quit. They battled back and tied the score 26-26. Air Force would win the next three points and go on to win the exciting game 30-27.
Air Force started off slowly again in the fourth game, falling behind by five at the onset. Unlike game two, they were unable to come back, as the Rebels slowly built a seemingly insurmountable lead, 22-15. Air Force would rally, winning the next five points to pull within two points of the lead, but they would never lead. UNLV regrouped, pulling away for the 30-26 victory.
Delavane Diaz led all hitters with 22 kills. She also notched 16 digs for the double-double. Lamecca Jefferson also notched a double-double, with 16 kills and 13 digs. Tiffany Bishop added 13 kills. For the first time this season, five Air Force players finished with double figures in digs. Jaime Beatty had 15, Kristin Huitt had 12 and Brittany Edmonds had 10. Huitt notched a career-high 57 digs in the loss.
The loss drops the Falcons to 8-13 overall and 2-5 in the Mountain West. The Falcons will regroup and travel to Denver on Wednesday, October 23, for a non-conference match. They will then host New Mexico on Friday, October 25 in a league match.
