Falcons Set to Conclude First Half of MWC Season
10/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2008
The Air Force volleyball team concludes the first half of the Mountain West Conference season this weekend, competing in two states in as many days. The Falcons will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, Oct. 10, to take on TCU, before heading to Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday, Oct. 11, to face off with New Mexico.
Weekly Notes 08: at TCU, at New Mexico 
OPPONENT QUICK HITS
TCU is 15-5 on the season, while New Mexico is 14-4. Both programs have 4-3 marks in the Mountain West Conference. TCU took a 3-2 (25-16, 25-22, 18-25, 23-25, 15-7) victory over the Lobos when the two programs faced off earlier this season in Fort Worth. The match against the Falcons will be the only events of the week for both programs.
HISTORY 101
Air Force is 2-7 all-time against the Horned Frogs and 3-19 against the Lobos. The Falcons' 3-0 victory over TCU in 2005 marks the last conference win for Air Force. The Falcons last defeated New Mexico in 2003.
SWEEP IT UP
Air Force snapped a six-match losing streak on Friday, Oct. 10, with a 3-0 victory over Chicago State. It was the Falcons' first win since a Sept. 13 match against NC State at the Academy. The win was also the Falcons' first road win of the year.
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
Backed by its best hitting percentage of the season (.351), Air Force picked apart Chicago State in straight sets on Oct. 10. Jasamine Pettie connected on seven of 10 attempts, while committing no errors, for a season-best .700 hitting percentage. Backed by nine kills on 18 tries with no errors, Katie Batchelder hit 500. Michelle Harrington and Nichole Stilwell tallied matching percentages of .364. Harrington posted five kills on 11 hits (one error), while Stilwell added seven kills on 11 attempts (three errors). Kristina Stewart rounded out the .300 hitters with a .304 average (10k-3e-23a).
ACES WILD
Against Chicago State, six Falcons recorded a service ace. Stephanie Stanford, Katie Batchelder, Kristina Stewart, Michelle Harrington, Kelly Spencer and Victoria Martinez accounted for the Falcons' second-best single-match ace performance of the year.
NON-CONFERENCE WRAP-UP
After splitting a weekend with Chicago State and SIU-Edwardsville, the Falcons concluded their non-league schedule with a 5-8 record. Air Force recorded a 4-7 non-MWC record at the Academy and a 1-1 mark on the road.
HELPING HANDS
Sophomore Jessica Hellmann has accounted for 396 of the team's 731 assists. Her 6.95 assist-per-set average is ranked eighth in the Mountain West Conference, while classmate Stephanie Stanford's 5.60 assist-pre-set average (241 total) is ninth.
MORE NEWS FROM THE LEAGUE
Freshman Victoria Martinez is ranked seventh with a 3.09 digs-per-set average. The 19-kill single-match output that seniors Jasamine Pettie and Kristina Stewart have each produced is tied for sixth in the league, while junior Michelle Harrington's eight-block outing against Montana State is tied for fifth. The 67 kills Air Force produced against Kent State is fifth, while the 81-dig match against Montana State is the fourth-best single-match performance to date.
