Air Force Academy
Utah
Falcons Fall in Three to Utah
10/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 25, 2008
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - The Air Force volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to Utah in Mountain West Conference action on Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Academy's Clune Arena. Junior Katie Batchelder led the field with 12 kills, but hitting errors once against plagued the Falcons, who fell in straight 25-16, 25-17, 25-21 sets.
With 12 digs, freshman Victoria Martinez moved into sixth-place on the Falcons' single-season Division I digs list (247 total). Only a week after entering the record book, Martinez has advanced four spots in the past two matches. Her 12 digs were the most of any player on either side of the net.
Batchelder's 12 kills led both teams, while classmate Michelle Harrington and sophomore Nichole Stilwell added totals of nine and eight, respectively. Harrington, who led the team with a .273 attack percentage, added two solo blocks to her stat line. With her 12 solo stops on the season, Harrington is just five such blocks shy of entering the program's Division I records and matching the 17 she posted last season. Stilwell also posted a pair of solo stops tonight.
Sophomore Stephanie Stanford, who started her seventh match of the season, led the team with 22 assists - Air Force's best single-match output since Oct. 2. She also posted the team's second-highest dig total of the night, with eight, and accounted for one of the Falcons' five service aces. Batchelder, Harrington, sophomore Jessica Hellmann and freshman Jasmine Sapp recorded the others.
Air Force, which greatly improved their point production from the first meeting this season with the Utes, held the lead during the first half of the third set. The Falcons hit a match-best .159 in the final stanza, connecting on 13 of 44 attempts, while committing just six errors.
The Falcons head back out on the road next week for a pair of conference matches against local foes. Air Force will travel to Laramie, Wyo., on Thursday, Oct. 30, to face the Cowgirls of Wyoming. The match will be broadcast live on The Mtn - Mountain West Sports Network.
