Air Force Concludes 2008 Season with Two Road Matches
11/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 18, 2008
The Air Force volleyball team wraps up the 2008 season this weekend with a pair of Mountain West Conference road matches. The Falcons will travel to San Diego, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 20, and face San Diego State at 6 p.m. Air Force will then head to Las Vegas, Nev., to compete against UNLV on Saturday, Nov. 22, in a 1 p.m. match.
Weekly Notes 12: at San Diego State; at UNLV 
OPPONENT QUICK HITS
San Diego State is 8-17 overall and 5-10 in conference action, while UNLV is 15-13 and 8-7. Both programs were at Colorado State and Wyoming over the weekend. The Aztecs were swept by CSU and fell 3-1 to Wyoming, while the Rebels split the weekend with the Cowgirls (W, 3-2) and Rams (L, 3-0). UNLV leads the conference in digs (15.96 per set), while senior Camille Cunningham tops the individual list with 4.99 a set.
HISTORY 101
The Falcons are 1-23 all-time against San Diego State and 2-23 against UNLV. Air Force's last victory over UNLV and its only win over SDSU happened in back-to-back matches during the 1999 season. Air Force was swept during its first meetings with both programs this year.
GET OUT THE RED PEN
In her first year as the Falcons' libero, freshman Victoria Martinez has vaulted into the program's Division I single-season digs list. With 278 digs, Martinez is currently ranked fourth and just 10 shy of third. In the past eight matches, Martinez went from 11th to fourth, collecting digs at a 2.98 clip. To date, it is the most single-season digs by an Air Force player since the 1999 season.
STILWELL EARNS ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONORS
Sophomore Nichole Stilwell was named to the ESPN The Magazine University Division Academic All-District VII third-team on Nov. 6. Holding a 3.61 grade-point-average, the mathematics major is the fifth Air Force volleyball player to earn academic all-district honors from CoSIDA.
BLOCKING IT OUT
With two assisted blocks against New Mexico on Nov. 13, junior Michelle Harrington moved into eighth on the program's NCAA Division I single-season list. Harrington, who has currently assisted on 62 stops this season, is just three such blocks away from moving into the top-three. And with two solo blocks against TCU on Nov. 15, Harrington entered that category in 10th, tying the 17 she accounted for last year.
A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND A LITTLE BIT OF THAT
Junior Michelle Harrington did a little bit of everything during the Falcons' match against TCU on Nov. 15. Harrington led the Falcons in kills and hitting percentage, as she connected on 11 of 23 attempts with just one error for a .435 hitting average. She also paced the Falcons with a pair of service aces and a pair of solo blocks. It is the second time this season that Harrington has led Air Force in all four categories.
MORE HARRINGTON HITS
The 11 kills Harrington accounted for on Nov. 15 are tied for the third-highest total by the Falcons during any conference match this season. That total trails only the team-leading 13 that Harrington recorded in a four-set match against Wyoming and the 12 that Jasamine Pettie (San Diego State) and Katie Batchelder (Utah) recorded in three-set matches.
HEY HELLMANN!
Sophomore Jessica Hellmann started her 17th match on Nov. 15 against TCU and accounted for 23 assists. That total is tied for the best single-match output in conference action since Sept. 20.
NOW SERVING...
Junior Michelle Harrington currently leads the Falcons with 13 service aces. Sophomore Stephanie Stanford is second with 11 aces, while classmate Kelly Spencer has accounted for 10. This trio has accounted for 34 of the team's 70 aces. Sophomore Jessica Hellmann and freshman Victoria Martinez are close to the 10-ace plateau, as each has nine.
HELPING HANDS
Sophomore Jessica Hellmann has accounted for 482 of the team's 915 assists. Her 6.18 assist-per-set average is ranked eighth in the Mountain West Conference.
MORE NEWS FROM THE LEAGUE
Freshman Victoria Martinez is ranked ninth in the league with a 2.93 digs-per-set average.
