Air Force Academy
San Diego State
Air Force Swept By San Diego State
10/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 16, 2009
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Air Force volleyball team was swept by San Diego State in Mountain West Conference action on Friday, Oct. 16, in San Diego, Calif. Playing in their only match of the week, the Falcons fell in consecutive 25-19, 25-12, 25-17 scores to the host Aztecs. SDSU improved to 8-10 on the season, while the Falcons fell to 8-12.
Air Force scored the first three points of the match, as freshman Grace Konstanzer tallied a service ace and juniors Caroline Kurtz and Jessica Hellmann. San Diego State used a 8-1 run to take the 9-4 advantage. Kurtz and Konstanzer added kills, but the Aztecs doubled up the Falcons by a 14-7 margin. Senior Michelle Harrington collected her first kill of the set, as Air Force crossed the 10-point plateau. Kurtz and classmate Nichole Stilwell added kills, while freshman Maiya Perich claimed a service ace. With San Diego State just one point from a set-win, Air Force rattled off four straight points from Konstanzer, Harrington and Kurtz, but the Aztecs won 25-19.
San Diego State took the first two points of the second set, but a Konstanzer kill and a block from Harrington and Hellmann evened the score at two. The Falcons quickly found themselves at a 15-7 disadvantage. Junior Julia Hansen tallied a kill, while Stilwell posted her first service ace. Harrington tallied the Falcons' final three points, as Air Force fell by a 25-12 margin.
Hansen tallied a kill for the first point of the third set, but Air Force quickly found itself in an 8-3 hole. Stilwell added a score and freshman Julianne Haun recorded the first kill of her young collegiate career. Kills by Kurtz and Harrington, as well as a pair of SDSU errors, helped Air Force pull within two at 11-9. Air Force stayed within two, until Kurtz and Stilwell posted back-to-back kills and junior Kelly Spencer added a service ace to climb within one at 16-15. Despite kills from Haun and Kurtz, the Aztecs closed out the set on a 9-2 run to take the set by a 25-17 score.
Harrington led the Falcons with nine kills and a .333 hitting percentage, as she connected on nine of 21 attempts, while committing just two errors. Harrington also added two solo blocks, as well as an assisted stop, to lead the team in that category. Kurtz added eight kills and tied with Konstanzer for a team-best six digs. The duo was backed up by Spencer and Perich, as they each accounted for five digs. Konstanzer collected a pair of aces, while Stilwell, Perich and Spencer each added one. Hellmann assisted on 27 of the team's 30 total kills, while adding a pair of digs.
The Falcons wrap up non-conference action on Wednesday, Oct. 21, when they host Northern Colorado in a midweek matchup.
