Air Force Academy
UNLV
Air Force Claims First Set Win in Conference Action
11/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 10, 2011
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - With a thrilling 28-26 win over UNLV in the third set, the Air Force volleyball team snapped a 50-set losing streak this evening at the Academy's East Gym. The Falcons, who ultimately fell to the Rebels 3-1 (16-25, 22-25, 28-26, 17-25), recorded three aces and five blocks during the third set and recorded just the second set win over UNLV since 2005.
"It was awesome to get that win," head coach Matt McShane said. "There were things they did brilliant tonight and at times it was the best we've played."
Junior Maiya Perich collected a team-high 14 digs to become the program's Division I leader for digs in a single season with 368 (an additional release will follow regarding Perich's record), while sophomore Cami Richan collected a team-high 14 kills, two aces, seven digs and three solo blocks. Freshman Hillary Keltner tallied 24 assists, while classmate Emma Dridge (two), sophomore Claire Bieber (one) and Perich (one) added to the Falcons' service ace total.
UNLV scored the first three points of the match, but Air Force quickly evened the score with points from freshman Ayesha Hein (kill), Bieber (kill) and Dridge (ace). UNLV took the next point, but freshman Kristen Holt evened it up again. Kills from Richan and Holt, as well as Richan's first ace, helped Air Force take an 8-6 lead. Following a kill by Holt that tied the set at nine, UNLV took the go-ahead point and, despite scores from freshman Victoria Foster and Richan, the Rebels claimed the first set 25-16.
Air Force took the first two points of the second set, before the two teams traded errors toward a 4-4 tie. UNLV took the next three points to go up 7-4, but three kills from Richan, including a pair of back-to-back strikes, helped the Falcons to tie the set at eight and take a two-point advantage (10-8). UNLV evened the score at 10, but three straight errors by the Rebels gave Air Force at 13-10 lead. With Perich at the serving line, Air Force went up 16-11. Freshman Lizzy Carpenter, Foster and Richan added kills, while maintaining an advantage, including a three-point lead at the 21-18 mark. UNLV tied the score at 21 and scored four of the next five points for the 25-21 win.
The Falcons tallied the first three points of the third set and amassed a 5-1 lead, before UNLV used five Air Force attacking errors to take a 7-5 advantage. Keltner put down a kill to snap the Rebels' 6-0 run, but the visitors went up 13-8. Dridge's second ace (13-11), a kill from Hein (15-13) and another score from Richan (18-16) helped Air Force stay within two. Richan added an ace to cut the deficit to one and Air Force evened the score at 18 on an attacking error by UNLV. A kill from Carpenter gave the Falcons the lead (19-18), while back-to-back kills from freshman Megan Clary increased the advantage to 21-18. A kill from Holt pushed the score to 22-20, but UNLV came back to tie the set at 22. The Rebels reached set point at 24-23, but Clary collected another kill to even the set. UNLV earned set point on two more occasions (25-24, 26-25), but Air Force responded both times to match the score. The Falcons took the 27-26 lead off of Bieber's ace, while a solo block by Richan secured Air Force the 28-26 victory.
That set win is the Falcons' first since defeating South Carolina Upstate 3-1 on Sept. 10.
The Falcons found themselves trailing 3-0 to start the fourth set, but kills from Holt and Hein helped Air Force take a 4-3 lead. UNLV responded with four straight points (7-4) and eventually doubled up the Falcons at 14-7. Perich stopped the Rebels' run with an ace and sparked the Falcons to four of the next six points. Carpenter and Foster posted back-to-back scores, while Hein added another kill. Keltner, Richan and Holt added kills, while Richan collected her team-leading third solo block of the night, but UNLV took the final set by a 25-17 margin.
"Cami played remarkably tonight," McShane continued. "She's learning that teams are focusing on her, sending people to block her and serving her nearly every play. But, she's playing great. Ayesha's hitting good, too. We just need to get a couple more hitters and we've got to get rid of the little mistakes, the unforced errors."
Air Force closes out the home portion of the season on Saturday, Nov. 12, against San Diego State. The match is slated for 5 p.m.
