Air Force Close Out Tournament Season at Aggie Invitational
9/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 13, 2011
The Air Force volleyball team closes out the tournament season with the first of three trips to California this season. Over the Sept. 16-17 weekend, the Falcons will travel to Davis, Calif., to compete at the 2011 Aggie Invitational. Air Force opens the tournament at 4:30 p.m. (PST) on Friday, Sept. 16, against Seattle, before taking on UC Davis (12:30 p.m.) and Hofstra (4:30 p.m.) on Saturday, Sept. 17.
Match Notes 04: at Aggie Invitational 
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
All matches will be played at The Pavilion on the campus of UC Davis. They will also have live stats for all six matches. Tickets are $7 adults and $ children. A complete schedule of matches is listed below.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
4:30 p.m.: Air Force vs. Seattle
7 p.m.: UC Davis vs. Hofstra
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
10:00 a.m.: Seattle vs. Hofstra
12:00 p.m.: Air Force vs. UC Davis
4:30 p.m.: Hofstra vs. Air Force
7:00 p.m.: UC Davis vs. Seattle
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
All three of Air Force's opponents will play mid-week matches before the Aggie Invitational. Seattle is currently 1-10 on the season and will host Gonzaga on Wednesday night. UC Davis is 10-1 and will travel to Sacramento State on Tuesday evening, while Hofstra is 7-4 and will compete at Seton Hall on Tuesday.
SERIES HISTORY
Air Force holds a 2-1 lead against Hofstra, including a 3-1 victory last season. The Falcons have never defeated UC Davis in five tries and will be facing Seattle for the first time in program history.
CALIFORNIA BOUND
The Aggie Invitational will mark the first of three trips to California for the Falcons in 2011. After Air Force's Sept. 16-17 trip to Davis, the Falcons return to face Mountain West opponent San Diego State on Oct. 13, and close out the season with non-conference matches at Pepperdine (Nov. 22) and Cal State Northridge (Nov. 25).
YOU LOOK FAMILIAR
Ayesha Hein will face her former team on Sept. 17, when Air Force takes the court with Hofstra. Hein was a member of the Pride in 2010, playing in 126 sets and accounting for 153 kills, 24 service aces, 37 assists, 177 digs and 86 total blocks.
FLYING ACES
After the two weeks of action, Air Force leads the Mountain West with 1.71 service aces per set, while Ayesha Hein (sixth, 0.34) and Emma Dridge (10th, 0.29) are ranked among the conference's top 10 in service ace production. In addition, Josalynn Wise and Hein are tied for first in the league with their respective four-ace outings against Northern Colorado and Bowling Green.
CONFERENCE STANDINGS
In addition to the Falcons' standings in ace production, Air Force players are listed among the league's top 10 in other categories. Maiya Perich is ranked fourth with 4.51 digs per set, while Hillary Keltner is ranked eighth with 7.20 assists per set. Ayesha Hein is ranked fifth in hitting percentage (.360) and sixth in both kills (3.17 per set) and points (3.87 per set), while Cami Richan is ranked eighth in points per set (3.34) and ninth in kills per set (3.03).
MORE ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Ayesha Hein was named to the all-tournament team of the Falcon Invitational - marking the third straight week that the freshman has earned all-tourney honors. Over three matches, she paced the Falcons in kills against South Carolina Upstate (19) and Northern Arizona (10), while hitting a team-leading .571 (19K-3e-28a) against the Spartans and a .533 (9k-1e-15a) against Utah Valley. She also added three service aces, six digs and seven total blocks.
COMING TOGETHER
Against South Carolina Upstate, the Falcons hit a season-best .293, connecting on 61 of 140 attempts with 20 errors. Highlighting the outing was a .423 performance in the second set (16k-5e-26a), while Air Force hit over .300 in all three of its winning sets (.378 in the first, .306 in the fourth). Ayesha Hein hit a team-leading .571, connecting on 19 of 28 attempts, while committing just three errors, while Hillary Keltner (.500, 2k-0e-4a), Kristen Holt (.333, 5k-2e-9a), Lizzy Carpenter (.286, 4k-2e-7a) and Cami Richan (.256, 16k-5e-43a) all hit above a .250 clip.
IT'S OFFICIAL...
Air Force is the youngest team in the country, as 93.7% of its roster is made up of freshmen and sophomores. The Falcons edged out Buffalo (92.8%), as those were the only two programs in the nation to feature a roster with at least 83% of its team in either their first or second-year of competition.
FALCONS ON FACEBOOK
The Air Force volleyball team is on Facebook! Just type "Air Force Falcons Volleyball" in the search box and become a fan today for the most up-to-date information on the volleyball program.
WHAT'S ON DECK
Air Force opens the Mountain West season on Thursday, Sept. 22, when it travels to Fort Collins, Colo., to take on nationally-ranked Colorado State at 7 p.m. The Falcons will also travel to Wyoming that weekend for a 1 p.m., showdown on Saturday, Sept. 24.
