Air Force Academy
Utah State
Falcons Swept on the Road by Utah State
10/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
LOGAN, Utah - The Air Force volleyball team dropped a 3-0 contest to Utah State this evening (Oct. 30) on the road in Logan, Utah. The Falcons suffered just their fourth sweep of the season, falling to the host Aggies in straight 25-18, 25-20, 25-20 sets.
Junior Akokwe Clement led all players with 12 kills, while freshman Shelley Spires added eight. Senior Hillary Keltner assisted on 32 of the team's 37 scores and tied for the team lead in digs (eight) with junior Rachael Bradley Powers, who added the team's lone service ace. Junior Raquel Rosas rounded out the team's statistical leaders with a pair of assisted blocks.
Junior Maggie Sherrill accounted for the Falcons' first point of the match and added another kill, but Utah State jumped out to a 6-2 advantage. Spires put down a pair of scores and Clement added another, but the Falcons' deficit increased to seven (13-6). Junior Taylor Parker stopped the Aggies' run with a kill, while Clement added three scores, including the first of which put the Falcons at the 10-point mark (18-10). Keltner, Rosas, Clement and Spires added kills, but Utah State took the opening set, 25-18.
Clement put down a kill and teamed up with Rosas on a block as Air Force tallied the first three points of the second set. The Aggies responded with the next four scores, before Spires stopped the run with a kill and evened the score at four. Another kill by Spires gave the Falcons the lead at 6-5. The Aggies scored eight of the next nine points to go up 13-7, before a kill from Parker stopped the run with a kill. Air Force pulled within two (14-12) following a Keltner/Rosas block and kills from Sherrill and Clement. Kills by Rosas (15-13), Clement (16-14), Spires (17-15) and Parker (18-16) kept the Falcons within two, but Utah State used a 4-0 run to pull away at 22-16. Backed by a kill by Rosas and an ace from Bradley Powers, the Falcons recorded their own 4-0 run to pull back within two (22-20), but the Aggies scored the final three points to take the set by a 25-20 margin.
A solo block by Sherrill highlighted a 3-0 set-opening run by the Falcons, but Utah State used their own short run to even the score at three. An attacking error by the Aggies gave the Falcons back the lead (5-4) and the teams traded points, while Air Force earning scores from Sherrill (5-4) and Clement (6-5). Utah State scored the next three points, but kills from Rosas and Parker pulled the Falcons within one (9-8). Trailing 11-8, Air Force recorded kills from Spires, Sherrill, Parker and Clement to take a 13-12 advantage, but the Aggies again responded with six of the next eight points to take a 18-15 lead. Spires and Parker combined for kills to bring the Falcons back within two (19-17), but the Aggies completed the match sweep with a 25-20 victory.
Air Force heads to Boise, Idaho, on Saturday, Nov. 1, to face Boise State at 2:00 p.m.
