Air Force Academy
Utah State
Falcons' Unbeaten Streak Comes to an End with 3-2 Loss to Utah State
10/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - The Air Force volleyball team's conference-opening win streak came to an end this evening (Oct. 4) with a 3-2 loss to Utah State at the Academy. Although the Falcons have five attackers record double-digit kill totals, Air Force fell 23-25, 25-17, 25-27, 25-20, 12-15 to the visiting Aggies. The Falcons are now 9-9 on the year and 3-1 in Mountain West action.
Freshman Shelley Spires tallied 13 kills to lead five Falcons to double-digit kill totals. Juniors Maggie Sherrill and Taylor Parker each recorded 12, while senior Kristen Holt notched 11 and junior Akokwe Clement added 10. Holt also hit at a team-best clip of .476 (11k-1e-21a), while Parker and Spires each accounted for five total blocks (one solo, four assisted for each) to help the team to a season-high 19 stops (three solo, 16 assisted).
Senior Hillary Keltner broke the 50-assist plateau for the fourth time in five matches with 53 helpers, while junior Rebecca Bates accounted for two of the team's four service aces and a match-best 23 digs. Bates was one of three Falcons to reach the 10-dig mark, as junior Rachael Bradley Powers and senior Emma Dridge added 12 and 10, respectively.
Parker opened the match with a kill, but Utah State quickly took a 7-3 lead. A pair of kills from Spires, as well as individual scores from Holt, Clement and Sherrill helped the Falcons pull within two (10-8), before the Aggie extended its lead to five (18-13). Trailing 20-15, Air Force rolled off four straight points behind kills from Sherrill (two) and Keltner (one) to pull within one at the 20-19 mark. Parker put down kills that kept the Falcons within one (21-20) and evened the score at 22, but the Aggies scored three of the final four points to take the first set 25-23.
Three kills from Holt helped the Falcons to a fast 7-2 lead to start the second set, while Sherrill recorded a kill and solo block on back-to-back plays to extend Air Force's advantage to seven (10-3). Another score from Sherrill broke up a 6-1 run by the Aggies that cut the Falcons' margin to two (11-9), but Parker, Keltner, Holt and Spires recorded scores that helped Air Force slowly pull away. A service ace from Bates at the 22-17, sparked a quick run by the Falcons to close out the set (25-17) and even the match.
Scores from Clement and Holt broke up a 6-2 opening by Utah State in the third set. Spires accounted for the next three Air Force points to cut its deficit to two (7-5), before the Falcons took the lead with three straight blocks. Parker had a hand on all three stops, teaming up with Spires for two and recorded a solo stop, as Air Force took an 8-7 lead. Utah State scored the next two, but Spires stopped the run with her own solo block to tie the set at nine. The two teams traded points, as the Falcons earned kills from Spires (two), Holt, Parker and Sherrill. Another service ace from Bates tied the set at 22, while scores from Clement and Spires evened the scores at 24 and 25, respectively. Utah State earned the final two points to take a 27-25 win and go up 2-1 in the match.
Air Force scored the first four points of the fourth set, as kills from Clement bookended a score by Keltner. Holt added another kill, but Utah State scored five of the next six points to even the score at six. Again, the programs traded points, with Holt (7-6), Parker (8-7), Clement (12-11) and Spires (13-12) breaking ties. Spires added another score to snap a 15-all score and sparked a 6-0 run (21-15) that included two kills from Sherrill and a block from Keltner and Parker. Two blocks (Keltner/Holt; Spires/Holt) in the final three points gave Air Force a 25-20 victory and forced a fifth set.
The Falcons scored six of the first eight points, earning points from Parker (kill), Clement (kill) and Keltner (kill, ace). Holt and Spires each tallied a kill and teamed up for a block as Air Force extended its lead to five (9-4). Utah State responded, scoring five straight points to knot the set at nine. Sherrill and Keltner added scores, but the Aggies notched six of the final nine points to win the deciding set by a 15-12 score.
"Every loss is disappointing," head coach Matt McShane said. "We know that we could have one that match, especially at home. Coaches will tell you that you always learn more from losses than you do from wins, so we're going to go into practice on Monday and pay attention to the things we need to work on."
The Falcons head back out on the road next week, traveling to UNLV (Oct. 9) and San Diego State (Oct. 11) for Mountain West matches.
