Air Force Closes Out Season at New Mexico
11/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Air Force volleyball team concludes the 2014 season this week, when it travels to Albuquerque to face travel-partner New Mexico on Tuesday, Nov. 25. The Mountain West contest, slated to begin at 7:00 p.m., is the only meeting of the season between the two schools.
OPPONENT PREVIEW: NEW MEXICO
New Mexico enters the final weekend of play with an 18-12 overall record, which includes a 10-7 mark in Mountain West play. The Lobos only had one match last week, dropping a 3-2 contest to Fresno State on the road. New Mexico leads the league in digs (15.01) and ranked second in blocks (3.08). Individually, Chantale Riddle is ranked first in points (4.59) and second in kills (3.81). This is the only meeting of the year between New Mexico and Air Force, with the Lobos holding a 31-3 all-time advantage over the Falcons.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Falcons finished the 2014 season with a 9-8 record at the Academy, marking just the third time since joining Division I in 1996 that Air Force has posted a winning record at home. The nine wins are the most for an Air Force team since 1999, when that squad won 11 at Cadet East Gym (11-3).
ALL ABOUT THE MILESTONES
In addition to taking over the Academy's DI record for assists in a single season on Nov. 19, Hillary Keltner surpassed two massive milestones in her final home match at the Cadet East Gym. With 49 assists, she became the first Division I player to tally 4000 kills in a career - and just the third all time - while using 13 digs to become only the third Air Force DI player to break the 900-dig plateau. Plus, Akokwe Clement accounted for 15 kills against the Bulldogs to become just the fourth DI player to record 1000 kills.
FALCONS SET TWO DI BLOCKING RECORDS
Air Force broke two Division I single-match records during its home finale on Nov. 22, including assisted blocks (34) and total blocks (35). All eight of the Falcons' front row players recorded at least two blocks, as the squad topped previous marks (31 assisted, 33 total) that had stood since a match against Northern Colorado in 2004. Taylor Parker paced the team with eight blocks, while Raquel Rosas (six), Hillary Keltner (five), Kristen Holt (four), Shelley Spires (four), Akokwe Clement (three), Maggie Sherrill (three) and Victoria Foster (two) also contributed to the Falcons' record-setting night.
STOP!
The Falcons' record-setting blocking performance on Nov. 22 also accounted for several changes to the program's individual record book. Akokwe Clement debuted in 10th on the Academy's DI list for career assisted blocks, joining Raquel Rosas (eighth) and Taylor Parker (ninth) on the top 10. Parker, who debuted on the program's single-season DI list for total blocks (10th) during that match, also vaulted into second on the single-season assisted blocks list, while Rosas jumped into fourth.
BACK ROW ATTACK
All three of the Falcons' full-time defensive specialists have now recorded at least one kill this season, as Rachael Bradley Powers notched a score against Fresno State on Nov. 19. In addition to the kills recorded by Bradley Powers, Rebecca Bates (vs California, at San Jose State) and Emma Dridge (vs California), part-time DS, Savannah Banyai has also accounted for a pair of kills (vs Marist, vs Weber State).
WHAT'S ON DECK
The 2014 season is complete.
