Air Force Academy
Denver
Air Force Falls to Denver in Straight Sets
9/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Clement paced all players with 12 kills, while Parker added 10 with a match-best .500 performance (10k-2e-16a). Parker, who opened the match with a kill, tallied three straight set-saving points in the in the final minutes of the opening set - the Falcons' first plus-25 game of the year - by equalizing the score at each point between 24-26.
Senior Hillary Keltner added 36 assists on the night, while five different Falcons recorded a service ace in the match, including senior Kristen Holt, who tallied the first of her career. Clement, senior Emma Dridge, junior Rachael Bradley Powers and classmate Rebecca Bates added the remaining four. Defensively, Holt assisted on a team-best three blocks, while Bates led the squad with 15 digs.
"I thought we fought hard," head coach Matt McShane said after the match. "Denver is a very, very good team and for three-quarters of the match we were competitive with them and playing them head-to-head. The first game was a point difference, but (in the second game) we ran into a slump halfway through. Really, in the third, we were ahead most of the game, but then just a few mistakes cost us the game. We need to figure out a way to win games. We are definitely skilled enough ... we absolutely have the desire, the attitude (to win), but we need to get over the hump and get some wins here. This team deserves to win, we are good enough to win, we just need to do it."
The Falcons close out the non-conference portion of their season this weekend, when it travels to Lubbock, Texas, for the Lone Star Showdown. Air Force opens the two-day tournament with a 10:00 a.m. (CT) rematch with Weber State.
