Air Force Academy
San Jose State
Falcons Fall to San Jose State in Straight Sets
10/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 1, 2015
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The Air Force volleyball team was swept by San Jose State this evening (Oct. 1) in its first road match of the Mountain West season. The Falcons, who dropped 23-25, 23-25, 17-25 sets to the host Spartans, fell to 8-10 on the season and 1-2 in conference play.
Seniors Akokwe Clement and Maggie Sherrill paced the team offensively, as the pair each recorded nine kills. Sherrill hit at a team-leading clip of .333, as she registered her nine scores on 24 attempts, while committing just one error. Classmate Rebecca Bates posted a pair of service aces and led the team in digs with 11, while fellow senior Raquel Rosas collected a team-best five blocks (one solo, four assisted). Freshman Sarah Hellman rounded out the Falcons' list of stat leaders, as she accounted for 19 assists.
Senior Taylor Parker and freshman Elizabeth Pennington put down kills, but the Falcons found themselves down 10-4 to start the match. Rosas and Pennington teamed up for a block, but the Spartans doubled Air Force up at the 14-7 mark. Clement, Sherrill, and sophomore Shelley Spires added kills to the Falcons' score, while a second kill by Spires sparked a 5-0 Air Force run that cut the team's deficit to one (18-17). Rosas and Spires combined for a pair of blocks during the run, while teaming up with Pennington for a triple block. San Jose State responded with six of the next seven points (24-18) to reach set point, but four SJSU errors and a kill by Clement brought Air Force back within one (24-23), before the Spartans claimed the final point to take the set 25-23.
A pair of kills from Sherrill got the Falcons off to a quick 3-1 start. Parker and Pennington added scores, but the Spartans took the lead at the 9-8 mark. A solo stop by Rosas stopped San Jose State's run, while kills from Clement and Sherrill, as well as a service ace from Bates, gave the lead back to the Falcons (13-10). Spires, Sherrill and Clement each recorded a pair of scores to give the Falcons a 22-19 advantage, but San Jose State scored six of the final seven points for another 25-23 victory.
Spires tallied the opening point of the third set, while Clement added a pair to five the Falcons a 5-4 advantage. The Spartans took the lead, but Pennington put down a pair of tallies that helped Air Force equalize the set at eight. Sherrill and Clement added kills, but San Jose State secured its advantage with a 9-2 run. Freshman Abigail Miksch registered a kill and teamed up with Parker for a block, while Sherrill put down another pair of kill. The Spartans tallied four of the final five points to complete the sweep with a 25-17 set win.
"San Jose State played very well," head coach Matt McShane said. "They out-served and out-passed us, but beyond that ... they played harder than we did. It's always hard to play well on the road, but I have to give them a lot of credit. They played very, very well and had a couple people that did very good things. I'm disappointed with our serving, with our passing. If we had won that battle, I think the outcome would've been different."
Air Force is off from competition until next Thursday (Oct. 8), when it travels to Wyoming to face the 25th-ranked Cowgirls at 6:30 p.m.
