Air Force Academy
Wyoming
Air Force Drops 3-0 Match to Wyoming
10/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 8, 2015
LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Air Force volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to Wyoming this evening (Oct. 8) in Laramie. The Falcons, who fell to 8-11 on the year (1-3 Mountain West), was swept by the host Cowgirls in 25-15, 25-23, 25-21 sets at the UniWyo Sports Complex.
Senior Akokwe Clement paced all players with 16 kills, while classmate Taylor Parker tallied six kills on 12 attempts (no errors) for a team-best .500 average. Parker also registered a team-leading six blocks, including one solo stop, while Clement was one of two Falcons to account for a service ace (senior Rachael Bradley Powers had the other). Freshman Sarah Hellman tallied 19 assists, while senior Rebecca Bates recorded a match-high 14 digs.
Despite an early kill from Clement, the Falcons found themselves trailing the Cowgirls 4-1. Parker put down a kill to stop the Cowgirls' run, while a kill from senior Maggie Sherrill kept Air Force within two (6-4). The Falcons registered back-to-back scores off of a kill from freshman Elizabeth Pennington and a service ace from Bradley Powers, but Wyoming tallied four of the next five points to go up 13-8. Clement, sophomore Shelley Spires and senior Raquel Rosas combined for five kills, but the Cowgirls closed out the set on a 9-2 run for the 25-15 victory.
Pennington opened the second set with a kill, while Clement added another score that evened the game at two. A second kill by Clement, as well as a block by Spires and Parker gave the Falcons a 4-3 lead, while kills from Sherrill evened the set at five and again at six. The Cowgirls scored five of the next six points, but Air Force responded with five of the next seven to pull within one. Clement added a pair of scores during the run, while Parker put down a solo block and teamed up with Sherrill for a stop on the ensuing play. Wyoming extended its lead to four (18-14), before Air Force recorded kills from Rosas, Pennington, Clement and Parker (20-18). Clement put down another pair of scores and three straight points by the Falcons (Hellman kill, Sherrill kill, Clement ace) held the Cowgirls at set point and brought Air Force within one (24-23), but Wyoming claimed the final point for the narrow 25-23 win.
A pair of kills from Clement, as well as a score from Parker tied the third set at three, while a block from Sherrill and Parker gave Air Force its first lead of the set (5-4). Two kills from Spires gave the Falcons a two-point advantage (8-6), but Wyoming scored six of the next eight to take a 12-10 lead. The Falcons retook the lead following two kills from Clement and another Sherrill/Parker block (14-13). Wyoming used a 6-1 run to retake the advantage (19-15), before Spires stopped their run with a pair of kills. Kills from Clement and Parker, as well as another Sherrill/Parker block held the Cowgirls at match-point for three points, before Wyoming earned the deciding point to complete the sweep with a 25-21 win.
"We had a couple players that played well, but we need more players to play well," head coach Matt McShane said. "Akokwe played well ... she hit well and passed better than she's been passing. But, we need more people to make good plays. We had a lot of balls that just ended up dropping or we gave them free balls because we didn't do very good things on the first and second contact. We need to take care of that."
Air Force returns to action on Saturday (Oct. 10), when it travels to 21st-ranked Colorado State.
