Air Force Academy
UT Arlington
Air Force Drops Two Matches at Pioneer Classic
9/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
DENVER, Colo. – Despite a total of 33 kills from senior Akokwe Clement, the Air Force volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on Saturday, Sept. 5, during the final day of competition at the Pioneer Classic. Air Force fell to tournament host Denver in four sets (17-25, 25-23, 23-25, 17-25) during the afternoon contest, before being swept by UT Arlington (18-25, 18-25, 19-25) in the nightcap.
Clement registered a season-high 21 kills to lead all players in the opening match with Denver. Senior Taylor Parker, who hit at a match-best clip of .562, also recorded a double-digit kill total, as she tallied 10 kills on 16 attempts with just one error. Freshman Elizabeth Pennington and sophomore Shelley Spires both added nine kills and hit over .200 for the match, while freshmen setters Sarah Hellman and Shanleigh Conlan tallied 26 and 24 assists, respectively, to combine for 50 of the team's 53 helpers.
In addition to leading the squad in kills, Clement also paced Air Force from the service line, recording a career-high matching three aces. The Falcons accounted for five total aces, as classmate Rebecca Bates served up a pair. Bates and fellow senior Raquel Rosas paced Air Force, defensively, as Bates accounted for 14 digs and Rosas recorded five blocks (all assisted).
Air Force out-killed Denver by two (55-53), while also holding advantages in aces (5-1) and digs (59-57).
Clement continued her scoring streak in the second match against UT Arlington, as she recorded 12 kills and was the only player on either team to post a double-digit kill tally. The senior also paced the Falcons in digs (nine) and service aces (two).
Hellman led the Falcons with 18 assists, while Pennington, who hit .500 in the match with six kills on 10 attempts with just one error, collected a team-high two blocks, including one solo stop.
"We've played a lot of tough teams," head coach Matt McShane said after the second match. "I don't think our record indicates how good we are. But, our setters need to step up and, really, everyone on the team needs to improve a little bit on their skill. They all need to have one skill that they take pride in and excel in – at least – that one skill. Once we do that, we'll start winning more matches."
Air Force returns to action on Wednesday, Sept. 9, when it travels to Annapolis, Md., to face Navy at 7:00 p.m. (ET). The Falcons will also take on Army, California and Harvard at the Service Academy Challenge on Sept. 11-12 in Arlington, Va.
