Falcons Travel to East Coast for Four Matches
9/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Matt McShane looks forward to Navy and Army West Point
The Air Force volleyball team heads to the East Coast this week for four matches, including two against its service academy foes. The Falcons will visit Navy on Wednesday, Sept. 9, before facing Army West Point, California and Harvard at the Service Academy Challenge over the Sept. 11-12 weekend.
Match Notes 03: at Navy, at Service Academy Challenge 
FOLLOW ALONG FROM HOME
Live stats and video will be available for Air Force's match at Navy on Sept. 9, via NavySports.com.
COMPLETE SCHEDULE
Sept 11: California vs Harvard -- 10:00 a.m.
Sept 11: Air Force vs Army West Point -- 12:00 p.m.
Sept 11: Air Force vs Harvard -- 4:30 p.m.
Sept 11: Army West Point vs California -- 6:30 p.m.
Sept 12: Air Force vs California -- 11:00 a.m.
Sept 12: Harvard vs Army West Point -- 1:00 p.m.
ABOUT THE SERVICE ACADEMY CHALLENGE
There will be no live stats or video for any match and, due to security restrictions at the Pentagon and Fort Myers, all spectators have already been selected and screened.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Navy, which is 2-4 on the year, is coming off of a 2-1 weekend at the Akron Invitational (0-3 loss to Akron, 3-1 victories over Canisius and Saint Francis, Pennsylvania), while Army swept through its weekend opponents (3-0 wins over Iona and Cornell, 3-2 win over William & Mary) to claim the Black Knights Invitational and improve to 4-2 overall (Army will host Marist prior to the Service Academy Challenge). Harvard opened its season last weekend with a 1-2 slate at its own tournament (3-0 win over Rutgers, 0-3 losses to Illinois State and Long Beach State), while California went 1-2 at the Kansas State Invitational (3-2 win over UNLV, 1-3 loss to Kansas State, 0-3 loss to Wisconsin Green Bay) to enter the weekend with a 3-3 overall mark.
SERIES HISTORY
Air Force holds winning records over both of its service academy opponents, maintaining an 11-1 record over Navy and a 9-6 advantage over Army. The Falcons last faced both squads in 2013, defeating the Midshipmen in five sets at Annapolis and falling to the Black Knights in five at the Service Academy Challenge. Air Force has never faced Harvard and is 0-1 against California, dropping a tough 3-2 contest to the Bears at the Academy last season.
RECORD BOOK WATCH
With 41 kills at the Pioneer Classic, Akokwe Clement moved from fourth to third on the program's Division I list for career kills (1109 total), while Raquel Rosas used a strong weekend at the net to jump into the #6 position for DI assisted blocks (168) and the #7 spot for total blocks (189).
THE COUNTDOWN IS ON...
Rebecca Bates collected 36 digs over the Sept 4-5 weekend and is now just seven away from becoming only the second player in Air Force's Division I history to reach the 1000-dig mark.
CLEMENT RECORDS FOURTH 20-KILL MATCH
Akokwe Clement registered the fourth 20-kill match of her career on Sept. 5, as she accounted for a match-leading 21 strikes against Denver. Clement, who finished the weekend with 41 kills, also reached the 20-kill plateau during three matches last season (24 against SIU-Edwardsville, 20 at San Jose State, 20 against UNLV).
WHAT'S ON DECK
Air Force closes out the non-conference slate next weekend, when it co-hosts the Omni Invitational with the University of Colorado. The Falcons will host Montana State on Thursday, Sept. 17, before taking on Weber State and George Mason at the Academy's Cadet East Gym on Friday, Sept. 18. Air Force will then travel to Boulder on Sunday, Sept. 20, to face Colorado on the Pac-12 Network.
