Air Force Academy
The Citadel
Air Force Sweeps Saturday Matches in Fullerton
9/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2016
FULLERTON, Calif. – The Air Force volleyball team defeated Colgate (3-2) and The Citadel (3-1) on Saturday, Sept. 10, during the final day of competition at the Quality Inn-Placentia Fullerton Classic. The victory over The Citadel marks the Falcons' eighth win of the season, while its 8-2 record matches the best 10-match start to a season in Division I history.
In the day's first contest, the Falcons rallied from 0-2 down to defeat Colgate in five sets. After dropping the first two sets by matching 25-23 margins, Air Force claimed the final three sets 30-28, 25-23, 17-15.
Sophomore Elizabeth Pennington tallied a career-high 23 kills, while classmate Abigail Miksch notched 22. Junior Piper Heineck, who added 11 kills to the Falcons' total, collected a team-high four blocks, including a triple-block assist in the third set with sophomore Sarah Hellman and senior Savannah Banyai. Hellman matched her career-high of 54 assists, while fellow sophomore Shanleigh Conlan added four aces including the match winner. Junior Natalie Seitz tallied 25 digs – a tally just four shy of her personal-best – while Hellman and Banyai both added 11.
During its fifth five-set match of the year, Air Force set season-high marks in kills (72), attempts (195), assists (66), while posting the second-highest ace total of the year with nine. In addition, the 118 points tallied during the victory is the second-highest single-match point total in Academy history.
"It was a great effort," head coach Marc Swindle said. "Our outsides were strong and our serve-receive was the best we've had this year, so I'm really proud of our passers for coming back. Our staff kept everybody in it ... we hadn't seen (Colgate) play and didn't have much film, but we had a great strategy once we figured them out – It's a great win and 7-2 is a great start to the season."
In the nightcap, Air Force captured its second Saturday sweep of the season, as it defeated The Citadel in 25-16, 25-16, 20-25, 25-10 sets.
The Falcons led by Pennington (16) and Miksch (14), who combined for 30 of the team's 54 kills, and Heineck, who tallied six blocks (one solo, five assisted) and a .533 hitting percentage (8k-0e-15a). Conlan added another three service aces to her season total, as the Falcons registered nine aces for the second straight match. Hellman registered 42 assists and was one of four Falcons to account for double-digit dig figures. Seitz (16) and Banyai (15) paced the Falcons in digs, while Hellman and sophomore Julia Boswell each added 11.
The Falcons return to the Academy next week to close out the non-conference portion of their season against Northern Colorado (Sept. 15), Georgetown (Sept. 16) and Southern Utah (Sept. 17).
