Air Force Academy
Navy
Air Force Drops Midweek Contest to Navy
8/30/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Air Force volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to service academy rival Navy on Wednesday, Aug. 30, at Alumni Hall in Annapolis. The 18-25, 25-23, 13-25, 26-28 contest loss snapped the Falcons' four-match win streak over the Mids and moved Air Force to 12-2 in the all-time series.
Denise Ssozi recorded the first 20-kill match of her career, as she collected a match-best 23 kills. The sophomore, who hit .263 in the match (23-8-57), combined with junior Abigail Miksch (11) for 35 of the team's 54 kills. Freshman Kathleen Medill led the Falcons with three blocks (one solo, two assisted), while juniors Sarah Hellman and Shanleigh Conlan posted team-leading marks in digs (14) and assists (47). Conlan, freshman Jordan Daniels and senior Piper Heineck rounded out the Falcons' stat leaders, as they each registered a service ace.
The match opened with back-and-forth action, before Miksch and Ssozi put down kills that gave the Falcons a 10-8 advantage. The Mids tallied five of the next six points, before Ssozi (two) and junior Lauren Heldt (one) helped Air Force go on a 5-1 run that ended with a two-point advantage (17-15). Miksch registered another kill, but Navy scored 10 of the final 11 points for the 25-18 victory.
Heldt scored the opening point of the second set, while four kills from Ssozi, one from freshman Brynn Sulte and a service ace from Daniels helped Air Force roll double up Navy by an 8-4 margin. The Mids evened the set at 10, before Sulte (kill) and Conlan (ace) helped Air Force retake the lead by a 15-11 margin. After the Mids tied the set at 17, Heineck and Ssozi put down back-to-back scores to take the two-point lead (19-17). The teams traded the next six points, before Ssozi (two), Sulte (one) and Miksch (one) put down kills that secured the Falcons a 25-23 victory.
Navy took a fast 5-1 lead in the third set and extended their advantage to 16-7. A pair of Navy errors and kills from Ssozi and Sulte put Air Force in double figures, but the Mids took the set by a 25-13 margin.
Miksch opened the fourth set with a kill and assisted block, while a solo block from Medill gave Air Force a 5-0 lead to start the fourth set. Navy scored the next three, but scores from Miksch (8-3), Heldt (9-4), Heineck (10-5) and Ssozi (11-6) helped Air Force maintain its five-point lead. The Mids pulled within one (13-12), before Heldt stopped their run with a pair of kills. Navy evened the set at 17 and took the lead on the ensuing play (17-18), before the Falcons retook the lead (19-18) following a kill from Ssozi and another block from Medill and Miksch. After evening the score at 20, the Mids took four of the next six points to reach match-point. Kills from Ssozi evened the score at 24 and again at 25, while Heineck and Conlan teamed up for a block that gave Air Force the 26-25 advantage. Navy was able to claim the final three points to win the 28-26 set and secure the match.
The Falcons continue on the East Coast later this week, when they face Army West Point, Columbia and The Citadel at the Service Academy Challenge on Sept. 1-2.
