Air Force Falls to League-Leading Colorado State

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force volleyball team dropped a 3-0 contest to league-leading Colorado State this evening (Nov. 1), during its return to the Academy's Cadet East Gym. The Falcons, who have been on the road for the past two weeks, fell in straight 25-14, 25-21, 29-27 sets to the visiting Rams.

Senior Abigail Miksch paced the Falcons with 10 kills, while freshman Bailey Keith added nine on a team-best .667 hitting (9k-1e-12a). Fellow freshman Rachel Budzinski, who added five kills on .556 hitting (5k-0e-9a), registered a team-high four blocks (all assisted), while senior Shanleigh Conlan tallied 17 assists, sophomore Alex King notched 14 digs and classmate Jordan Daniels recorded Air Force's lone service ace.

Senior Elizabeth Pennington scored the night's opening point, while a pair of kills from Miksch and a block from Budzinski and senior Lauren Heldt helped Air Force take an early 4-2 lead. Colorado State scored 12 of the next 13 points to go up by a 14-5 margin. Pennington and junior Denise Ssozi tallied kills, while a Miksch/Budzinski block helped the Falcons reach the 10-point plateau (10-18). Budzinski and Heldt had a hand in three of the Falcons' final four points, as they each registered a kill and teamed up for their second block of the game, but Colorado State took the opening set by a 25-14 margin.

Pennington and sophomore Kathleen Medill teamed up for a block on the Falcons' first point of the second set (1-2) and Keith accounted for three of the team's next four points, but Colorado State jumped out to another 13-5 advantage. Miksch put down a kill and Daniels served her ace as the teams traded 3-0 runs that left Air Force trailing by six (9-15). Ssozi, Budzinski, Keith and Miksch put down kills as the Falcons slowly cut into the Rams' advantage – a run that saw a solo block by Medill bring Air Force within two (16-18). The Rams took a four-point lead at the 21-17 mark and eventually earned the 25-21 decision.

A pair of kills from Budzinski and three attacking errors by the Rams helped Air Force take a fast 4-2 lead in the third set. Keith (three) and Miksch (two) collected multiple kills, while additional kills from Pennington and Conlan sent Air Force into the media timeout with a 15-12 advantage. Miksch, Ssozi and Budzinski added kills, but the Rams evened the score at 18 and took their first lead of the set on the ensuing point. Air Force retook the lead off of a Miksch kill at the 20-19 mark, while Keith put down a kill and teamed up with Budzinski for a block to maintain the Falcons' advantage (22-21). Miksch added another kill at 23-22, but the Rams tallied the next two scores to reach match-point (24-23). Pennington evened the score on the next point (24-all) and tallied two more set-tying kills (25, 26) to extend the set. Ssozi put down a kill to tie the set at 27, but Colorado State tallied back-to-back points for the 29-27 win.

Air Force remains at the Academy on Saturday (Nov. 3), when it hosts Wyoming at 1:00 p.m. (MT).

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