Air Force Drops 3-0 Decision to UT Arlington

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Air Force volleyball team suffered a 3-0 loss to UT Arlington to close out the opening day of the Maverick Classic in Arlington, Texas. The Falcons, who won the day's opening game at College Park Center, dropped 25-20, 25-20, 25-19 sets to the tournament hosts in the nightcap.

Junior Denise Ssozi tallied a team-leading 10 kills and 14 digs to record her fourth double-double in five matches also tied with sophomore Cambria Galloway for the team lead in blocks (one solo, one assisted each). Sophomore Andi Ahlers tallied 17 assists, while senior Sarah Hellman and sophomore Jordan Daniels rounded out the Falcons' stat leaders with one service ace apiece.

Air Force collected early kills from Ahlers, senior Elizabeth Pennington and Galloway, as the teams traded the opening points of the match. A pair of kills from senior Lauren Heldt, as well as a score from Ssozi, gave the Falcons a 10-6 lead, but UTA responded with five of the next seven points to pull within one (12-11). Kills from Miksch and Medill bookended an ace from Daniels to push the Falcons' lead out to four (15-11). Ssozi added another kill as Air Force led by 18-16, but the Mavericks scored nine of the final 11 points to take the opening set by a 25-20 score.

Pennington provided all of the Falcons' offense to open the second set, tallying four kills as Air Force evened the score (4-4). The Mavericks retook the lead and extended it to five (7-12), before Miksch and Medill put down kills and teamed up for a block to bring the Falcons within one (13-14). UTA pushed its lead back to five (18-13, 20-15), before Ssozi put down a pair of kills. Hellman registered an ace and Miksch tallied one more kill, but the Mavericks won the set by another 25-20 margin.

UT Arlington took an early 7-2 lead to start the third set, before a kill from Pennington and three attacking errors by the Mavs brought Air Force within two (6-8). Sszoi (10-13) and Miksch (11-14) kept the Falcons within three, while back-to-back scores by the squad's lone junior narrowed the deficit to two (14-16). Air Force stayed within three as Ssozi added two more kills (15-18, 16-19) and Galloway notched a solo block (17-20), but the tournament hosts scored five of the final seven points for the 25-19 victory.

Air Force closes out the Maverick Classic tomorrow (Sept 1), when it faces Binghamton at 11:00 a.m. (CT).

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Players Mentioned

Andi Ahlers

Jordan Daniels

Cambria Galloway

Lauren Heldt

Sarah Hellman

Elizabeth Pennington

Denise Ssozi