Air Force Drops Close Match to San Jose State

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Air Force volleyball team dropped a narrow 3-0 contest to San Jose State this afternoon (Oct. 23) on the Spartans' home court. In the only meeting of the season between the Falcons and Spartans, Air Force lost the first two sets by the minimum margin (25-23, 26-24), before falling 25-18 in the final frame.

Junior BrookeLyn Messenger and freshman Ella Tschuor led the Falcons with seven kills apiece, while Messenger added four of the team's nine service aces and Tschuor posted a team-high .227 average (7-2-22). Four different Falcons registered a pair of blocks on the day, with sophomore Aaryn Scires leading the quartet with one solo and one assisted stop. Classmate Joi Harvey, senior Bailey Keith and freshman Mac Russ all tallied a pair of assisted blocks, while sophomore Caroline Reinkensmeyer (12 assists) and senior Lily Landis (11 digs) rounded out the team's stat leaders.

Back-to-back service aces from Messenger, as well as a kill and block from Russ (assisted by Keith) helped Air Force take an early 4-2 lead to start the match, but the Spartans used their own 4-0 run to retake a two-point lead at 6-4. Keith and Harvey teamed up for a block that evened the set at six, while an ace from Landis gave the Falcons an 8-7 lead. A pair of kills from Harvey, as well as a score from Messenger, tied the set at 11, but San Jose State scored five of the next six points to take a 16-12 lead. Kills from Tschuor bookended another Messenger ace to tie the set at 16, while a Tschuor kill evened the score at 17. The Spartans broke an 18-18 tie to take a 21-18 lead, but three scores from Scires (two kills, block with Harvey) helped Air Force climb back to tie the set at 23-all before San Jose State claimed the final two points for the narrow 25-23 win.

Keith (kill) and Russ (ace) registered the Falcons' first offensive points of the second set (3-2), while strikes from Keith (4-3) and Tschuor (5-4) helped Air Force maintain a one-point margin. After the Spartans tied the set at five, Air Force rattled off five-straight scores, as Messenger (kill, block with Russ), Harvey (kill) and sophomore Allie Griffith (ace) helped the Falcons take a 10-5 advantage. Air Force, which maintained a lead behind kills from Messenger, Keith, Tschuor and Harvey, went into the media timeout with a 15-12 advantage. Messenger had a hand in three points during a 4-1 run by the Falcons (21-18), as she tallied a pair of kills and served up another ace. Russ added a kill to put the Falcons up 23-19, but the Spartans scored seven of the final eight points for the 26-24 comeback win.

Reinkensmeyer opened the third set with a service ace and the teams traded the next six points, with Air Force earning its scores from Russ and Tschuor. The Falcons' benefitted from four SJSU errors and a service ace from Tschuor to take a 9-4 lead, but the Spartans responded to tie the set at nine. Kills from Messenger (two) and Keith (one) helped Air Force retake the lead lead (16-14), but San Jose State followed with four-straight scores to tie the set and take its own two-point lead (19-16). A solo block from Scires tied the set at 18, but San Jose State scored the final seven points to take the set 25-18 and complete the 3-0 sweep.

Air Force returns to the Academy next week for conference contests against Colorado State (Oct. 28) and Wyoming (Oct. 30) – its second meeting with its two Front Range foes in the last three weeks.

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