Falcons Head West for Gonzaga Invitational

The Air Force volleyball team remains on the road this weekend, as it travels to Spokane, Wash., for the Gonzaga Invitational. The Falcons will face Seattle and Oklahoma in a doubleheader on Friday (Sept. 3), before closing out the tournament against the host Zags on Saturday (Sept. 4) evening.

MEET INFORMATION
The Gonzaga Invitational, which includes Air Force, Gonzaga, Oklahoma and Seattle, will take place at Charlotte Y. Martin Centre on the Gonzaga campus in Spokane. There will be live stats for all three of the Falcons' matches.

MATCH 04 | SEPT 3 | 11:00 AM PT
Air Force vs Seattle
Gonzaga Invitational | Spokane, Wash.
Live Stats

MATCH 05 | SEPT 3 | 4:00 PM PT
Air Force vs Oklahoma
Gonzaga Invitational | Spokane, Wash.
Live Stats

MATCH 06 | SEPT 4 | 6:00 PM PT
Air Force at Gonzaga
Gonzaga Invitational | Spokane, Wash.
Live Stats | Watch Live

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Like Air Force, Seattle and Oklahoma are 0-3 on the short season, while Gonzaga holds a 1-2 record after the first weekend of play. Seattle, which will play at Montana before heading to the Gonzaga Invitational, opened the season fell to Idaho State (2-3), UC Irvine (0-3) and UTEP (0-3) at the Bengal Invitational (Pocatello, Idaho), while Oklahoma lost to Oregon State (2-3), Lipscomb (1-3) and Houston (1-3) at its home tournament in Norman. Gonzaga, which opened its season at the StarkVegas Classic in Mississippi, won its opener (3-2) over Southeastern Louisiana, before dropping a pair of 3-0 contests to tournament host Mississippi State.

HISTORY 101
Air Force has limited experience against the three squads it will face this weekend, combining for just four neutral-site meetings and a 1-3 lifetime record. The Falcons dropped 0-3 contests to Seattle (2011, at Davis, Calif.) and Oklahoma (2012, at Greeley, Colo.) during their previous meetings, while splitting a pair of contests with Gonzaga – a 3-1 victory in 2017 (Bozeman, Mont.) and an 0-3 loss in 2019 (Washington, D.C.).

KEITH NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM, CADET-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Bailey Keith, who represented Air Force on the all-tournament team at the Huskie Invitational, claimed the first Air Force Cadet-Athlete of the Week of the 2021-22 season on Aug. 31. The senior hit .217 during the three-match tournament, accounting for 23 kills, 21 digs and seven blocks. She led the team in kills against both CSU Bakersfield (11) and Northern Illinois (eight), while collecting a team-high nine digs against William and Mary.

HARVEY'S BLOCK PARTY
Joi Harvey kicked off the 2021 season by averaging a conference-leading 1.73 blocks at the Huskie Invitational. Backing her 19-block weekend was a 10-block outing in the opener against CSU Bakersfield – a performance that included career-best tallies in solo blocks (two), assisted blocks (eight) and total blocks (10). Harvey, who added a team-leading 11 kills in that match – a mark just one shy of her career high, registered her first double-double and joined an elite list of Falcons that have registered double-digits in both kills and blocks during a match.

WHAT'S ON DECK
Air Force kicks off the home portion of its 2021 campaign next week, when it co-hosts the Thin Air Challenge with Denver. The two teams open the tournament against one another at Hamilton Gym on Sept. 9, before Air Force welcomes Idaho and Cal State Fullerton to Cadet East Gym on Sept. 10 and Sept. 11, respectively.

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Players Mentioned

Joi Harvey

Bailey Keith

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