Friday, September 3
Spokane, WA
12:00 pm MT
Air Force Academy
0-4,0-0Mountain West
0
vs
3
Seattle
1-4,0-0WAC
1
2
3
F
Seattle U
25
25
28
3
Air Force
18
21
26
0
Photo by: Trang Le
Air Force Falls to Seattle, Oklahoma on Friday
9/3/2021 9:09:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Taleah Cooper combined for seven blocks during Friday's two contests.
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Air Force volleyball team dropped a pair of contests to Seattle (0-3) and Oklahoma (1-3) on Friday, Sept. 3, during the opening day of action at the Gonzaga Invitational in Spokane.
SEATTLE 3, AIR FORCE 0
The Falcons opened the Gonzaga Invitational with an 18-25, 21-25, 26-28 loss to Seattle in the morning match. Senior Bailey Keith and freshman Ella Tschuor led the Falcons with eight kills apiece, while junior Taleah Cooper added six scores on .750 hitting (6-0-8). Keith also accounted for a match-high four service aces, as Air Force amassed a season-best nine aces. Sophomore Caroline Reinkensmeyer, who added three aces to the Falcons' total, totaled a team-leading 17 assists, while freshman Murphy Riggs (six digs), Cooper (two blocks) and sophomore Joi Harvey (two blocks) rounded out Air Force's stat leaders.
Rienkensmeyer opened the match with a service ace, while Tschuor (kill) and senior Vittoria Juarez (ace) put down back-to-back scores that halted a four-point run by the Redhawks and brought the Falcons within one (3-4). Harvey recorded her a solo block and sophomore Aaryn Scires added a kill, but Air Force entered the media timeout trailing by seven (8-15). Tschuor tallied another kill coming out of the break, while Keith and Harvey accounted for a pair of back-to-back scores (kills for both at 12-18, Harvey block/Keith ace at 16-23). Scires, who teamed up with Harvey on the block, added another stop with Cooper in the final minutes, but Seattle took the opening set by a 25-19 margin.
Air Force jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead following kill from Cooper, Tschuor and Keith, but Seattle scored seven of the next eight points to go up 7-4. Harvey stopped the run with a kill, while Tschuor added a kill and assisted on a block (Cooper) to bring Air Force within two (11-15). Seattle scored the next two, but Keith served up three aces during a 5-0 run by the Falcons that gave Air Force the lead at the 16-15 mark. The Redhawks responded with a five-point run of their own to regain the lead (20-16), before junior BrookeLyn Messenger stopped the run with a score. A kill from senior Abigail Collins and an ace from Reinkensmeyer brought Air Force back within two (19-21), but Seattle claimed the 25-21 victory.
Keith opened the third set with another ace, while scores from Tschuor (two kills), Juarez (kill) and Cooper (ace) gave Air Force a 6-2 advantage and sent the Redhawks into an early timeout. Seattle scored the next five points to go up 7-6, but Air Force retook the lead following back-to-back scores that included another Keith kill. A strike from Juarez broke a nine-all tie, while kills from Keith and freshman Mac Russ helped Air Force take a 13-10 advantage. Seattle tallied six of the next seven points, before Tschuor put down a kill to stop the run (15-16). A score from Reinkensmeyer kept the Falcons within one (16-17), while a strike from Messenger tied the set at 18. Seattle took a three-point lead at the 21-18 mark, but kills from Keith, Russ and Cooper quickly brought Air Force back within one (21-22) and an attacking error by the Redhawks on the next play helped the Falcons tie the set. Kills from Cooper (24-23) and Keith (26-25) put the Falcons at set-point, but Seattle claimed the final three points to complete the sweep with the 28-26 win.
OKLAHOMA 3, AIR FORCE 1
Air Force closed out Friday's doubleheader with a 23-25, 25-19, 18-25, 16-25 loss to Oklahoma at Gonzaga's Charlotte Y. Martin Center. Keith led the Falcons with nine kills, while Juarez and Russ each added eight – Russ doing so with a match-high .462 hitting (8-2-13) performance. Cooper added a match-high five blocks (one solo, four assisted), while Collins led the team in both assists (18) and aces (three). Sophomore Allie Griffith rounded out the team's scoring leaders with 20 digs.
Keith's hot hand continued at the start of the second match, as she put down a pair of kills to help Air Force take an early 3-0 lead. Tschuor, Russ and Juarez tallied kills to give Air Force a 7-5 lead, while a strike from Cooper tied the set at eight. A pair of blocks (Tschuor solo, Russ/Keith assisted) evened the score again at 11, while Juarez put down a kill for a 13-all tie. A block and kill from Cooper, as well as a strike from Russ, gave Air Force a 16-15 lead, while points from Cooper kept the advantage with the Falcons kill at 18-17, block with Keith at 20-18). A Cooper/Tschuor block broke up a 5-1 run by the Sooners that, despite kills from Keith and sophomore Savannah Neal, helped Oklahoma for the 25-23 comeback win.
A kill from Juarez helped Air Force to an early 3-2 lead in the second set, while a kill from Keith and an ace from senior Abigail Collins pushed the Falcons' lead to two (6-4). Another ace – this time by Griffith – followed a block from Cooper and Neal that gave the Falcons a four-point lead (11-7), but Oklahoma evened the set at 13 and took the lead on the next point. Keith stopped the run with a kill, while a strike from Russ gave the lead back to Air Force (15-14). Following a three-point run by Oklahoma, Russ assisted on back-to-back blocks (first with Keith, second with Neal) to even the set at 17 and retake the lead (18-17). Those blocks sparked a 10-2 run by the Falcons that included a pair of aces from Collins and three points from Neal, who put down the final kill to give Air Force the 25-19 victory.
Russ accounted for three of the Falcons' first four points in the third (4-4), but the Sooners used an 8-1 run to break the tie and take a seven-point lead (12-5). Neal stopped their run with a kill, but Oklahoma pushed its lead to eight at 15-7. A kill from Keith helped cut the Falcons' deficit to five (10-15), while an ace from Griffith pulled Air Force within four (15-19). A Cooper kill kept that margin (16-20) and two OU errors brought Air Force within three (17-20, 18-21), but Oklahoma tallied the last four for the 25-18 win.
Keith, Russ and Neal registered kills in the opening plays of the fourth set (3-4), but Oklahoma scored four of the next five points to take an 8-4 lead. The Falcons earned a kill from junior Sarah Markwardt, as the Sooners extended their lead to seven (14-7). Harvey and Juarez put down kills on back-to-back plays to pull within five (9-14), while Juarez and Cooper posted another two-point run, following several diving saves from Griffith. Juarez and Cooper teamed up for a block (12-19) and the latter added a kill and ace on back-to-back plays, but Oklahoma took the set by a 25-16 margin.
Air Force returns to the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre tomorrow (Sept 4) night to close out the Gonzaga Invitational against the host Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. (PT). The match will be streamed live on Stadium.
SEATTLE 3, AIR FORCE 0
The Falcons opened the Gonzaga Invitational with an 18-25, 21-25, 26-28 loss to Seattle in the morning match. Senior Bailey Keith and freshman Ella Tschuor led the Falcons with eight kills apiece, while junior Taleah Cooper added six scores on .750 hitting (6-0-8). Keith also accounted for a match-high four service aces, as Air Force amassed a season-best nine aces. Sophomore Caroline Reinkensmeyer, who added three aces to the Falcons' total, totaled a team-leading 17 assists, while freshman Murphy Riggs (six digs), Cooper (two blocks) and sophomore Joi Harvey (two blocks) rounded out Air Force's stat leaders.
Rienkensmeyer opened the match with a service ace, while Tschuor (kill) and senior Vittoria Juarez (ace) put down back-to-back scores that halted a four-point run by the Redhawks and brought the Falcons within one (3-4). Harvey recorded her a solo block and sophomore Aaryn Scires added a kill, but Air Force entered the media timeout trailing by seven (8-15). Tschuor tallied another kill coming out of the break, while Keith and Harvey accounted for a pair of back-to-back scores (kills for both at 12-18, Harvey block/Keith ace at 16-23). Scires, who teamed up with Harvey on the block, added another stop with Cooper in the final minutes, but Seattle took the opening set by a 25-19 margin.
Air Force jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead following kill from Cooper, Tschuor and Keith, but Seattle scored seven of the next eight points to go up 7-4. Harvey stopped the run with a kill, while Tschuor added a kill and assisted on a block (Cooper) to bring Air Force within two (11-15). Seattle scored the next two, but Keith served up three aces during a 5-0 run by the Falcons that gave Air Force the lead at the 16-15 mark. The Redhawks responded with a five-point run of their own to regain the lead (20-16), before junior BrookeLyn Messenger stopped the run with a score. A kill from senior Abigail Collins and an ace from Reinkensmeyer brought Air Force back within two (19-21), but Seattle claimed the 25-21 victory.
Keith opened the third set with another ace, while scores from Tschuor (two kills), Juarez (kill) and Cooper (ace) gave Air Force a 6-2 advantage and sent the Redhawks into an early timeout. Seattle scored the next five points to go up 7-6, but Air Force retook the lead following back-to-back scores that included another Keith kill. A strike from Juarez broke a nine-all tie, while kills from Keith and freshman Mac Russ helped Air Force take a 13-10 advantage. Seattle tallied six of the next seven points, before Tschuor put down a kill to stop the run (15-16). A score from Reinkensmeyer kept the Falcons within one (16-17), while a strike from Messenger tied the set at 18. Seattle took a three-point lead at the 21-18 mark, but kills from Keith, Russ and Cooper quickly brought Air Force back within one (21-22) and an attacking error by the Redhawks on the next play helped the Falcons tie the set. Kills from Cooper (24-23) and Keith (26-25) put the Falcons at set-point, but Seattle claimed the final three points to complete the sweep with the 28-26 win.
OKLAHOMA 3, AIR FORCE 1
Air Force closed out Friday's doubleheader with a 23-25, 25-19, 18-25, 16-25 loss to Oklahoma at Gonzaga's Charlotte Y. Martin Center. Keith led the Falcons with nine kills, while Juarez and Russ each added eight – Russ doing so with a match-high .462 hitting (8-2-13) performance. Cooper added a match-high five blocks (one solo, four assisted), while Collins led the team in both assists (18) and aces (three). Sophomore Allie Griffith rounded out the team's scoring leaders with 20 digs.
Keith's hot hand continued at the start of the second match, as she put down a pair of kills to help Air Force take an early 3-0 lead. Tschuor, Russ and Juarez tallied kills to give Air Force a 7-5 lead, while a strike from Cooper tied the set at eight. A pair of blocks (Tschuor solo, Russ/Keith assisted) evened the score again at 11, while Juarez put down a kill for a 13-all tie. A block and kill from Cooper, as well as a strike from Russ, gave Air Force a 16-15 lead, while points from Cooper kept the advantage with the Falcons kill at 18-17, block with Keith at 20-18). A Cooper/Tschuor block broke up a 5-1 run by the Sooners that, despite kills from Keith and sophomore Savannah Neal, helped Oklahoma for the 25-23 comeback win.
A kill from Juarez helped Air Force to an early 3-2 lead in the second set, while a kill from Keith and an ace from senior Abigail Collins pushed the Falcons' lead to two (6-4). Another ace – this time by Griffith – followed a block from Cooper and Neal that gave the Falcons a four-point lead (11-7), but Oklahoma evened the set at 13 and took the lead on the next point. Keith stopped the run with a kill, while a strike from Russ gave the lead back to Air Force (15-14). Following a three-point run by Oklahoma, Russ assisted on back-to-back blocks (first with Keith, second with Neal) to even the set at 17 and retake the lead (18-17). Those blocks sparked a 10-2 run by the Falcons that included a pair of aces from Collins and three points from Neal, who put down the final kill to give Air Force the 25-19 victory.
Russ accounted for three of the Falcons' first four points in the third (4-4), but the Sooners used an 8-1 run to break the tie and take a seven-point lead (12-5). Neal stopped their run with a kill, but Oklahoma pushed its lead to eight at 15-7. A kill from Keith helped cut the Falcons' deficit to five (10-15), while an ace from Griffith pulled Air Force within four (15-19). A Cooper kill kept that margin (16-20) and two OU errors brought Air Force within three (17-20, 18-21), but Oklahoma tallied the last four for the 25-18 win.
Keith, Russ and Neal registered kills in the opening plays of the fourth set (3-4), but Oklahoma scored four of the next five points to take an 8-4 lead. The Falcons earned a kill from junior Sarah Markwardt, as the Sooners extended their lead to seven (14-7). Harvey and Juarez put down kills on back-to-back plays to pull within five (9-14), while Juarez and Cooper posted another two-point run, following several diving saves from Griffith. Juarez and Cooper teamed up for a block (12-19) and the latter added a kill and ace on back-to-back plays, but Oklahoma took the set by a 25-16 margin.
Air Force returns to the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre tomorrow (Sept 4) night to close out the Gonzaga Invitational against the host Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. (PT). The match will be streamed live on Stadium.
Team Stats
SU
USAFA
Kills
37
38
Errors
12
18
Attempts
86
98
Hitting %
.291
.204
Points
50
51
Assists
34
33
Aces
8
9
Blocks
5
4
Game Leaders
Kills
8
Aces
4
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
5
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
S
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
S/OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
MB/OPP
/ Women's VolleyballOH
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