Falcons Head to Rhode Island for Three Matches

The Air Force volleyball team returns to action this weekend, as it travels to Rhode Island for three matches. The Falcons will face Siena in a neutral-site match on Friday, Sept. 2, before splitting Saturday, Sept. 3, with road contests at Brown and Rhode Island.

MATCH INFORMATION
The Falcons will split time between two Rhode Island cities over the weekend, playing the first two matches – Siena (Friday, Sept. 2, at 4:00 p.m. ET) and Brown (Saturday, Sept. 3, at 10:30 a.m.) at Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence and the last – Rhode Island (Saturday, Sept. 3, at 7:00 p.m.) at Kearney Gymnasium in Kingston. The two matches at Brown are scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+. Direct links to broadcasts and stats can be found on the team's schedule page at GoAirForceFalcons.com

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Siena and Rhode Island are both 0-3 on the short season, while Brown (0-0) will be opening its 2022 campaign on Friday night. The Saints were swept by Boston College, Maryland Eastern Shore, and Binghamton at the Bearcat Classic in Vestal, N.Y., last weekend, while the Rams dropped contests to Maryland (0-3), Florida Gulf Coast (1-3) and Navy (1-3) at the Maryland Invitational in College Park.

BY THE NUMBERS
Air Force has never faced any of this weekend's opponents.

HARVEY NAMED MW DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After a stellar season-opening weekend, Joi Harvey was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 29 – becoming the second Falcon to earn that award since it was created in 2015 (Piper Heineck, twice in 2017). The junior totaled 26 blocks – 11 more than anyone else in the league – during the opening weekend, tallying four solo and 22 assisted stops.

FALCONS OPENS SEASON IN STYLE
Air Force captured the team title at the season-opening Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic on Aug. 26-27 – the program's first tournament title since winning Louisiana's Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic in 2016. With wins over Texas A&M Commerce, CSUN and Drake, the Falcons posted their first 3-0 start to the season since 1999 – and just their second at the Division I level.

NAIL-BITERS
Of the 13 sets Air Force played during the opening weekend of play, more than half (seven) were decided by two points, including the 15-13 thriller in the championship match with Drake.

WHAT'S ON DECK
After spending the weekend on the East Coast, the Falcons travel to the opposite side of the country next week (Sept. 9-10) for a three-match tournament in Riverside, California.