Falcons Drop Heartbreaker to New Mexico

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force volleyball team suffered a five-set heartbreaker to New Mexico this evening (Oct. 1) during a roller-coaster of a match at the Academy's Cadet East Gym. The Falcons, hosting the Lobos in the Mountain West Network's Tuesday Night Block Party and playing in their first five-set contest of the season, battled their visitors in a nail-biting 23-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 13-15 match that saw every set decided by the minimum number of points, boast 36 ties and account for 20 lead changes.

Senior Ella Tschuor became the Falcons' first 20-kill performer of the year – and just the second since 2019 – on Tuesday night, as she tallied a career-high 20 kills. Junior Ashley Bible was just one behind, registering a career-high 19 kills on an impressive .311 night (19-5-45). Freshman Grace Fiaseu also had a double-digit kill night, accounting for 10 kills on. 233 hitting (11-4-30)., while classmate Mia Loyd recorded the first 30-assist match of her career (35), collected a double-double with 18 digs, and served up four aces. Bible added three aces and notched her first double-double of the year with a career-high 17 digs, while classmate Greta Hans earned her first career double with an 18-assists, 12-dig night. Fellow junior Jordan Suan led Air Force with a season-high 19 digs.

Defensively, the Falcons lived up to the billing of the Tuesday Night Block Party, combining for a season-high 10.0 blocks (one solo, 18 assisted) to out-block the Lobos 10-7. Fiaseu and sophomore Annamaria Ramos both assisted on a season-high five spots, while junior Alex Hatchett added four. Tschuor posted three assisted stops to her stat line, while Bible registered two, including a solo stop.

Air Force raced out to a fast 6-1 lead to start the match, with Tschuor tallying two kills and a block in the first four points. Three-straight strikes from Bible, Tschuor, and senior Mekayla Dedo stretched the Falcons' lead to seven (9-2), while a kill and ace on back-to-back plays from Bible saw Air Force double-up New Mexico at the 16-8 mark. Hatchett and Tschuor teamed up for a block, but the Lobos began to close the gap, cutting the Falcons' advantage to three at 20-17. Ramos added a kill, but the Lobos completed the comeback to tied the set at 23 and take the final two scores for the 25-23 win.

Kills from Bible and Tschuor bookended a Fiaseu/Ramos block to give Air Force a 3-1 start in the second, while back-to-back kills from Tschuor broke a four-all tie and gave the Falcons back a two-point advantage. New Mexico used a quick run to take its own two-point lead (6-8) and maintained that advantage at the 13-11 mark. Air Force used four-straight scores (Fiaseu kill, Tschuor kill, Bible ace, Ramos kill) to take a 15-13 lead into the media timeout, The Lobos responded with the next four scores to take a 17-15 lead – before eventually stretching it to three at the 19-16 mark. Fiaseu put down a kill to stop the run, while back-to-back kills from Tschuor pulled the Falcons within one (18-19). New Mexico used another quick scoring spurt to go up 22-19 – and 23-20 – before a service ace from Loyd and another Fiaseu/Ramos block tie the set at 23. Another ace from Loyd put the Falcons at set point (24-23), as did a kill from Bible (25-24), while a strike from Fiaseu secured the Falcons' frantic 26-24 comeback victory.

Air Force struck first in the third (Ramos kill) and the teams traded the next several points, while Bible, Dedo and the blocking duo or Hatchett and Tschuor accounting for the tie-breaking points. After a quick two-point swing by the Falcons, the teamed continued to trade points, as Tschuor and Ramos put down kills to help Air Force to an eight-all tie. The Lobos halted the back-and-forth play with a 5-1 run to go up 13-9 – and Ari Force responded with six-straight points to take a 15-13 lead into the media break, backed by strong serving – and an ace – from Hars. The Falcons maintained their two-point advantage with kills from Bible (16-14), Dedo (17-15), and Tschuor (18-16), but a four-point swing for the Lobos put Air Force int a two-point hole (18-20). Bible tied the set at 21, while Fiaseu evened the set at 23, but New Mexico scored the final two points for another 25-23 win.

Loyd opened the fourth with an ace – and the back-and-forth action resumed, with the scores tying throughout the 8-8 mark. A kill from Tschuor, another ace from Loyd, and a Fiaseu/Ramos gave Air Force an 11-8 lead, while a strike from Bible pushed the Falcons' lead to four (14-10). Ramos put down a kill to maintain that margin at the 15-11 mark, while a solo block from Bible helped push the lead to six (17-11). The Lobos responded to pull within two (18-16), but a kill from Tschuor and an ace from Bible sent Air Force's lead back to five (21-16). A kill from Fiaseu put the Falcons at set-point (24-20) and, although the Lobos pulled within one at 24-23, the freshman put down another kill for Air Force's 25-23 win – a victory that would send the Falcons into their first five-set match of the year.

Backed by kills from Tschuor, Fiaseu, and Bible, Air Force took a quick 4-1 lead in the deciding set. The Falcons held that three-point lead at 6-3, but New Mexico came back to tie the set at seven. The Falcons regained the lead on the next play and benefitted from a UNM attacking error to reach double digits (10-9). New Mexico tied the set at 11-all and scored four of the final six points to halt the Falcons' comeback and claim the 15-13 win.

With the conference-opening homestand complete, the Falcons head out on the road to finish up this week's schedule at Boise State on Thursday, Oct 3.

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Team Stats

Ella Tschuor

Ashley Bible

Grace Fiaseu

Annamaria Ramos

Players Mentioned

Ashley Bible

Mekayla Dedo

Grace Fiaseu

Greta Hans

Alex Hatchett

Mia Loyd

Annamaria Ramos

Jordan Suan

Ella Tschuor

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