Falcons Fall to San Diego State in Season Finale

SAN DIEGO – The Air Force volleyball team closed out the 2024 campaign with a 3-0 loss to San Diego Stat this afternoon (Nov. 23), falling 19-25, 21-25, 22-25 on the Aztecs' home floor.

Senior Ella Tschuor led the Falcons with nine kills on .250 hitting (9-3-24), while classmate Ellie Eichhorn and freshman Mia Loyd shared the team lead in assists with 13 apiece. Eichhorn was also one of three Falcons to record multiple service aces on the day, as she (two), junior Jordan Suan (two) and freshman Grace Fiaseu (three) combined for seven scores from the serving line. Fiaseu (one solo, one assisted), junior Alex Hatchett (two assisted) and freshman Brooksie Isham (two assisted) all earned multiple blocks, while Suan tallied a match-high 14 digs.

Fiaseu earned the Falcons' first offensive point of the match – a kill that gave Air Force an early 2-1 lead. The Aztecs scored the next four points, but junior Ashley Bible halted the run with a kill. The two teams traded the next eight points (7-9), with Fiaseu and birthday-girl Isham tallying kills during that stretch. Another quick three-point spurt, but the Falcons responded with another kill from Bible and a block from sophomore Annamaria Ramos and Hatchett. San Diego State pushed its lead to six at the 17-11 mark, but Air Force raced back with a 4-0 run to pull within two (15-17) – a streak headlined by back-to-back aces from Suan. Ramos and Bible added scores, but the Aztecs doubled up the Falcons over the final 12 points for the 25-19 win.

A kill from Isham helped Air Force to an early 4-3 lead in the second, while two strikes from Tschuor and a service ace from Eichhorn pushed the Falcons' advantage to 8-6. The Aztecs tied the set two plays later during a 7-2 run that forced Air Force into a timeout (10-13). The Aztecs pushed their lead to four on the next play, but Air Force climbed within two (15-17) after kills from Ramos, Tschuor, and Isham – and Eichhorn's second ace of the set. Ramos added a kill and solo block in the final minutes of the set, but San Diego State closed it out for the 25-21 victory.

Two scores from Isham (kill, block with Fiaseu) and back-to-back kills from Tschuor gave Air Force a fast 4-2 start to the third. The Aztecs responded with eight of the next 10 points to send Air Force into an early timeout trailing 6-10. After being doubled up 6-12, Air Force raced back to take a 16-15. Fiaseu put down a kill and served up three aces during the run, while Hatchett and Tschuor both recorded a kill and a block (assisted with Isham for Hatchett, solo for Tschuor). The Aztecs evened the set at 16 and the teams swapped scores, with Hatchett putting down a set-tying kill at 18-all. San Diego State scored the next four points, before senior Mekayla Dedo put down a pair of kills to spark a run that brought Air Force within one at the 22-23 mark. Isham and Ramos also tallied kills during that run, but the Aztecs scored the final two points to complete the sweep with the 25-22 victory.

Air Force finished Macey Donathan's first season with a 3-26 record and conference victories over Nevada and UNLV (2-16).

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