Falcons Fall on the Road at Saint Mary’s

MORAGA, Calif. – The Air Force volleyball team opened its final weekend of non-conference action with a 3-0 setback to Saint Mary's this evening (Sept. 19) in Moraga. Despite out-blocking the Gaels by a 7-3 margin, the Falcons fell in straight 23-25, 22-25, 14-25 sets at University Credit Union Pavilion.

Six different Falcons registered a block in the contest, including four with a solo stop. Freshman Grace Fiaseu led the squad with three blocks (one solo, two assisted), while junior Alex Hatchett and senior Ella Tschuor recorded multiple stops, with one solo and one assisted block each. Sophomore Anna Leahy capped the quartet of solo blockers, while junior Ashley Bible, sophomore Annamaria Ramos both got a hand on a block during the Falcons' second-highest blocking performance of the season.

Ramos had a strong night for Air Force, leading the team in kills (seven) and digs (16), while being one of four Falcons to serve up an ace (Fiaseu, freshman Mia Loyd, junior Jordan Suan).

Saint Mary's opened the match by scoring six of the first seven points, before back-to-back kills from Bible and Tschuor gave the Falcons their first offensive scores of the night (4-7). Hatchett, in her first collegiate start, tallied the Falcons' next two scores, as Air Force cut its deficit to four (6-10). The Gaels retained that margin, despite kills from Leahy (7-11) and Bible (8-12) – and eventually pushed their lead out to seven (18-11). Air Force responded with seven of the next 10 points – a stretch that included multiple scores from Ramos (kill, ace), Bible (kill, assisted block), and Fiaseu (kill, assisted block) – to pull within three (18-21). Saint Mary's reached set point at the 24-19 mark and, despite another late push from the Falcons, took the opening set 25-23.

The Gaels stuck first in the third, but Air Force quickly responded to tie the set at three and take its first lead of the match on the next play. Fiaseu registered a block and an ace during that run, while Hatchett and Tschuor teamed up for another stop. Scores from Hatchett tied the set at eight (kill) and nine (block with Leahy), but Saint Mary's scored the next four points to take a 13-9 lead. Ramos and Tschuor stopped the streak with back-to-back kills, (12-14) , while another strike from Tschuor, (16-18) as well as a kill from junior Greta Hans 17-19), kept Air Force within two. The Falcons made another late push, with kills from Ramos, Tschuor, and Fiaseu tying the set at 22, but the Gaels scored the final three for the 25-22 win.

Despite a pair of kills from Fiaseu (2-4), Saint Mary's took an early 10-3 lead to start the third set Hatchett posted a block to start a 5-1 run for Air Force that included a service ace from Suan and a pair of scores from Ramos (kill, assisted block with Fiaseu). The sophomore added two more kills, book-ending a service ace from Loyd to bring the Falcons within four (11-15), but the Gaels closed the match on another 10-3 run to compete the sweep with a 25-14 win.

The Falcons head into San Francisco tomorrow (Sept. 20) night to open the USP Challenge against the tournament-host Dons at 6:00 p.m. (PT).

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Team Stats

Annamaria Ramos

Ella Tschuor

Grace Fiaseu

Ashley Bible

Players Mentioned

Ashley Bible

Grace Fiaseu

Greta Hans

Alex Hatchett

Anna Leahy

Mia Loyd

Annamaria Ramos

Jordan Suan

Ella Tschuor

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