Air Force Sweeps Little Rock in Home Opener

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Little Rock	24	19	22	0
Air Force	26	25	25	3

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. -- Backed by a well-balanced team effort, Air Force Volleyball kicked off the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic – and its 2026 home season – with an impressive 3-0 victory over Little Rock on Thursday (Sept. 10) at the Academy's Cadet East Gym. With a 26-24, 25-19, 25-22 win over the visiting Trojans, the Falcons picked up a home-opening win for the seventh-straight year to improve to 19-12 all-time in the first home match at the Division I level.

Senior Annamaria Ramos and junior Alysa Walker each recorded 12 kills, while junior Grace Fiaseu chipped in 11 on .471 hitting (11-2-17). Classmate Mia Loyd (20) and sophomore Sam Pope (19) combined for 39 of the team's 46 assists, while four different Falcons served up an ace (Fiaseu, Pope, Ramos, Walker). Defensively, freshman Ella Vogel led the team with 12 digs and was one of eight Falcons to account for at least two digs, while sophomore Zoe Kirby made a match-high four blocks – including three solo stops – to round out the Falcons' stat leaders.

Little Rock jumped out to a fast 8-2 lead in the opening frame, but Air Force came back to pull the score within one (13-14) following kills from Fiaseu, Walker, Ramos and junior Lainie Stapleton, Kirby's first block and an ace from Pope. The Trojans attempted to pull away again, but the Falcons stayed within one off an ace from Fiaseu (17-18), a kill from freshman Jenness Orcutt (18-19) and a strike from Stapleton (19-20). An error from the visitors evened the score on the next play, while Stapleton (21) and Ramos (22) put down set-tying kills. Little Rock reached set point with a 24-22 lead, but Air Force rattled off the final four points – kills from Ramos (two), Walker, Orcutt – to snag the come-from-behind 26-24 win.

Fiaseu traded points with Little Rock in the opening plays of the second set, before back-to-back kills from Walker gave the Falcons a 5-4 lead. Kirby accounted for the Falcons' next three points, tallying two kills and adding a block with Walker, to tie the set at eight. Fiaseu added two more kills at the (11-10) mark, while an Orcutt/Fiaseu block and two Walker kills sent Air Force into the media timeout with a 15-13 lead. Kirby scored on a kill and block, while Stapleton added a kill that helped push the Falcons' advantage to 20-15. The sophomore picked up her third solo stop of the night, while a pair of strikes from Fiaseu propelled Air Force to the 25-19 win.

The Falcons dominated the opening minutes of the third set, rolling off the first seven points behind a set-opening kill from Stapleton and multiple scores from Ramos (two kills) and Walker (kill, ace). The trio added more kills to give Air Force a 12-4 advantage, but the Trojans answered with six of the next seven points to cut the Falcons' lead to 13-10. Walker added two more kills, before Fiaseu registered the 17th, 18th, and 19th points of the set. Little Rock pulled within one at 20-19, before Walker and Ramos teamed up for back-to-back kills to give the Falcons breathing room at 22-18. Air Force forced the Trojans into a pair of errors, while a kill from Fiaseu clinched the 25-21 win – and 3-0 sweep.

Air Force returns to Cadet East Gym tomorrow (Sept. 11) night, when it hosts Tennessee Tech at 7:00 p.m. (MT) in its second match of the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic. The match will be streamed live on MW+ – the new digital subscription platform of the Mountain West, powered by Kiswe (click HERE to subscribe).

Next Event

Ramos Annamaria

Walker Alysa

Fiaseu Grace

Stapleton Lainie

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