USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – The San Diego State volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision (17-25, 18-25, 18-25) to Air Force Saturday in a Mountain West road match at Cadet East Gym.
The Aztecs were out-hit .321 to .065 for the day, posting their lowest efficiency of the season to fall to 8-15 overall and 3-9 in conference play.
Conversely, the Falcons maintained the statistical advantage in kills (40-30), team blocks (10.0 to 3.0) and digs (31-28) to complete the season sweep and raise their record to 14-6 on the year and 6-6 in MW competition.
SDSU was led by Taylor Underwood's seven kills, while Madison Corf finished with six put-aways of her own. In addition, the Aztecs received five strikes apiece from Julia Haynie and Heipua Tautua'a, while Fatimah Hall (13 assists) and Sarena Gonzalez (11 assists) split the setting chores.
Haynie hit .444 for the match, committing one error in nine swings to go with two aces and two blocks, including a solo rejection, while Tautua'a served up an ace as well. Anchoring the SDSU back row once again was McKenna Douglas, who finished with nine digs, while Hall scooped up six shots for the match.
Despite an 11-10 edge in kills during the opening set, the match started ominously for the Scarlet and Black after facing a 13-4 deficit. In addition to posting four team blocks and three aces in the frame, the Falcons benefited from five other unforced Aztec attack errors and two wayward serves to lead wire-to-wire.
SDSU trimmed the margin to 17-12 following Haynie's solo block and a Tautua'a kill but could draw no closer than five points the rest of the way, as the Falcons' Mac Russ and Ella Tscuor combined on a stuff at the net for the clinching point.
The Aztecs' fortunes did not improve in the second stanza, as the visitors offset nine kills with nine attack errors in 33 swings during the set. On the flip side, Air Force collected four additional team blocks and logged a better efficiency (.290 to .000) to put itself in the driver's seat.
After three early ties, including a 6-6 deadlock on the strength of consecutive aces by Haynie, the Falcons crafted an 11-2 run to seize control of the frame. Joi Harvey keyed the outburst with two solo blocks, while Russ and Ashley Bible knocked down two kills apiece to give the hosts a commanding 17-8 advantage.
Once again, SDSU could not cut the deficit to under five points, as Harvey teamed with Caroline Reinkensmeyer and Bible for two more blocks down the stretch, with the latter's assist securing the set.
The teams combined for seven ties in the third set; however, the Aztecs were unable to answer another timely Air Force run. With the score knotted at 9-9, the Falcons vaulted in front for good with an 8-2 surge, capped by Harvey's joint block with Aaryn Scires and a Tschuor service ace.
Leading 17-11, Air Force received a late solo block from Russ, who ended the match shortly thereafter with a kill.
The Falcons logged their best hitting percentage of the afternoon with a .387 clip in the third set, launching 17 kills in 31 attempts with five errors, while the Aztecs were limited to just 10 put-aways, posting a .143 efficiency (10-6-27) in that span.
Harvey (.438) and Scires (.375) tied for match-best honors with nine kills apiece followed closely by Russ (.462), who finished with seven strikes of her own. Harvey also totaled five blocks, featuring a pair of solo stuffs, while Russ tallied five rejections as well, assisting on four of those stops.
Additionally, Tschuor collected four aces to lead all players, while Jordan Suan tied Douglas for match-high honors with nine digs.
San Diego State will play of five of its ensuing six matches at home, starting next week when it welcomes Nevada (Nov. 2) and Fresno State (Nov. 4) to Aztec Court at Peterson Gym.
Aztecs Toppled at Air Force in Three Sets
