Stacy Pearsall looks back as the volleyball slips past and is saved by Christopher D'Angelo May 17, 2011, during the 2011 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Air Force played the U.S. Special Operations Command team, losing the series 2-1. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Christopher Griffin)
The Air Force sideline cheers on their team during sitting volleyball May 17, 2011, at the 2011 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Air Force played the U.S. Special Operations Command team, losing the series 2-1. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Christopher Griffin)
A member of the U.S. Special Operations Command teams knocks the ball past an Air Force defender during the sitting volleyball competition May 17, 2011, at the 2011 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Air Force played the U.S. Special Operations Command team, losing the series 2-1. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Christopher Griffin)
The Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command battle during the sitting volleyball competition May 17, 2011, at the 2011 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs. SOCOM won the series 2-1. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Christopher Griffin)
by Staff Sgt. J. Paul Croxon
Defense Media Activity
5/18/2011 - COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AFNS) -- After a strong first game win, the Air Force was dispatched by the Special Operations Command in the preliminary sitting volleyball competition at the 2011 Warrior Games here May 17.
The Air Force team started the three-game series with a battery of successive points, carving out an eight-point lead early in the first game. That lead never fell below seven points, until SOCOM rallied late in the game gaining four points in a row to bring the score to 21-16, Air Force. It was too little, too late as the Air Force matched SOCOM with four unanswered points of their own, closing the first round with an Air Force win.
Not a team to give up, SOCOM dominated the second game. Though the Air Force scored the first point, it was the last time "blue" would enjoy the lead for the rest of the game. SOCOM seemed to crush the Air Force's confidence with a flurry of successive points early on, answering the Air Force's initial point with six of their own. Though both teams traded points one-for-one through most of the game, SOCOM's two five-point rallies were enough to take the game 25-15 in their favor.
During the third and final 15-point game, both teams traded points until they reached a 7-7 tie. Then, in a dramatic show of teamwork, SOCOM pounded the Air Force with seven unanswered points. With the score at 7-14 and game point for SOCOM, the Air Force managed only two more points before SOCOM ended the game and series with a second win.
"The team came into the game from a basketball loss on top of a long day," said Air Force coach Elisha Abercrombie. "It took just one mistake to take the team back to basketball and lose confidence and the game. We shouldn't have lost and won't make the same mistake again."
Both the Air Force and SOCOM get second chances to prove themselves Wednesday: SOCOM takes on the Army followed by the Navy, and the Air Force takes on the Navy and Marine Corps.
