Falcons drop regular season volleyball finale to UNLV

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  The Air Force Academy volleyball team ended the regular season with a 3-0 loss to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas on Nov. 13. The Falcons dropped consecutive sets of 30-20, 30-28 and 30-25 to the visiting Rebels in the team’s final match at the academy for the season.

Kristin Hamlett opened the scoring, but the Rebels quickly answered. The Rebels took the lead, and although the Falcons were able to tie things up at the halfway mark, UNLV reclaimed the lead and held Air Force to just 6 points while claiming the 30-20 win.

Air Force jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the second set, and held a 5-2 lead behind several UNLV attacking errors and a Hamlett kill. Holding an 8-4 lead, the Falcons were unable to stop six straight points by the Rebels. Air Force continued to stay close to UNLV, pulling within two at the 28-26 mark. A pair of kills by Molly White brought the Falcons to 29-28, but the Rebels took the last point to finalize the game at 30-28.

The third game was fairly close between the two programs for much of the game, as both teams held leads and matched scores. Air Force reached the 15-point mark first, backed by a Hamlett service ace and a pair of kills by Lamecca Jefferson. The Rebels retook the lead at the 17-16 mark, and did not look back as they went on to take the 30-25 lead.

Jefferson led the Falcons with 14 kills, while White posted 10. Jenalee Burke had a match-best 11 digs.

Kimberly Kallabis led the team with 36 assists, while Hamlett picked up a match-best three solo blocks and one assisted stop. Rebecca Gallegos led the team with three assisted blocks and a solo block.

The Falcons next play at the 2004 Mountain West Conference Tournament, which begins Nov. 18 in Fort Collins, Colo. Air Force will be the eighth seed and face the top-seeded co-champions -- either the University of Utah or Colorado State University -- who are currently awaiting tie-breaking procedures to determine which will hold the No. 1 spot in the tournament.