Broncos Sweep Air Force for 10th Win

Saturday, September 24

Boise, Idaho

Noon MT

Boise State

10-3,2-0Mountain West

Air Force

8-6,0-2Mountain West

Air Force

Boise St.

9/24/2022 3:23:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Boise State completed the MW season-opening sweep to start 2-0 overall in league.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho – Boise State volleyball cruised past the Air Force Falcons in three sets (25-13, 25-23, 25-16) at Bronco Gym to complete the Mountain West opening weekend perfect at 2-0, while moving to 10-3 overall.

Boise State hit a season-high .410 percent for 44 kills while holding the Falcons to .148 percent and 32 kills.

The Broncos opened the contest hitting a sizzling .667 percent (15-1-21) in set one as they dominated Air Force in the 12-point victory.

Set two saw the Blue and Orange stage a dramatic come-from-behind win as the Broncos rallied from five down late in the period. Trailing 22-17, Boise State stormed back on an 8-1 run to shock the Falcons and take a 2-0 advantage in the match. Four different Broncos recorded at least one kill during the decisive run, led by Paige Bartsch with the final two.

Boise State never trailed in the third after taking the early lead. The Broncos hit .484 percent in the set as they pulled away taking their largest lead of the match at nine with the final kill of the contest.

QUOTABLES
Shawn Garus, Head Coach

On the second set being critical in the momentum of the match. "Air Force made some adjustments early in the set, and we didn't look ready for it. But I liked the way we battled back at the end and made some really big plays down the stretch when we needed to."
On starting conference play at 2-0. "That's what you want. You want to win at home for sure, and we took care of that. Now we need to rest and recover and get ready for a couple of teams that won their matches on Thursday night and are teams that are playing good volleyball. I think they're (San Jose State and Nevada) going to be different match-ups for us; it's going to be tough.
On the play of the team overall. "I like how many people contributed at a good level for us today. We showed a lot of depth. We showed a lot of talent up and down our roster and that's because everybody's working hard in practice. So, give credit to the whole roster for helping us get these two wins."

Kayly Pau, Junior Outside Hitter

On all of the emotions, she experienced this weekend. "Mentally, I was a little nervous coming into it, and then after Thursday just to see all the support, even today people came out and talked to me, it just felt overwhelming. Honestly, mentally I was just able to focus on the game because I knew after the game win or lose those people were there supporting the whole team."
On her play today. "We knew Air Force wasn't going to be an easy team coming; they're good, they're scrappy, and they don't give up. So for me, it was basically just focusing on what I can do to help the team."

BRONCO LEADERS

Bartsch tallied a team-high 14 kills in the match making it the seventh time this year she has led the team in kills and the 10th time she finished in double-digits…had a team-high 17 points overall.
Lauren Ohlinger added 12 kills while hitting a team and season-high .435 percent (10 or more attacks)…recorded four block assists to go with her kills to finish with 14 points.
Pau had nine kills while hitting .389 percent against the Falcons.
Elle Cotton earned her third start at setter where she distributed 33 assists and had the team hit a season-best .410 percent.

NOTABLES

Ohlinger's career total for kills now stands at 1,167 as she remains in seventh place on the school's kills list, 42 short of sixth.
The Broncos had a season-high 1,081 fans in Bronco Gym.
Boise State now leads the all-time series with Air Force 18-5 and remains undefeated, 10-0, at home versus the Falcons.

WHAT'S NEXT