Broncos Come Up Short Against Air Force

BOISE, Idaho - Boise State volleyball fell 3-0 Saturday afternoon to the Air Force Falcons in a Mountain West match in Bronco Gym.

The match was a battle throughout, with Air Force managing to hold off the Broncos down the stretch in all three sets, winning each by 25-22 scores.

The first two sets went back and forth and combined for 29 ties and 19 lead changes.

In set one, neither team led by more than three points. After 16 ties and nine lead changes, Air Force surged. Tied at 20-20, the Falcons rolled off a 3-0 run to take control. The Broncos could not recover from that quick run that saw visitors take the largest lead of the set.

The second frame featured 13 ties and 10 lead changes. With the score tied at 19, the Falcons took the lead for good with a 2-0 spurt to go up 21-19, then held on for the win.

The third set saw the Falcons take an early 7-1 lead, then held Boise State off at the end. Down 23-15, the Broncos rallied with a 7-0 run. Breanna Mitchell served six times during the run, which included two service aces, as the Blue and Orange closed to within one at 23-22. Unfortunately, that was as close as Boise State would get in the final set.

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Paige Bartsch led with a team-high 23 kills and 25 points.
Annie Kaminski hit .444 percent for 10 kills to go with three blocks to finish with 11.5 points.
Breanna Mitchell and Bella McGirr shared time at libero, combining for 24 digs; McGirr had 13 and Mitchell 11.

Notables

Bartsch's 23 kills gave her back-to-back matches with 20-plus kills, 11 this fall and 18 in her career.
Bartsch became the 17th Bronco in history to reach the 1,000 career kills milestone; she now sits at 1,010, which is 17th all-time.
Bartsch has 439 kills this season, ranking fifth all-time and during the rally scoring era.
Kaminski recorded her eighth match of the year in double-figure kills.
Bartsch's 23 kills rank tied for third most in a three-set match during the rally scoring era; her 25 points are third.
Boise State finished the match with six more kills than Air Force but doubled the Falcons' attack error total with 24.
The loss moved the Broncos to 11-13 overall and 7-7 in Mountain West play.

What's Next

Boise State travels to league-leading Utah State for a 3:30 start on Monday.

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Notables

What's Next

Players Mentioned

Paige Bartsch

Annie Kaminski

Bella McGirr

Bre Mitchell