Weber State University Athletics
Saturday, August 20
Ogden
1:00 PM
Weber State University
0-0,0-0Big Sky
4
vs
1
Air Force (Exhibition)
0-0,0-0Mountain West
1
2
3
4
F
Air Force
25
20
20
22
1
Weber St.
18
25
25
25
3
Wildcats Ground Air Force with 4-1 Victory in Exhibition
8/20/2022 4:45:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
OGDEN, Utah – Weber State volleyball returned to Swenson Gym on Saturday afternoon as the Wildcats defeated the Air Force Falcons 4-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-22, 15-5) in a season-opening exhibition match.
Things got off to a rocky start for the 'Cats who committed seven attacking errors in the first set. Air Force hit a scorching .406 in the first set and was able to ride that momentum to a 25-18 set victory.
Weber State gathered its footing and was able to recover nicely in the second set, however. The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and wouldn't look back. A big block from Emma Mangum and Saane Katoa gave WSU its 25th point of the set and Weber State took the second frame by a score of 25-20.
It was more of the same in the third set. Air Force got out to a 5-3 lead in the third, but Weber State went on a four-point run, capped by back-to-back aces from Macy Sumrall to force the Falcons to take a timeout. Weber State wouldn't relinquish the lead from that point on. Another big block, this time from Baylee Bodily and Ashley Gneiting, capped the scoring for the 'Cats in the third set and gave WSU another 25-20 set victory.
With a 2-1 lead in the match, the Falcons upped their game and kept the fourth set close until the very end. At one point, Air Force had a 19-16 lead in the set, but the Wildcats clawed back to square things up at 19. Following a service error to give AF a 20-19 edge, Weber State rattled off three consecutive points, including two kills from Riley Weinert, to give the Wildcats a lead that they wouldn't surrender. Weber State took the set 25-22, and took the match 3-1.
The two sides did play a fifth set in which stats were not kept. The Wildcats ended up winning the ultimate set 15-5.
NOTABLES
-Dani Richins led the match with 16 kills on 39 swings, and was tied for most service aces in the match with three.
-Kate Standifird led all players with 40 assists through four sets.
-The Wildcats, one of the toughest serving teams in the nation, served 11 aces through four sets.
QUOTABLES
"It was slow at the beginning obviously, but I think we got better every set and it was a good learning experience for us altogether. I think we need to compete from the beginning. It's hard because it felt like we had a lot of jitters. We were kind of antsy at the beginning. Our serves played a huge role in our game, we started serving better and that got us in our game." – Baylee Bodily
"The big thing (this match) accomplished is that we were able to play with some lineups and get a nice idea of what we want to do a week from now. Air Force played really well, let's not take away what they did. We didn't do a very good job of playing with purpose in game one, and that's something that for the last three years we've done a nice job with. And to be honest we did a nice job in games two, three, four, and five." – Jeremiah Larsen
UP NEXT
The 'Cats open the season at 12:30 on August 26 against UC Riverside, followed by a match at 7:30 that same evening against Southern Utah. Prior to the match against the Thunderbirds, there will be a ring and banner ceremony in celebration of WSU's 2021 Big Sky Conference championship.
Weber State rounds out the tournament on August 27 in a match against the Mountain West's San Jose State Spartans at 5:30.
All regular season and postseason home and Big Sky Conference matches can be seen on ESPN+.
TICKETS
Season and single match tickets are on sale and can be purchased online or by calling the Weber State ticket office at 801-626-8500.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow Weber State volleyball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date with everything happening with the Wildcats.
Things got off to a rocky start for the 'Cats who committed seven attacking errors in the first set. Air Force hit a scorching .406 in the first set and was able to ride that momentum to a 25-18 set victory.
Weber State gathered its footing and was able to recover nicely in the second set, however. The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and wouldn't look back. A big block from Emma Mangum and Saane Katoa gave WSU its 25th point of the set and Weber State took the second frame by a score of 25-20.
It was more of the same in the third set. Air Force got out to a 5-3 lead in the third, but Weber State went on a four-point run, capped by back-to-back aces from Macy Sumrall to force the Falcons to take a timeout. Weber State wouldn't relinquish the lead from that point on. Another big block, this time from Baylee Bodily and Ashley Gneiting, capped the scoring for the 'Cats in the third set and gave WSU another 25-20 set victory.
With a 2-1 lead in the match, the Falcons upped their game and kept the fourth set close until the very end. At one point, Air Force had a 19-16 lead in the set, but the Wildcats clawed back to square things up at 19. Following a service error to give AF a 20-19 edge, Weber State rattled off three consecutive points, including two kills from Riley Weinert, to give the Wildcats a lead that they wouldn't surrender. Weber State took the set 25-22, and took the match 3-1.
The two sides did play a fifth set in which stats were not kept. The Wildcats ended up winning the ultimate set 15-5.
NOTABLES
-Dani Richins led the match with 16 kills on 39 swings, and was tied for most service aces in the match with three.
-Kate Standifird led all players with 40 assists through four sets.
-The Wildcats, one of the toughest serving teams in the nation, served 11 aces through four sets.
QUOTABLES
"It was slow at the beginning obviously, but I think we got better every set and it was a good learning experience for us altogether. I think we need to compete from the beginning. It's hard because it felt like we had a lot of jitters. We were kind of antsy at the beginning. Our serves played a huge role in our game, we started serving better and that got us in our game." – Baylee Bodily
"The big thing (this match) accomplished is that we were able to play with some lineups and get a nice idea of what we want to do a week from now. Air Force played really well, let's not take away what they did. We didn't do a very good job of playing with purpose in game one, and that's something that for the last three years we've done a nice job with. And to be honest we did a nice job in games two, three, four, and five." – Jeremiah Larsen
UP NEXT
The 'Cats open the season at 12:30 on August 26 against UC Riverside, followed by a match at 7:30 that same evening against Southern Utah. Prior to the match against the Thunderbirds, there will be a ring and banner ceremony in celebration of WSU's 2021 Big Sky Conference championship.
Weber State rounds out the tournament on August 27 in a match against the Mountain West's San Jose State Spartans at 5:30.
All regular season and postseason home and Big Sky Conference matches can be seen on ESPN+.
TICKETS
Season and single match tickets are on sale and can be purchased online or by calling the Weber State ticket office at 801-626-8500.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow Weber State volleyball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date with everything happening with the Wildcats.
Team Stats
USAFA
Weber
Kills
44
49
Errors
23
22
Attempts
128
145
Hitting %
.164
.186
Points
59
70
Assists
39
42
Aces
8
11
Blocks
7
10
Game Leaders
Kills
16
Aces
3
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOPP
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
L/DS
/ Women's VolleyballOPP
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