Sept. 23, 2004

Box Score

Remember the old joke of "I just flew into town and my arms are tired."

Well - the University of Texas-Pan American women's volleyball team might have had a case of jet-lag on Thursday (Sept. 23) as the Lady Broncs (5-6) were swept by the Air Force Academy (4-4) in straight sets (30-22, 30-22, 30-18) in USAFA, CO.

The Lady Broncs held a 1-0 lead in the first and third games of the evening, but it proved to be the only advantage that UTPA would possess during the match. In the first set, the Falcons jumped out to a 14-6 lead until the Lady Broncs closed the gap to 18-13. Air Force responded with a 6-0 run of its own, and sailed to a 30-22 victory. In that game, the Falcons held a distinct advantage in hitting percentage, finishing with a .425 mark compared to UTPA's .132.

Game two proved to be similar to the first outing - however this time, the Falcons never trailed en route to a 30-22 triumph. In the third and final game, UTPA once again jumped out to a 1-0 lead, but the Falcons went on a torrid 9-1 run before the Lady Broncs put together a 4-0 to close the margin. After UTPA's short spurt, the Falcons would never allow the Lady Broncs to get within seven points and cruised to a 30-18 victory.

Kristen Hamlett finished with a match-high 14 kills and also added seven digs while Lamecca Jefferson notched a double-double (kills-digs) with 13 kills and 11 digs. Rebecca Gallegos ended the match with 12 kills and seven digs, and Carly Siefkon quarterbacked the Falcons' offense with 42 assists.

Sophomore Heather Bravo (Las Vegas, NV/Durango H.S.) finished with eight kills and eight digs to lead the Lady Broncs, who ended with a hitting percentage of .085 compared to Air Force's .286 mark. Carol Marcengo (Curitiba, Brazil/SPEI H.S.) put together her second consecutive double-digit digs performance with a match-high 15 digs. Sophomore Karen Lyons (McAllen, TX/McAllen Memorial H.S.) dished out 14 assists and racked up eight digs for the Lady Broncs.

The UTPA women's volleyball team will compete in the Northern Colorado Invitational this weekend with its first match coming against the host team on Friday (Sept. 24) with match time slated for 7:00 p.m.

UTPA Sports Information