EL PASO, Texas — The Air Force volleyball team closed out its first Mountain West series against UTEP with a thrilling 3-2 victory this afternoon (Oct. 24) at Memorial Gym in El Paso. In another back-and-forth match that featured 43 ties and 14 lead changes, the Falcons came back for the 18-25, 25-23, 22-25, 28-26, 15-7 win over the host Miners – and captured the program’s first win over UTEP as a conference opponents (1997 WAC: 0-2, 2026 MW: 1-1).
Senior Annamaria Ramos (15) and junior Alysa Walker (14) combined for nearly half of the Falcons’ 60 kills, while both junior Mia Loyd (29) sophomore Sam Pope (21) surpassed the 20-assist mark in the win. Pope also served up two of the Falcons’ four aces, while classmate Sonia Donkeng Okpara accounted for a team-leading five blocks (all assisted). Freshman Ella Vogel registered a career-high 26 digs, while Walker (13) and Loyd (12) also accounted for double-digit dig totals. As a team, the Falcons out-hit UTEP by 39 points (.249-.210) – an accuracy that overcame the Miners’ 73-60 advantage in kills.
A kill from freshman Jenness Orcutt and an ace from junior Grace Fiaseu helped the Falcons to an early three-all tie to start the first, while three scores from Walker (two kills, block with Donkeng Okpara) gave Air Force a 7-6 lead. The Miners answered with eight of the next 10 scores and eventually entered the media timeout with a 15-11 advantage. Orcutt, who put down a kill to come out of the break (12-15), added another strike to halt a 6-1 run by UTEP at the 13-21 mark. Her second kill sparked a three-point run by the Falcons that included a kill from Donkeng Okpara and an ace from Pope. Ramos and junior Lainie Stapleton added kills, but UTEP took the opening set 25-18.
The Miners jumped out to a fast 5-1 lead to start the second, before Fiaseu and Donkeng Okpara put down kills to help the Falcons pull within two at the 6-8 mark. Kills from Ramos, Orcutt and Walker maintained that margin at the 10-12 mark, but UTEP extended its lead out to five and went into the media timeout with another 15-11 lead. Donkeng Okpara added two kills and a block with Walker, while a pair of strikes from Stapleton brought Air Force back within two at 18-20. Fiaseu and Walker teamed up for a block that cut the Falcons’ deficit to one (20-21) and added kills that led to a 23-all tie and sent the Miners into a timeout. Donkeng Okpara kept the Falcons’ momentum going, as she teamed up with Stapleton for a block and put down a kill to secure the comeback and give Air Force a 25-23 victory.
The teams traded points in the opening minutes of the third, with Ramos (one) and Walker (two) accounting for set-tying kills (3-3) and Ramos putting down strikes to tie the scores at six- and seven-all. An ace from Loyd gave the Falcons an 8-7 advantage, but UTEP responded with four of the next five points take an 11-9 lead. Orcutt and Walked tied the set at 12, but the Miners used another 4-1 run to go up 16-13 and, despite three kills from Ramos, pushed their lead to 22-16. Three UTEP errors and a Walker kill whittled the Falcons’ deficit down to two (22-24), but the Miners scored the final point for the 25-22 win.
Kills from Fiaseu and Walker, as well as four UTEP errors, helped the Falcons to a six-all tie in a back-and-forth start to the fourth. The Falcons answered a two-point swing by the Miners with a two-point run of their own (8-8) and the teams continued to trade scores. Ramos, Fiaseu and Walker (two) added kills for a 12-11 lead, while another strike from Ramos sent the Falcons into the break with a 15-14 advantage. Stapleton tied the set at 16, while back-to-back attacking errors by the Miners allowed the Falcons to even the set at 19. Orcutt (kill) and Walker (block) tied the score at 22, while Stapleton (23-22), Donkeng Okpara (24-23), Ramos (26-25) and Fiaseu (27-26) all put down set-leading kills for the Falcons. A block from Fiaseu and Ramos halted the back-and-forth play and gave Air Force the 28-26 match-tying win.
Ramos and Walker helped the Falcons to an early 3-1 lead in the deciding set, while a block from Orcutt and Donkeng Okpara kept the Air Force in the lead at 4-3. After the Miners went ahead two plays later, a block from Stapleton and Donkeng Okpara, as well as three more UTEP errors, pushed the Falcons; lead to 8-6. After the Miners scored the next point (8-7), Air Force took control of the set. Four kills (Stapleton, Ramos, Orcutt, Fiaseu) and a Ramos/Fiaseu block headlined a set-ending 7-0 run for Air Force, who took the easy, 15-7 victory and improved to 3-0 in five-set matches this season.
Air Force remains on the road next week, when it travels to Las Vegas, Nev., for Mountain West matches against UNLV on Thursday, Oct. 29, and Saturday, Oct. 31.
