COLORADO SPRINGS/DENVER, Colo. – Back on the road for their third tournament of the season, the University of San Francisco volleyball team (7-1) will compete in the Thin Air Challenge this weekend as the Dons will square off against UC San Diego, University of Denver and Air Force across Friday and Saturday.
 
First, USF will battle UC San Diego at 10:00 am PT in a neutral site matchup in Colorado Springs (Air Force Academy) before making the trip east for a 5:00 pm PT showdown at the University of Denver. Closing out their weekend, the Dons will head back to Colorado Springs to face Air Force on Saturday morning at 11:00 am PT.
 
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION:
 
Match 9-
Date: Friday, Sept. 16, 2022
Time: 10:00 am PT
Opponent: UC San Diego / Cadet East Gym
Location: Colorado Springs, Colo. 
Watch: Mountain West Network
Live Statistics: StatBroadcast
 
Match 10-
Date: Friday, Sept. 16, 2022
Time: 5:00 pm PT
Opponent: University of Denver
Location: Denver, Colo. / Hamilton Gymnasium
Watch: Pioner All-Access 
Live Statistics: SIDEARM Live Stats
 
Match 11-
Date: Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022
Time: 11:00 am PT
Opponent: Air Force
Location: Colorado Springs, Colo. / Cadet East Gym 
Watch: Mountain West Network 
Live Statistics: StatBroadcast
 
DONS AT A GLANCE:

• With a 7-1 record heading into the weekend, USF is off to their best start to a season since 2015, when the Dons began a perfect 13-0 to kick off the year. Last week, the Dons recorded their third sweep of the 2022 season with a dominant 3-0 win over Penn on Saturday, Sept. 10.
• Turning things around from a year ago, USF has seen a resurgence on both sides of the ball this season as the Dons currently ranks in the top five in the WCC as a team in opponent hitting percentage (.174, second), service aces per set (1.79, second), hitting percentage (.226, third), assists per set (11.30, third) and kills per set (12.70, third). Individually, Orsula Staka ranks third in the WCC in hitting percentage (.354), Aylen Ayub ranks fourth in assists per set (8.42) and Claire Crijns (2.93, seventh) and Maria Petkova (2.86, ninth) rank in the top ten in kills per set (2.93).
• Looking ahead, these three matches in Colorado will mark the final non-conference matches of the season for USF as the Dons will begin WCC play in their next home match against Santa Clara on Friday, Sept. 23 at 7:00 pm at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.   

SCOUTING THE TRITONS:

• Last time out, the Tritons played three tightly contested five-set matches as they hosted the UC San Diego Invitational on Sept. 9 + 10, but ultimately fell to their opponents in all three matches. Notably, UCSD was defeated by fellow WCC foe Pacific, 3-2, in their final match of the tournament on Saturday, Sept. 10.
• After three weeks of non-conference action, UC San Diego currently sits in a tie for fourth place in the Big West standings as the Tritons also rank in the top five in the conference in multiple team categories including hitting percentage (.222, second), blocks (2.59 avg/s, third) and assists (11.16 avg/s, fourth).
• Individually, Ava McInnes ranks third in the Big West in points (4.43 avg/s) and kills (3.83 avg/s), while Izzi Strand ranks sixth in assists (8.38 avg/s). Additionally, Shara Da Silva ranks third in the conference in blocks per set (1.36 avg/s) and first in total blocks (49) while Naya Dong ranks seventh in digs per set (3.47 avg/s) respectively.
• Overall, McInnes and Emily McDaniel headline a talented group of returners for the Tritons as both were named Big West Honorable Mentions and to the Big West All-Freshman Team in their first seasons at UCSD in 2021.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS:

• Denver enters the weekend with a 3-5 overall record as the Pioneers currently lead the Summit League as a team in aces per set (1.77), blocks per set (2.95), opponent hitting percentage (.188) and total blocks (91.5). Defensively, DU also ranks 22^nd in Division I in total blocks with 91.5.
• This year, Denver was picked to finish first in the Summit League Preseason Poll as the Crimson and Gold are coming off a 23-6 record in 2021, which marked the program's ninth consecutive winning season. Notably, the Pioneers have won five of the last seven Summit League Tournament Championships. Entering the 2022 season, Denver holds the 13th best win percentage (.803) in all of Division I over the past five years, with a record of 110-27 across this span.
• Leading the charge for DU, the duo of Cadi Boyer (second, 1.50) and Brianna Green (fourth, 1.29) rank in the top five in the Summit League in blocks per set while Lorrin Poulter currently ranks fifth in assists with 258.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS:

• Starting strong on the season, Air Force enters the tournament with a 7-2 overall record as the Falcons are off to their best start since 2016, when the team won seven of their first nine matches.
• Dominating all over the court, Air Force is led by Joi Harvey, who leads the team with 104 kills while also ranking in the top 20 in Division I with an average of 1.51 blocks per set. Overall, her 56 total blocks also rank second in the nation as her 10 solo blocks are tied for third and her 46 assisted blocks are ranked fourth. Additionally, Caroline Reinkensmeyer is ranked among the top ten in the Mountain West in aces (0.46) and assists per set (5.49).
• All-time, USF is 2-2 against Air Force as the programs have squared off four times in their history.

TRACK THE ACTION:
Live streaming and live statistics for all three of this weekend's matches are available via the team's schedule page.
 
FOLLOW US:
For more information and updates on the University of San Francisco volleyball program, be sure to follow the Dons on Twitter @USFDonsVB, @USFDonsVB on Instagram and @USFDonsVball on Facebook.