LOGAN, Utah – With Air Force at match point in set three, Utah State's 13-straight home match winning streak looked to be in jeopardy.
 
But the Aggies proved once again why Club Estes is one of the hottest places in town.
 
"It was crazy," junior outside hitter Tatum Stall said. "We were resilient. We just kept fighting. We were just hitting balls to the wall. We just had to be super disciplined, and that's how we fought all the way through set three to set five."
 
Air Force (8-5, 0-1 MW) came into the teams' Mountain West opener ready to battle, taking the first two sets 25-21 and 25-20 inside the Wayne Estes Center on Thursday night.
 
Set three stayed tight, featuring 12 ties and four lead changes with neither team leading by more than four points. A 4-0 USU run, capped by a kill from Stall, gave Utah State (9-3, 1-0 MW) the 18-17 advantage. Air Force came back to hold a 19-18 edge before the teams traded points with the Falcons taking set point 24-23.
 
Senior opposite side hitter Kylee Stokes evened the score with a kill before a hammer from Stall gave the Aggies their own set point 25-24. Senior middle blocker Kennedi Boyd kept USU afloat in the match with a solo block for the 26-24 set three victory.
 
Utah State came out hot in set four as a Stall service ace put USU on top 11-3. Air Force fought back to trim the edge to 12-9 before a kill from redshirt freshman opposite side hitter Kaylie Ray ended the Falcon spurt.
 
Kills from Stokes and Boyd, as well as a Falcon attacking error, later gave the Aggies the 17-10 advantage. USU closed out the set with a 4-0 run with a Ray kill clinching the 25-14 set four Utah State win.
 
Air Force took a 7-2 lead in the final set before Utah State had a 7-1 spurt of their own to lead 9-8. A kill from senior outside hitter Shelby Capllonch gave the Aggies the 12-10 advantage, but four-straight Falcon points put Air Force at match point 14-12.
 
But the night wasn't over yet.
 
Back-to-back kills from Capllonch and Boyd evened things up at 14-apiece. The Falcons reached match point twice more before a Stall kill and Falcon error put the Aggies on top 17-16. After some back and forth, another Capllonch kill once again gave USU match point before Boyd and Ray blocked a Falcon attack to clinch the 20-18 set five victory and 3-2 match win.
 
"Welcome to the Mountain West Conference," head coach Rob Neilson said. "Every team is going to battle. Every team is good. That is a scrappy and resilient Air Force team. They gave us all we could handle. This team is unbelievable. Our team is unbelievable under pressure, making plays when it matters. We've done it all year, and that was another example of us just battling."
 
The Aggies have now won 14-straight matches at home and are 18-1 in their last 19 matches played in Logan. USU is also undefeated this season in matches that have gone to more than three sets.
 
Overall, USU hit .149 (61-35-174), while Air Force hit .141 (51-27-180). Stall led Utah State with a career-high-tying 21 kills for her second-straight match. Capllonch and Stokes also recorded double-digit hammers with 12 and 10, respectively.
 
Both Aggie setters finished with double-doubles as freshman Leah Wilton-LaBoy had 28 assists and 11 digs, while sophomore Beatriz Rodrigues had 26 assists and 11 digs. Capllonch led the team with a match-high 20 digs, while redshirt sophomore libero Jordi Holdaway added 15. Boyd finished the night with a team-high five blocks.
 
Utah State is back inside the Wayne Estes Center on Saturday, Sept. 24, as the Aggies host New Mexico (9-2, 0-1 MW) at 11 a.m.
 
Fans can follow the Aggie volleyball program on Twitter, @USUVolleyball, on Facebook at /USUVolleyball or on Instagram, @usuvolleyball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter, @USUAthletics, Facebook at /USUAthletics and on Instagram, @USUAthletics.
 
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