Andrew Huse, Staff Photographer

Numbers alone can’t describe how the San Diego State volleyball team dismantled Air Force Sunday afternoon at Peterson Gym.

Coming off a disheartening five-game defeat against Colorado State on Friday, SDSU came out firing against the Falcons (3-22, 0-14 in Mountain West Conference) and put them away in a hurry.

It took just one hour and 17 minutes for the Aztecs to get by Air Force in three games (30-16, 30-8, 30-12).

SDSU (11-16, 5-10 in MWC) hit at a .407 rate for the match – its highest mark this season – next to Air Force’s .000, and had just 11 errors to the Falcons’ 19.

“I don’t think we were fired up (from Friday’s loss), but we came out very focused,” head coach Mark Warner said. “We knew we had to take care of business, and we played the type of error-free match that put all of the pressure on (Air Force).”

That pressure did the job it was supposed to.

The Falcons – who averaged just 12 points a game – were outscored by a total of 54 points, and, at times, looked completely lost. Adding to the frustration of bad play, Air Force felt the match was called unfairly. The disappointment – combined with anger – came to a climax in the third game.

Falcon’s head coach Penny Lucas-White disagreed with an out-of-bounds call, argued with the referee, kicked a chair and was eventually thrown out of the match.

“Penny is a real good friend of mine,” Warner said, “and I feel badly (for her) because I’ve been on that end before and I know how bad it feels.”

Senior outside hitter Melanie Greene had a strong game, hitting .385 with six kills and eight digs, but it was the other senior leader, right-side hitter Audra Dent, who stole the show.

Dent notched 15 kills along with six block assists, ending the match hitting at an astounding .619 rate.

“To win and play this well feels really good,” Dent said. “We know that Air Force works really hard, so we never take them lightly, and it’s our job to maintain a high level of play.”

Keeping up a strong attack was never a problem for SDSU. The Aztecs were never behind in the match and didn’t have any stretches of bad play – something they have done several times in the past that has resulted in many losses.

Throughout the season, SDSU has had many matches in which it gives up a string of points at crucial times, but that was not a problem Sunday afternoon.

“We’ve gotten better and much more consistent as the season progresses,” Warner said. “That’s exactly what we want as we get ready to go into the (MWC) tournament.”

News and Notes:

?Air Force is the only MWC team without a victory in league play.