GREENSBORO, N.C. – Appalachian State volleyball picked up a 3-1 victory over UNCG on Sunday, Oct. 2 in a battle of the top two teams in the SoCon North.

The four-set victory (22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-20) gave the Mountaineers (11-7, 3-1) sole possession of first place in the SoCon North while the Spartans (9-10, 2-2) fell back into a three-way tie for second place with Elon and Western Carolina.

UNCG fell behind 15-11 in the first set before rallying to make it 21-20 and force an ASU timeout. After collecting themselves following the stoppage of play, the Apps score to take a 22-20 advantage and knock the Spartans back on the ropes.

The home team would answer with five-straight points to take a 25-22 win in the first set and give the Mountaineers just their second first-set loss in their last seven matches.

Appalachian fought back to take a 9-8 lead in the second set, but the Spartans used a 4-0 run to retake the lead at 12-9 midway through the second stanza. The Mountaineers rallied to tie the set at 13-13 as the teams traded blows the rest of the way.

The second set featured 16 ties and four lead changes and was tied at 23-23 before the Apps put the set away with back-to-back kills from Kasey Sauls (Prairie Village, Kan./Shawnee Mission East) and Kelly Rhein (York, Pa/Virginia/York Catholic).

UNCG jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the third set, but ASU came back to take a 7-6 lead before extending its advantage to14-10. The Spartans, who also trailed 17-12, bounced back with a 5-1 run to cut the Apps' lead to just one point (18-17). Appalachian was able to put the set away by scoring seven of the final 10 points en route to a 25-20 set win.

Appalachian found itself behind (13-12) midway through the fourth set before rallying to take a 14-13 lead. UNCG would tie the match twice in the closing moments, but were unable to retake the lead as the Mountaineers put an emphatic end to the match on a service ace from Sauls to pick up a 25-20 set win.

Anna Wagner (Lincoln, Neb./Florida Gulf Coast/Lincoln East) led ASU with 14 kills for the second-straight match while Alison Blasingame (Yorktown, Va./Virginia Tech/Grafton) notched 10 kills.

Sauls and Lauren Brown (Overland Park, Kan./St. James Academy) finished with 26 and 20 assists, respectively. Courtney Rhein (York, Pa./Eastern York) recorded 23 digs.

Appalachian finished with a .271 attack percentage while holding UNCG to just a .200 mark. The Mountaineers also finished with twice as many blocks (12) as the Spartans (6). Blasingame and Meghann Forshey (Glen Allen, Va./Deep Run) each recorded five block assists.

The Mountaineers return to action at Georgia Southern on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. ET before heading back to the High Country for three-straight SoCon matches.