WILMINGTON, N.C. — Appalachian State University volleyball dropped its second-consecutive five-set contest (26-24, 22-25, 25-22, 18-25, 12-15) to Davidson in the Springhill Suites Invitational in Wilmington on Saturday morning.
The Mountaineers were led offensively by a pair of freshmen as Kara Spicer and Lexi Kohut finished with 17 and 13 kills, respectively. Kohut also registered three service aces.
Ashlyn Brown had 49 assists and also made 12 digs for her second-consective double-double this season. Olivia Loeffler had a team-high 22 digs.
Despite being down 20-15 midway through the first set, the Mountaineers used four kills from Melissa McMath, two kills by Spicer and a couple Wildcat errors to take the first set, 26-24.
In the second set, neither team was able to get a lead higher than three points as Appalachian held the lead for most of the set before Davidson went on a 3-0 run to take its first lead, 23-21. The Wildcats would close out the set, 25-22, and tie the match 1-1.
Davidson built off its momentum from the second set and started set three on a 4-0 run. App State responded and was able to cut the deficit down to one and get the score to 11-10. The teams would trade points over the next 18 rallies until App tied the set at 20-20 on a Kohut kill. The Black and Gold commanded the final rallies to win the set 25-22.
Needing to win the fourth set, Davidson jumped out to a 17-11 lead. The Apps would get to within three points of the Wildcats, but Davidson would ultimately force a fifth set.
Much like the third set, App State and Davidson would trade points in set five until the Wildcats forced a match point up 14-10. A kill by Spicer followed by a block by Emma Longley and Courtney Sullivan would then force a Davidson timeout. App State couldn't recover from the two-point deficit and lost the set 15-12.
Appalachian will return to play tonight against the host UNCW Seahawks at 7:30 p.m.
