BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University volleyball dropped its final match of the Appalachian Invitational in a 3-1 defeat (20-25, 25-20, 24-26, 21-25) on Saturday night at the Holmes Center.
For the second consecutive match, three Mountaineers finished with double-digit kills and were led by Kara Spicer who tied her career-high with 17 kills. Melissa McMath and Lexi Kohut rounded out the App State offense with 13 kills apiece.
Ashlyn Brown picked up her sixth double-double in as many games played with 39 assists and 11 digs.
Defensively, Emma Reilly set a new career-high with 15 digs. She was followed by Sydney Hinds who had 12 digs.
Spicer was named to the all-tournament team and tallied 37 kills with a .440 hitting percentage over the weekend.
Virginia jumped out a 6-2 lead in the opening set. McMath answered with a kill and sparked a 3-0 run to get within one point, 6-5. The Cavaliers would pull away and get up by as many as five points, which end up being the final margin, 25-20.
Down 10-6 in the second set, a Kohut kill ignited a 6-0 App State run to take a 12-10 advantage. Virginia regained the lead 13-12, but Appalachian went on a 12-7 run and capped the set on a Cavalier service error.
Despite bringing over momentum from the second set win, App State fell behind 14-7 in the thrid set. The Mountaineers would use an 10-2 run to take their first lead of the set, 17-16. Both teams traded points over the next twelve rallies until Virginia reached set point up 24-23. Spicer tied the set up at 24-24 on her eleventh kill of the match, but back-to-back Cavalier kills sealed a 26-24 set win and a 2-1 match advantage.
Much like the end of the third set, neither team could pull away in set four or get a lead higher than three points until Virginia took the set and the match 25-21.
The Mountaineers will return to action on Friday, Sept. 8 when they travel to North Dakota for the UND Classic. Applachian will play South Dakota State and North Dakota on Friday and then face George Washington and North Dakota State on Saturday.
