BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State University volleyball earned its third victory of the season in a tight four-set battle (25-23, 28-26, 22-25, 25-22) against South Dakota State in the University of North Dakota Classic in Grand Forks, N.D., on Friday morning.
Melissa McMath tied her season high with 18 kills and Lexi Kohut also registered double-digits kills with 14. Grace Morrison tallied seven kills, a new career-high for the freshman outside hitter.
Ashlyn Brown paced the offense with 42 assists and also made 18 digs for her seventh double-double of the season.
Defensively, Olivia Loeffler made 15 digs and Sydney Farthing collected 11. Kara Spicer set a new career-high with seven blocks, which is also the most any Mountaineer has made in a single game this season.
In the opening set, the Mountaineers were up 23-19 before the Jack Rabbits responded with a 3-1 run to come within one point, but McMath would seal the set on her fifth kill of that set, 25-23.
South Dakota State reached set point in the second set with the score 24-22. App State used a service error, a Kohut service ace and a kill by McMath to take a 25-24 lead. The Jack Rabbits answered and reached its second set point up 26-25 before back-to-back kills by McMath and another service ace put the Mountaineers up 2-0.
The third set went in favor of the South Dakota State, 25-22.
In set four, the Mountaineers used a 9-0 run to jump out to an early 10-5 lead, but the Jack Rabbits would go on their own 5-0 run to go up 20-19. App State would work its way back, however, and use a kill by Cassidy Stephenson to take the match, 25-22.
The Mountaineers will play one more match tonight as part of the UND Classic. That contest will feature the host North Dakota and is set to begin at 8:00 p.m. CST.
