BOONE, N.C. -- Appalachian State volleyball moved into first place in the Sun Belt East Division with a 25-19, 25-22, 25-14 sweep of Coastal Carolina on Friday evening inside the Holmes Center.
App State (14-7, 6-3 SBC) entered the contest sitting a half game behind the Chanticleers (6-10, 5-3 SBC). The two teams will square off again in Conway on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
The Black and Gold set the tone early, scoring the first five points of the match to jump out to a 5-0 lead. App State used a 5-1 run later in Set 1 to open a 16-7 advantage. Coastal Carolina chipped away at the Mountaineer lead, pulling to within three points at 21-18 late in the opening frame. But App State won four of the final five points, with
Emma Longley clinching the set with back-to-back kills.
The second set was tight featuring 11 ties and five lead changes. The Chanticleers erased a three-point deficit midway through the set and found themselves ahead 22-20. From there, App State reeled off the final five points of the set to take a 2-0 lead.
A 7-0 run in Set 3 saw the Black and Gold turn a 6-4 advantage into a 13-4 lead. Coastal Carolina would get no closer than six points the rest of the way, as
Daryn Armstrong and
Grace Morrison finished off the sweep with block assists on a Coastal Carolina attack.
Longley led the Mountaineers on offense, tallying a match-high 12 kills on a .222 hitting mark. She also finished with five digs.
Kara Spicer registered 11 kills on a .304 hitting mark and
Lexi Kohut had 11 kills, while hitting .261.
Becky Porter posted a near double-double with a match-high 33 assists and nine digs.
Emma Reilly finished with a team-high 10 digs, while
Sydney Hinds chipped in with seven.
As a team, the Mountaineers registered 43 kills in the sweep and hit .237.
Following the meeting with Coastal Carolina on Sunday, Appalachian State will return to the Holmes Center and take on South Alabama at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 in the first of four consecutive home matches.
