CLEMSON, S.C. -- Appalachian State volleyball suffered a 3-1 loss to Radford in the First Round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) on Thursday evening on the campus of Clemson.
The Mountaineers see their season come to a close with a 22-9 record. Radford improves to 22-6 and advances to take on either Clemson or Alabama A&M in the second round on Friday.
Kara Spicer paced the Mountaineer offense with 16 kills on a .343 hitting mark, to go along with four total blocks (three assists, one solo).
Emma Longley added 13 kills and nine digs.
Grace Morrison had eight kills,
Amya Giger had seven kills and
Victoria Wilform had six kills.
Becky Porter tallied her team leading 12th double-double of the season with 44 assists and 18 digs.
Emma Reilly finished with 19 digs,
Sydney Hinds added 12 digs and
Sydney Farthing chipped in with nine.
In the first set, the Mountaineers used a 5-1 run to open a 13-7 lead. App State continued to pull away and built a 21-12 lead. Radford used a late rally to cut the Mountaineer to 24-23, but a kill from Spicer gave the Black and Gold the opening set 25-23.
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The Highlanders took control of Set 2, breaking an 8-8 tie with seven straight points to open a 15-8 edge. The Black and Gold pulled to within five points, but could get no closer, dropping the set 25-17.
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In Set 3, Radford broke a 7-7 tie with two straight points. The Highlanders held the lead and were clinging to a 21-20 lead, before winning the final four points to take the frame 25-20.
In the fourth set, App State scored three straight points early on to jump in front 4-3. Radford answered back with a 9-1 run to open a 12-5 lead, only to see the Mountaineers respond with five straight points to trim the deficit to 12-10. Trailing 21-19, the Highlanders reeled off four straight points to clinch the set and victory.
Despite the loss, the Mountaineers conclude the season with 22 victories, marking the most for the program since the 2015 season. App State also won the Sun Belt East Division title for the first time since the conference moved to a division format in the 2016 season.
