LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Appalachian State volleyball suffered its first Sun Belt loss of the season at the hands of Little Rock by a 3-1 (25-21, 9-25, 25-22, 25-23) count on Saturday evening.
Emma Longley recorded her second straight and team-high eighth double-double of the season with 17 kills and a career-high 22 digs.
Kara Spicer added 16 kills on a .371 hitting percentage,
Victoria Wilform had 10 kills and
Anna Kincaid finished with a season-high eight kills on a .471 hitting percentage.
Emma Reilly tallied 20 digs, marking the 11th time this season she has had at least 20 digs in a match.
Grace Kinsch added 10 digs and
Sam Bickley posted her second straight double-double with 45 assists and 10 digs.
Little Rock (3-15, 1-5 SBC) jumped out to an early 10-3 lead in the opening frame, but App State (9-10, 5-1 SBC) responded with seven consecutive points to tie things at 10-10. Trailing 17-16, the Black Gold scored three straight points to jump in front 19-17. From there, the Trojans won eight of the next 10 points to take the opening frame 25-21.
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The Mountaineers took control of the second set with a 9-0 run early on to take a 12-2 advantage. The Black and Gold never looked back and cruised to a 25-9 victory to even the match at a set apiece.
Early in the third set, the Trojans used a 4-0 run to open a 7-2 lead. Little Rock pushed their lead to seven points at 11-4, only to see the Black and Gold win six of the next seven points to trim its deficit to 12-10. App State used a 5-1 run later in the set to open a 21-20 advantage. Little Rock responded with the next two points, but a block assist from
Grace Morrison and Kincaid tied the score at 22-22. From there, the Trojans won the final three points of the frame to win the set 25-22 and take a 2-1 lead.
Set 4 saw the Trojans break a 4-4 tie with six consecutive points. App State came right back with the next five points, but Little Rock scored three straight to open a 13-9 lead. The Black and Gold used a 3-0 spurt late in the set turn a one-point deficit into a two-point lead at 20-18. The Trojans answered with two points to tie the score at 20-20, before a kill from Longley gave App State a 21-20 edge. Little Rock took the lead back at 23-22, but a block by Kincaid and Wilform tied the score at 23-23. From there, Little Rock captured the final two points to clinch the victory.
App State finished with 55 kills and hit .162 in the contest, while the Trojans tallied 41 kills and hit .134.
The Mountaineers will take on Coastal Carolina in a pair of matches this upcoming week. App State will travel to Conway on Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. match and host the Chanticleers in Boone on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Black and Gold sit just a game behind Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt East Division standings.
