TROY, Ala. –
Emma Longley notched her team-high eighth double-double of the season, but Appalachian State volleyball dropped a 3-1 (27-29, 25-16, 25-17, 25-22) decision at Troy on Friday evening.
Longley finished with 12 kills and 12 digs. She has now posted double digit kills in all 11 Sun Belt contests this season.
Kara Spicer also reached double figures in kills for the Mountaineers (9-15, 5-6 SBC), tallying 10, while adding six block solos.
Victoria Wilform had seven kills and
Grace Morrison finished with six kills.
On defense,
Emma Reilly finished with a match-high 21 digs, marking the 12th match of the season in which she has had 20 or more digs.
Sam Bickley dished out a team-high 21 assists and
Sammy Luscher added 19 assists.
The first set was tight and saw neither team take a lead larger than three points. Spicer tied the set at 22-22 with a block solo and teamed up with
Amya Giger on the next point for a block assist to give the Mountaineers a 23-22 lead. Troy (18-6, 8-4 SBC) won the next two points, but Spicer saved a set point with a kill. With the score knotted at 27-27, the Black and Gold got a kill from
Anna Kincaid to take a 28-27 advantage and clinched the set on the next point on block assists from Kincaid and Luscher.
In the Set 2, Troy used a 5-1 run to take a 9-3 advantage and then used a 9-0 run later in the set to take a 19-5 lead. The Mountaineers pulled within eight points late in the set, but fell 25-16.
The Trojans took a 9-6 lead in Set 3 only to see the Black and Gold answer with three straight points to tie the score at 9-9. With the scored knotted at 11-11, Troy scored six straight points to open a 17-11 lead. The Mountaineers scored four consecutive points later on to trim their deficit to three points at 19-16, but Troy came right back with five straight to open a 24-16 edge. Troy took a two sets to one lead with a 25-17 victory in the third set.
The Mountaineers took a 6-5 lead early in Set 4 off a kill from Giger and a Trojan attack error. Troy won the next three points to open an 8-6 lead and used another 3-0 spurt to build a 15-11 edge. The Black and Gold cut its deficit to two points four times in the set, but were unable to get any closer, falling 25-22 in the final set of the contest.
Troy posted 54 kills in the match, while the Black and Gold finished with 48.
App State will play next on Saturday at South Alabama at 7:30 p.m. EST.
