BOONE, N.C. -- Appalachian State volleyball extended its winning streak to four straight with a 3-2 (25-22, 13-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-12) victory over Troy in its regular season finale on Senior Day.
Prior to the start of the match, App State (13-16, 9-7 SBC) honored
Emma Longley and
Sydney Farthing for their contributions to the program. Longley finished with a match-high 22 kills on a .326 hitting percentage and eight digs, while moving into seventh place in program history in career kills with the 1,310th of her career. Farthing tallied six digs and three service aces in the win.
Kara Spicer added 11 kills on a .320 hitting mark.
Grace Morrison had seven kills and
Lexi Kohut had five kills.
Sam Bickley dished out 44 assists to go along with six digs, while
Emma Reilly finished with a match-high 17 digs.
Grace Kinsch chipped in with eight digs for the Mountaineers.
The opening frame featured nine ties and six lead changes. App State opened a 21-17 lead late, only to see Troy (21-8, 10-6 SBC) answer back with five straight points to take a 22-21 lead. From there, the Black and Gold used a service error, a pair of kills from Spicer and a service ace from Farthing to win the opening frame 25-22.
The Trojans took a commanding 10-3 lead in the second set and knotted the match at a set apiece with a 25-13 victory in Set 2. Troy then went in front 2-1 with a tight 25-23 victory in the third set.
In the fourth stanza, the Mountaineers scored four consecutive points to open a 15-9 advantage. Troy pulled within three points at 18-15, but the Mountaineers scored five consecutive points to take a 23-15 lead. App State went on to win the set 25-17 and force a fifth and deciding set.
The Black and Gold jumped out to a 4-1 lead early in the fifth frame, only to see Troy respond with five of the next six points to take a 6-5 advantage. With the score knotted at 7-7, the Mountaineers used a pair of Trojan attack errors to take a 9-7 lead. App State pushed its lead to 14-10, but the Trojans scored the next two points to make the score 14-12. Longley clinched the set and victory with a kill to give the Mountaineers their fourth straight win.
The Mountaineers finished with 55 kills and hit .195, while the Trojans tallied 64 kills and hit .250.
App State will shift its focus to the Sun Belt Tournament. The Mountaineers open play in the tournament on Thursday at a time and against a team that has yet to be announced.
