Volleyball Posts 3-1 Victory at Georgia Southern

STATESBORO, Ga. -- Kara Spicer posted a season-high 19 kills as Appalachian State volleyball recorded a 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-17) victory at Georgia Southern on Friday evening.

Spicer hit .275 in the match and also tallied five blocks (three solo, two assists). She now has notched double figure kills in 19 matches this season and bettered her previous season-high of 18 kills, set on Sept. 12 against Western Carolina.

Emma Longley tallied her team leading 10th double-double of the season with 13 kills and 16 digs. Sam Bickley finished with her eighth double-double of the season, tallying 49 assists and 13 digs.

Victoria Wilform had nine kills and Anna Kincaid and Grace Morrison each finished with seven.

On defense, Emma Reilly recorded a match-high 27 digs. Reilly also moved into fifth place in program history in career digs with the 1,384th of her Mountaineer career in the match. 

Grace Kinsch had 11 digs and Sydney Farthing chipped in with nine digs.

App State (10-16, 6-7 SBC) broke a 10-10 tie in the first set with two straight points, capped off by a kill by Spicer. Georgia Southern (7-17, 2-11 SBC) battled back to tie the score at 18-18 and scored four consecutive points to take a 22-18 lead. The Mountaineers pulled within two points at 24-22, before the Eagles won the final point of the set on a block assist.
 
In Set 2, the Black and Gold found themselves down 22-18, before getting a kill from Morrison, Wilform and Spicer and a service ace from Farthing to tie the score at 22-22. Following a Georgia Southern point, the Mountaineers reeled off the final three points of the set to win the frame 25-23 and knot the match at a set apiece.
 
In the third set, the Eagles jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, only to see the Mountaineers post a 4-0 run of their own to take a 10-8 lead. App State used another 5-0 run to break a 13-13 tie and open an 18-13 advantage. The Eagles pulled within two points at 20-18, but the Black and Gold responded with two straight points to build its lead back to four and eventually win the set 25-21.

The Mountaineers used an early 5-0 run in the fourth set to take an 8-3 lead. The Eagles stormed back to tie the score at 13-13, before the Black and Gold answered with another 5-0 spurt to take a 18-13 advantage. App State opened a lead as large of nine points in the final frame and cliched the set and victory on a kill from Bickley.

App State registered 58 kills in the victory and hit .200, while Georgia Southern had 51 kills and hit .205.

The Mountaineers will play their final road contest of the regular season on Saturday at Georgia State at 6:30 p.m.