DURHAM, N.C. – Appalachian State junior libero
Emma Reilly recorded the 1,000
th dig of her career as the Mountaineers topped Wofford 3-0 and fell to UNC Wilmington 3-2 on Friday during the first day of the Duke Invitational on Friday.
Reilly recorded her milestone dig in the opening set of App State's (2-3) contest against Wofford (0-5). She now has 1,021 in her career and is 141 digs shy of 10
th place in program history.
In the opening set against Wofford, App State scored four of the final five points of the frame to win it by a 25-23 count.
Grace Morrison had three kills down the stretch for the Black and Gold to key the opening frame victory.
Is Set 2, App State broke a 6-6 tie with a 5-1 spurt to take an 11-7 lead. The Terriers battled back to tie the score at 14-14, before the Black and Gold answered right back with four of the next five points to take an 18-15 advantage. The Mountaineers never relinquished the lead, posting a 25-20 victory to take a 2-0 lead.
In the third set, the Mountaineers jumped out to a 9-6 lead, only to see Wofford score three straight points to tie the score at 9-9. The Black and Gold responded and opened a 19-13 lead and never looked back, taking the set 25-19 to finish off the sweep.
Reilly posted 26 digs in the contest, giving her 20 or more digs in four matches this season.
Sydney Farthing also reached double figures in digs with 11.
On offense,
Kara Spicer hit .368 and finished with 11 kills.
Emma Longley added nine kills,
Grace Morrison had eight kills and
Anna Kincaid and
Victoria Wilform each posted six kills.
Sam Bickley finished with 34 assists.
Against UNCW (4-0), the Seahawks jumped out to an early 11-6 lead and never trailed en route a 25-20 opening set victory.
The second set saw the two teams tied at 18-18. From there, App State reeled off three consecutive points, including back-to-back service aces from Reilly, to take a 21-18 lead. Following a UNCW point, the Mountaineers tallied the final four points of the set, capped off by block assists from Spicer and Bickley to tie the score at a set apiece.
The third stanza was also tight, with no team holding a lead larger than three points. App State used kills from Wilform, Longley and Spicer to turn a 15-15 tie into a 18-15 advantage. The Seahawks battled back to take a 22-21 lead, only to see the Black and Gold jump back in front 23-22 on a kill from Morrison. Leading 24-23, Spicer clinched the set for the Mountaineers with a kill to give them a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth set, UNCW opened a late 24-22 lead, only to see App State answer with three consecutive points to take a 25-24 lead. However, the Seahawks came right back with three straight points to win the set and force a deciding fifth frame.
In the fifth set, App State jumped out to a 10-7 lead, only to see UNCW counter with eight of the next 10 points to win the set 15-12 and clinch the victory.
Spicer and Longley each finished 17 kills apiece. Spicer hit .667 in the contest, while Longley finished with 14 digs for her third consecutive double-double.
In all, five Mountaineers finished with double digit digs. Reilly led the way with 25, followed by Longley (14),
Grace Kinsch (12), Farthing (11) and Bickley (10). Bickley also dished out a career-best 58 assists for her first double-double of her career.
App State will close out play at the Duke Invitational on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. versus the host Blue Devils on ACC Network Extra. The Black and Gold will then travel to play at Clemson at Tuesday at 7 p.m.
