BOONE, N.C. -- App State volleyball topped Georgia State 3-1 (25-15, 25-18, 20-25, 28-26) on Friday evening to give head coach
Matt Ginipro his 200th win as head coach of the Mountaineers.
Ginipro is now just one of two coaches in program history to win 200 matches, joining Toni Wyatt, who has 233.
Lexi Kohut had another strong performance for the Mountaineers (1-3, 1-3 SBC) with a match-high 19 kills. She also had nine digs.
Kara Spicer had nine kills,
Grace Morrison had eight kills and
Daryn Armstrong chipped in with six kills.
Sam Bickley posted a near double-double with 39 assists and nine digs.
Emma Reilly tallied a match-high 27 digs for App State.
App State used a 7-1 run in the opening frame to build a 13-6 lead. Georgia State (2-9, 1-8 SBC) cut the Mountaineer lead to five points at 16-11, only to see the Black and Gold respond with four consecutive points to take a 20-11 lead. App State opened as large of a lead of 11 points at 23-12 and took the opening set 25-15.
Set 2 was tight through the first half, before the Mountaineers used a 5-0 run to open a 18-13 advantage. Following a Panther point, the Black and Gold went on a 4-0 run to take a 22-14 lead. Georgia State pulled within five late, but back-to-back kills from Spicer gave the Mountaineers the set 25-18.
Georgia State won the first five points of the third set to take an early lead. App State chipped away and tied the score at 17-17, only to see the Panthers close the set on an 8-3 run to force a fourth frame.
Set 4 was tight throughout and the Mountaineers found themselves up 22-20 late. The Panthers scored the next three points to take the lead, before App State tied it on a Panther attack error. App State used a kill from Spicer to save a set point and tie the set at 25-25, only to see Georgia State take the lead right back. From there, the Black and Gold used an attack error, block assists from
McCall Denny and Spicer and another attack error to clinch the victory.
In all, App State hit .160 in the contest and limited the Panthers to .067 hitting.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Both contests will be broadcast on ESPN+.
