ATLANTA, Ga. – App State volleyball recorded a thrilling 3-2 (26-24, 21-25, 25-23, 9-25, 15-8) victory over Georgia State for its first Sun Belt victory of the season on Friday evening.
The two teams split the first four sets, with App State (5-10, 1-2 SBC) winning the first and third set and the Panthers (3-10, 0-3 SBC) taking Set 2 and Set 4.
The fifth set saw App State break a 4-4 tie with seven consecutive points, getting a pair of kills each from
Anna Kincaid and
Victoria Wilform, to open an 11-4 lead. Georgia State pulled within five points at 12-7, before another Wilform kill and Panthers attack error gave the Mountaineers a 14-7 edge. Following a Georgia State point, the Mountaineers clinched the set and victory on a Panther attack error.
Both
McCall Denny and Wilform recorded double doubles for the Black and Gold. Wilform finished with 14 kills and a career-high 15 digs, while Denny added 11 kills and a career-best 18 digs. Kincaid tallied 11 kills, while
Lulu Ambrose added 10 kills.
Emma Reilly finished with a match-high 21 digs.
Sophie Cain dished out 32 assists and
Sam Bickley recorded 12 assists.
In the first set, the Mountaineers opened up a 21-16 lead late in the frame. Georgia State answered with four consecutive points to pull within a point at 21-20. The Panthers took a late 24-23 lead, only to see App State score three straight points, getting kills from Ambrose and Denny, to win the opening set 26-24.
In Set 2, Georgia State used a 3-0 run to build a 14-10 advantage midway through the frame. The Panthers pushed their lead to as large as six points and App State could get no closer than three points, falling 25-21.
Georgia State jumped out an 8-3 lead in the third set, before App State used a 5-1 run to tie the score at 10-10. The Panthers won the next three points to take a 13-10 lead. Later in the set, App State used a 5-0 run to build an 18-15 edge, only to see the Panthers answer with the next five points to take a 20-18 lead. The Mountaineers battled back to tie the score and used a service ace and kill from Kincaid to take a 24-22 lead. Following a Panthers point, Wilform clinched the set for the Mountaineers with a kill.
The Panthers opened up a 11-2 lead in the fourth set and never looked back, forcing a fifth and deciding frame with a 25-9 victory. But the Mountaineers used a large run in the fifth set to take control and finish off the victory.
The Mountaineers eye a weekend sweep on Sunday afternoon at Georgia Southern. First serve is set for noon on ESPN+.
