Volleyball Tops Gardner-Webb, Falls to UTRGV on Day 1 of Pirate Invitational

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- App State volleyball defeated Gardner-Webb and fell to UT Rio Grande Valley on Day 1 of the Pirate Invitational, hosted by ECU.

The Mountaineers (4-7) topped Gardner-Webb (3-6) 28-26, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22.

McCall Denny paced App State with 13 kills and five digs, while adding three blocks. Sophie Cain and Victoria Wilform each posted near double-doubles. Cain dished out 26 assists and added nine digs, while Wilform added 10 kills, nine digs and five service aces.

Anna Kincaid chipped in with seven kills on a .312 hitting mark and Emma Reilly tallied 20 digs.

The first frame saw the Runnin' Bulldogs take a 13-10 lead. But App State countered with the next four points to jump in front 14-13. The teams traded the lead back and forth and App State jumped in front late in the set 25-24 off a Gardner-Webb attack error. Gardner-Webb tied the score at 25-25, but Denny put App State in front with another kill. Following another Runnin' Bulldog point, the Black and Gold used a service error and kill from Lily Harvey to win the opening set 28-26.
 
In Set 2, Gardner-Webb jumped out to a 11-point lead at 14-3. From there, the Mountaineers chipped away, using three separate 4-0 spurts, to tie the score at 17-17. Gardner-Webb won the next two points, but the Black and Gold tied the score at 21-21. Trailing 23-22 late in the frame, App State used a Runnin' Bulldog attack error and service error, along with a service ace from Cain to complete the comeback and give App State the set 25-23.

Gardner-Webb rebounded to win Set 3 by a 25-19 mark to force a fourth set.

In Set 4, the Mountaineers broke a 10-10 tie with a 4-1 spurt to open a 14-11 edge. The Mountaineers pushed their lead to 23-18, only to see Gardner-Webb answer with four consecutive points to pull within a point at 23-22. Following a timeout, the Mountaineers used kills from Denny and Kincaid to clinch the set 25-22 and win the match.
 
Against UTRGV (6-4), Denny paced the Mountaineers with 10 kills and eight digs. Wilform added eight kills and Harvey had six kills on a .462 hitting mark.
 
Cain had another near double-double with 25 assists and nine digs. Reilly had six digs and Alexis Hardison finished with four digs.
 
The Vaqueros broke a 10-10 tie in the opening set with a 9-0 spurt to open a 19-10 edge, en route to a 25-14 victory.
 
Set 2 saw UTRGV jump out to a 12-7 advantage, only to see App State win the next four points, to pull within a point at 12-11. The Vaqueros won the next two points and the Mountaineers could get no closer than two points the rest of the set, falling 25-17.
 
The third frame saw UTRGV take a 6-2 lead, but App State responded with four consecutive kills to jump in front 6-5. Trailing 15-14, the Black and Gold scored three straight points, capped off by a Kincaid service ace, to open a 17-15 edge. From there the Vaqueros won seven of the next 10 points to open a 22-20 lead. App State tied the score at 22-22, but UTRGV answered with three straight points to close out the set and match.
 
The Mountaineers will conclude play on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Pirate Invitational against host East Carolina on ESPN+.