BOONE, N.C. --
Lulu Ambrose recorded a career-high 20 kills, but App State volleyball dropped a 3-2 (20-25, 20-25, 25-22, 28-26, 15-12) decision to Little Rock on Sunday afternoon.
Ambrose finished with a .265 hitting percentage in the contest. It marks the first time in her career that she has posted double digit kills. She had at least three kills in each set, tallying five in the third.
Three other Mountaineers (4-10, 0-2 SBC) reached double figures in kills.
Victoria Wilform tallied 14 kills,
Anna Kincaid had 11 kills on a .526 hitting mark and
McCall Denny added 10 kills.
Tessa Hill also finished with a career-high eight kills for App State.
Sophie Cain dished out a career-high 56 assists, while adding eight digs and four block assists.
Emma Reilly tallied a season-best 28 digs, while Denny added 10 digs and Wilform finished with eight.
App State also saw Hill post a career-best six total blocks (five assists, one solo), with Kincaid adding four (three assists, one solo).
In the opening set, the Mountaineers capped off a 3-0 spurt to open a 13-8 edge on an attack error by Little Rock (10-4, 1-1 SBC). The Mountaineers pushed their lead to five points at 18-13, but the Trojans battled back to trim the App State lead to 22-20. From there, the Black and Gold used a Little Rock service error and a pair of kills from Wilform to take the opening set 25-20.
Set 2 saw the Mountaineers use another 3-0 run to turn a 15-14 deficit into a 17-15 lead. The Mountaineers pushed their lead to five points at 23-18 and never looked back, taking the set 25-20.
Little Rock jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the third set and never trailed, taking the frame 25-22 to force a fourth set.
The fourth set featured 11 ties and four lead changes. The two teams found themselves tied at 23-23, before a Trojan kill put them in front 24-23. Denny tied the score and Wilform gave the Mountaineers the lead with a kill to set up a match point. Little Rock tied the score on a kill and then took the lead on another kill. Kincaid tied the score at 26-26, but the Trojans won the final two points to win the set 28-26 and force a fifth and deciding set.
In Set 5, Little Rock jumped out to a 7-3 lead. The Mountaineers chipped away at the lead and pulled to within 11-9 on a Trojan ball handling error. App State could get no closer than two points the rest of the way as the Trojans won the final set 15-12 for the 3-2 victory.
Laura Jansen paced the Trojans with 22 kills, while Laure Jansen added 17 kills. Alyssa Nayar had a double-double with 32 assists and 17 digs.
App State will head to Georgia next weekend for a pair of matches. The Mountaineers will take on Georgia State on Oct. 1 at 6:30 p.m. and battle Georgia Southern on Oct. 3 at noon.
