BOONE, N.C. - The App State volleyball team is set to travel to Atlanta, Ga. for a pair of battles against Georgia State on Oct. 6 and 7. Thursday's match is set for 6 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Friday's match is slated for a 1 p.m. start. Live stats will be available for both matches.
Last Time Out
App State hosted Coastal Carolina on Sept. 29 and 30 in Boone, N.C. The Mountaineers fell, 3-1, to the Chants on Thursday before taking CCU to five sets on Friday, falling 3-2.
Senior
McCall Denny, freshman
Maya Winterhoff, and sophomore
Lulu Ambrose lead the Black and Gold in the kills category this season, with Denny tallying 161, Winterhoff earning 133, and Ambrose posting 131. Four Mountaineers boast triple digits in the digs category, with freshman
Kenady Roper leading the way with 218. Following Roper is junior
Cierra Huntley (134), Denny (131), and junior
Sophie Cain (128). Cain leads the team in assists with 318 and is followed by senior
Sam Bickley, who has 271 assists on the season. Bickley leads the Mountaineers in aces, posting 18, while Winterhoff leads the team in blocks with 62 total.
Nationally, Winterhoff is ranked ninth in the hitting percentage category (.426). In the Sun Belt, Winterhoff leads in the hitting percentage category for the season thus far and is tied for fifth in blocks for the season (62 total, averaging 1.03 per set). Roper ranks seventh in the conference for digs made this fall (218, averaging 3.96 per set). In conference only play, Winterhoff is tied for fourth in the blocks category and Roper is sixth in the digs category. App State ranks sixth in both the blocks (33 total, averaging 2.20 per set) and aces (19, averaging 1.27) categories for SBC play.
Scouting Georgia State
The Mountaineers clashed with Georgia State twice last fall, edging past the Panthers, 3-2, on Oct. 1 in Atlanta, Ga. before falling, 3-2, to the Panthers on Nov. 5 in Boone, N.C. In the Black and Gold's victory on Oct. 1, App State led GSU in kills (55-49), assists (49-46), and digs (68-65). Cain led the team in assists with 32 and recorded an ace. Denny posted 11 kills and 18 digs. On Nov. 5, App State led GSU in blocks (10-6) and broke even with the Panthers in aces with five apiece. Denny notched 18 kills and nine digs, while Bickley recorded a team-high 49 assists as well as one ace. App State leads the all-time series against Georgia State, 12-10.
Georgia State is 5-11 (1-3 SBC) on the season and 0-3 at home. In non-conference play, the Panthers posted wins over Presbyterian and Chattanooga at the Jacksonville Invitational (Sept. 2-3). GSU also picked up wins over USC - Upstate at the Buccaneer Classic (Sept. 9) and South Carolina State at the Terrier Invite (Sept. 17). The Panthers' sole win in conference action so far this season occurred on Sept. 29 against Marshall, which was a 3-0 sweep.
Two Panthers have hit triple digits in the kills category, with Julianna Truscott leading the team with 145, followed by Erin Wyatt, who has 120. Jenna Brown leads the team in assists (298) and aces (25) Following Brown in the assists category is Maren Palmer, who has 125. Livy Kowalkowski has notched a team-high 264 digs on the year, followed by Wyatt, who has 129 digs. In the blocks category, Laura Ehieze leads the way with 59 total blocks. Ehieze is followed by Clara Bednarek, who has 54 blocks this fall.
Last fall, the Panthers went 8-20 (4-12 SBC). GSU earned a pair of sweeps over California Baptist (Aug. 27) and Alcorn State (Sept. 10). After eight consecutive losses, the Panthers posted a pair of 3-1 wins over Troy (Oct. 16) and Arkansas State (Oct. 22). At the Sun Belt Tournament, the No. 5 seeded Panthers defeated No. 4 seed Arkansas State, 3-1, on Nov. 18 before falling to No. 1 seed South Alabama, 3-0, in the quarterfinals on Nov. 19.
Up Next
The Mountaineers continue their road stretch on Oct. 14 and 15 as they take on ULM in Monroe, La.
