BOONE, N.C. – The App State volleyball team edged past Georgia Southern, 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11) on its home court on Friday. The Mountaineers improve to 15-9 (8-5 SBC) on the season with three remaining regular season matches.
"We had a hard-fought match," said head coach
Sarah Rumely Noble. "We battled for every point and believed in playing App State Volleyball. Everyone on our team made a big time play in a big moment. I'm really proud."
The Mountaineers return to the court Saturday afternoon for their second battle against the Eagles at 1 p.m. The match will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Half-price tickets will be available to fans who bring in canned food items, which will benefit the Health and Hunger Coalition.
App State 3, Georgia Southern 2
Sophomore
Lulu Ambrose led the Mountaineers with 21 kills and was followed by senior
McCall Denny, who earned a double-double with 20 kills and led the team in digs with 19. Freshman
Maya Winterhoff held the team-high in aces (4), and was third on the team for blocks (3) and kills (10). Seniors
Sarah Missroon and
Sam Bickley posted the team-highs in the blocks (4) and assists categories (28), respectively.
App State outpaced Georgia Southern in points (79-72), kills (66-57), assists (59-53), and digs (87-84).
A kill from junior
Meghan Dombrowski and an ace from Winterhoff put the Mountaineers up 2-0 in the first set, but Georgia Southern was quick to respond. Going point-for-point, neither team could pull away for a substantial lead. Down 16-13, the Mountaineers came back with two consecutive kills from Ambrose and a block from Ambrose and Winterhoff to tie things at 16-16. The Black and Gold kept pace with GS, tying the score at 17 all with another kill from Ambrose, followed by a kill from Denny and an error from the Eagles to take a 19-17 lead. Georgia Southern kept up with App State, taking a 22-21 lead, but App State notched two points off a GS error and kill from Missroon to take the lead back at 23-22. The Eagles matched the Mountaineers at 23 all, but App State cliched the first set, 25-23, after a pair of GS errors.
Georgia Southern jumped to a 5-3 lead in the second set, which App State responded with a 3-0 run that included a kill from junior
Madison Baldridge and a block from Baldridge and Missroon, to edge past the Eagles, 6-5. The Mountaineers extended their lead to 10-6 after a 4-0 run that included back-to-back kills from Ambrose and a kill by junior
Sophie Cain. App State kept a slight edge over the Eagles until Georgia Southern broke a 17-17 tie with a four-point run (21-17) followed promptly by three more points to push the score to 24-18. Ambrose and Winterhoff mustered two more kills to bring App State within four, but Georgia Southern's Paige Powers slammed down a kill to secure the set 25-20 in favor of GS.
Much like the first two sets, App State and Georgia Southern stayed neck and neck in the third. App State posted a 3-0 run that included kills from Dombroski and Winterhoff to jump ahead to 10-6. GS answered with a 4-0 run to tie things at 10 all. The Mountaineers went on a four-point run of their own with back-to-back kills from Denny and a pair of GS errors to lead 14-10. GS pushed the score to 15-14 with five consecutive points and eventually pushed the score to 23-19. Kills from Ambrose and Winterhoff, as well as a block from Winterhoff and Dombrowski put the Black and Gold within one of GS's lead (23-22), but GS rounded out the third set, 25-22.
App State kicked off the fourth set with kills from Winterhoff and Denny to take a 2-0 lead. Despite Georgia Southern catching up at 2-2, the Mountaineers earned three points from a GS error, a block from Missroon and Baldridge and a kill from Denny to lead 5-2. The Mountaineers' momentum carried throughout the set. A kill from Baldridge tied the score at 12 all and was promptly followed by two consecutive kills from Winterhoff, which pushed the score to 14-12. Tied at 18-18 after matching each other point-for-point, a GS error and kills from Cain and Winterhoff put App State up 21-18. Freshman
Kenady Roper served up an ace to put App State up 23-19, and despite a late 3-0 run from Georgia Southern, a kill from Winterhoff and error from GS closed out the set with App State winning 25-22 to tie things at two sets apiece.
A kill from Denny followed by an ace from Winterhoff put the Black and Gold up 2-0 in the fifth and final set. GS answered with three consecutive points to take a slight 3-2 lead, but App State kept pace, regaining the lead at 4-3 after back-to-back kills from Denny. GS jumped to an 8-5 lead after a 4-0 run, but App State answered with a four-point run of its own with back-to-back kills from Ambrose, an ace from freshman
Alyssa McBean, and a GS error to take a slight 9-8 lead. Kills from Ambrose and Winterhoff put the Mountaineers up 11-9 and a kill from Baldridge kept App State ahead at 12-10. Georgia Southern came within one at 12-11. A kill from Denny and an ace from Winterhoff extended the deficit to 14-11. A final kill from Baldridge sealed the set 15-11 for App State and cliched the match at 3-2.
