BOONE, N.C. - The App State volleyball team is set to start its season on Friday with the Charleston Southern Tournament in Charleston, S.C. The Mountaineers will open tournament play on Friday with a 3 p.m. matinee against Cal Baptist before challenging host Charleston Southern at 7 p.m. App State will wrap competition on Saturday with a 1 p.m. clash against St. John's (NY). Friday's primetime match will be broadcasted on ESPN+ and live stats will be available for all matches.
A New Season on the Mountain
A new era started for the Mountaineers after first-year head coach Sarah Rumely Noble took the helm as the program's ninth head coach on Jan. 13. Prior to App State, Rumely Noble was an assistant for five seasons at LSU and was also the Tigers' associate head coach in 2021.
This year's team is comprised of ten returners and seven newcomers. Freshmen Maya Winterhoff, Katie Cruise, Alyssa McBean, Tess Herendeen and Kenady Roper join the Mountaineers' ranks as well as junior transfers Meghan Dombrowski (West Virginia) and Cierra Huntley (Virginia Tech). Returning for the Black and Gold for their senior seasons are McCall Denny, Sam Bickley, and Sarah Missroon. Denny led the team in kills (302) and was second in the digs category (199), while Bickley led the team in assists with 522 last fall. App State's junior returners are Madison Baldridge, Sophie Cain and Alec Quinn. Lulu Ambrose, Lauren Pledger, Alexis Hardison, and Lily Harvey make up the Mountaineers' sophomore class.
Last fall, the Mountaineers went 7-22 (3-13 SBC), picking up non-conference victories over Eastern Kentucky (Aug. 27), Radford (Aug. 28), ETSU (Sept. 4), and Gardner-Webb (Sept. 17). In conference play, App State earned wins over Georgia State (Oct. 1), Louisiana (Oct. 15), and ULM (Oct. 17).
Scouting the Tournament Field
App State vs. Cal Baptist | Friday | 3 p.m.
Friday will mark the first meeting between the Mountaineers and Lancers.
Three category leaders return for CBU. Leah Pease led the assists category with 451 while Cassidy Dennison posted 29 service aces to lead the team. The team's digs leader, Paige Johnstone, is back after earning 352 digs last year. Christine Graf, who was the second on the team in the kills category last season, tallying 227, also returns.
Last season the Lancers went 13-11 (8-6 WAC), notching eight sweeps on the season. Cal Baptist recorded a six-match winning streak that lasted from Oct. 14 to Oct. 30, where they picked up victories over Seattle U (Oct. 14 and 16), Tarleton State (Oct. 22), Abilene Christian (Oct. 23), New Mexico State (Oct. 28), and Grand Canyon (Oct. 30).
App State at Charleston Southern | Friday | 7 p.m. | ESPN+
App State and Charleston Southern have met on four occasions, with the Mountaineers boasting a 4-0 record against the Buccaneers. Their last meeting was Aug. 28, 2015, where the Black and Gold swept CSU in three sets in their season opener at the Big Orange Bash, hosted by Clemson.
Peyton Thompson, who led the team in kills (386), tied for the lead in service aces (33), was second on the team in the digs category (175) and third in the blocks category (32), makes her return this season. Also back for the Buccaneers is Indigo Young, who was second in the kills (175) and blocks (45) categories.
Charleston Southern went 9-17 (5-11 Big South) last year. The Buccaneers posted four sweeps on the season and edged out Jacksonville (Aug. 27), Idaho State (Sept. 8), Hampton (Sept. 25), 3-2 each.
App State vs. St. John's | Saturday | 1 p.m.
The Mountaineers last met St. John's on the court on Sept. 5, 1998 during the Wake Forest Tournament, where they fell in three sets to the Red Storm.
The Red Storm's leader in the service aces category, Rachele Rastelli, returns after posting 34 last season. Sheena Yoshioka is back after leading the team in digs, posting 388 last fall. Georgia Walther and Wiktoria Kowalczyk, who were second in the team's kills and assists categories, respectively, also make their return.
St. John's went 15-17 (6-12 Big East) last fall. The Red Storm posted a 3-1 victory over No. 16 Creighton and won all three of their matches at the Jack Kaiser Volleyball Classic, edging past Fordham and Boston College 3-2 each, and sweeping Army. 3-0. From Sept. 4 to Sept. 17, the Red Storm earned eight consecutive wins, before their streak was snapped by No. 23 Western Kentucky (Sept. 18).
Charleston Southern Tournament Schedule | App State Matches
Friday, Aug. 26
3 p.m. App State vs. Cal Baptist
7 p.m. App State at Charleston Southern | ESPN+
Saturday, Aug. 27
1 p.m. App State vs. St. John's (NY)
Up Next
The Mountaineers will travel to Spartanburg, S.C. for the Wofford Tournament, Sept. 2-3. There, they will clash with USC Upstate, Wofford, and Eastern Kentucky.
