BOONE, N.C. - The App State volleyball team will head to Spartanburg, S.C. for the Wofford Tournament this Friday and Saturday. The Mountaineers will open tournament play early on Friday at 10 a.m. against USC Upstate before facing host, Wofford, at 7 p.m. The Black and Gold will cap competition with an 11 a.m. match against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday. All matches will be broadcasted on ESPN+ and admission is free.
Last Time Out
The Mountaineers opened the 2022 season at the Charleston Southern Tournament last weekend, sweeping California Baptist 3-0 for
Sarah Rumely Noble's debut as head coach. App State later fought Charleston Southern and St. John's in a pair of five-set battles, falling 3-2 in both. Senior
McCall Denny and freshman
Maya Winterhoff were named to the VolleyBucs Volleypalooza All-Tournament team.
After a weekend of play,
McCall Denny leads the team in kills (34) and is second on the team in service aces (4) and blocks (7). Freshman
Maya Winterhoff had a hallmark debut in the Black and Gold, and now leads the team in blocks (17) and is second in the kills category (32). Junior
Sophie Cain leads the team in assists with 81. Senior
Sam Bickley leads in service aces and is second in the assists category with 47. Freshman
Kenady Roper made her own strong debut for Mountaineers with 48 digs to lead the team. Cain and junior
Cierra Huntley also posted their first double-doubles of the season, both during the Charleston Southern match.
The Mountaineers are fourth in the Sun Belt in blocks (29) and fifth in hitting percentage (.246). In the individual standings, Winterhoff is fifth in the blocks category and sixth in the hitting percentage category.
Scouting the Tournament Field
App State vs. USC Upstate | Friday | 10 a.m. | ESPN+
Friday's morning match will mark the first meeting between the Mountaineers and the Spartans.
USC Upstate is 1-2 (0-0 Big South) after opening their season at the Bash in the Boro tournament, hosted by Georgia Southern. The Spartans swept Alcorn State 3-0 before falling to Stetson and Georgia Southern in three sets.
Leading the Spartans in kills is Briana Strobert, who notched 18 in the opening weekend. Emma McElveen leads the team in assists (45), and Nikki Deslatte leads the team in blocks, totaling 11. In the digs category, Jaci Drinnon and Ashleigh Nicoll split the lead with 26 digs apiece.
USC Upstate went 14-16 (10-6 Big South) in 2021, posting three-match win-streaks on three separate occasions during the year. In the Big South Championships, the No. 5 seeded Spartans fell to No. 4 seeded North Carolina A&T, three sets to one.
App State at Wofford | Friday | 7 p.m. | ESPN+
App State's all-time record against Wofford is 20-7. The Mountaineers last met Wofford on Sept. 6, 2019, sweeping the Terriers at the Duke Invitational in Durham. In comparison, the Mountaineers led Wofford in kills (45-29), blocks (7-6), assists (38-30), digs (63-55) and points (55-40). Bickley, who was a freshman at the time, recorded a team-high of 34 assists in the match.
Opening the season at the Charlotte Invitational, Wofford is 1-2 (0-0 SoCon). The Terriers fell 3-1 to Charlotte and 3-2 to Syracuse before notching a 3-0 sweep of Morgan State to close out play last weekend.
Sarah Barham notched a team-high 39 kills and 14 blocks in the opening weekend to lead the team in both categories. Emily Hodsdon jumped out to lead the team in assists, tallying 107 and also leads in service aces with eight. In the digs category, Kaitlyn Brown boasts a team-high of 41.
Last season, Wofford went 17-14 (9-7 SoCon), tallying six sweeps. The Terriers also notched four wins in a row from Oct. 22 to Nov. 5, defeating Mercer, Samford and The Citadel with scores of 3-1, and Western Carolina with a score of 3-2. In the SoCon Tournament, the No. 4 seeded Terriers defeated No. 5 seed Western Carolina and No. 9 seed Furman, 3-1 each. Coming up short in the finals, the Terriers fell in three to No. 7 seed The Citadel.
App State vs. Eastern Kentucky | Saturday | 11 a.m. | ESPN+
App State's all-time record with Eastern Kentucky is 2-1. The Mountaineers last met EKU on Aug. 27, 2021 to open the season, winning a tight 3-2 battle against the Colonels at the Appalachian Invitational in Boone. Denny made 12 kills as well as two service aces against the Colonels.
Sam Bickley also had two service aces and posted 34 assists. Ambrose notched five blocks over the match. App State outpaced EKU in aces (8-6), and blocks (10-7).
Eastern Kentucky is 2-1 (0-0 ASUN) after hosting the Colonel Classic. The Colonels swept IUPUI and Radford before falling 3-1 to UT-Martin.
Sarah Mitchell holds a tight lead as team leader in the kills category with 22. Molly Michalak is a close second with 21 with Maddy Campbell following in third with 20. Campbell leads the team in blocks with nine and is followed by Carson Ledford, Katie McKune, and AG Vandagriff, who each have six. Chloe Mason has marked 56 assists so far this season as well as eight service aces, leading the team in both categories. The Colonels' digs leader is Josie Schmitendorf, who has 37.
Last season, EKU went 10-21 (7-9 ASUN). The Colonels recorded their sole sweep of the fall against Jacksonville (Sept. 24). On six occasions, EKU clinched 3-2 victories, toppling UNC Greensboro (Aug. 28), Chattanooga (Sept. 17), Central Arkansas (Oct. 8), North Alabama (Oct. 29), Lipscomb (Nov. 5), and Central Arkansas (Nov. 6). The No. 3 seeded Colonels fell 3-0 to the No. 2 seeded Kennesaw State in the opening round of the ASUN Tournament.
Wofford Tournament Schedule
Friday, Sept. 2
10 a.m. App State vs. USC Upstate | ESPN+
7 p.m. App State at Wofford | ESPN+
Saturday, Sept. 3
11 a.m. App State vs. Eastern Kentucky | ESPN+
Up Next
The Mountaineers will host the Mountaineer Classic on Sept. 9-10. App State will welcome Texas A&M Commerce, Furman and Presbyterian to Boone.
App State volleyball season tickets and single-match tickets are on sale now and can be purchased
here. Admission to the Mountaineers' 12:30 p.m. match against Texas A&M Commerce will be free. Please email any questions to
athletictickets@appstate.edu or call the Athletics Ticket Office at 828-262-7733.
