BOONE, N.C. - The App State volleyball team will head to Blacksburg, Va. for the Virginia Tech Classic, Sept. 15-16. The Mountaineers will take on Western Carolina at 3 p.m. on Thursday. The winner of the App State vs. Western Carolina match will take on the winner of the Norfolk State vs. Virginia Tech match at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The consolation match will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday.
Last Time Out
App State is coming off of a 3-0 win-streak, successfully defending its home court at the Mountaineer Classic and posting wins over Texas A&M Commerce (Sept. 9), Furman (Sept. 9), and Presbyterian (Sept. 10). Sophomore
Lulu Ambrose and senior
McCall Denny earned spots on the Mountaineer Classic All-Tournament team and freshman
Maya Winterhoff was named tournament MVP.
The Mountaineers kicked off the tournament with a 3-1 win over Texas A&M Commerce, and were led by Denny, who recorded a double-double (12 kills, 15 digs). Senior
Sam Bickley tallied 23 assists and three aces and freshman
Kenady Roper marked 16 kills in a single match for the second time this season. In Friday's nightcap, App State and Furman battled through a five-set thriller, with the Mountaineers emerging victorious, 3-2. Sophomore
Lauren Pledger recorded a career and season high 17 kills for a .577 hitting percentage. Junior
Sophie Cain nabbed her fifth double-double of the season (32 assists, 18 digs). Tournament action for the Black & Gold concluded on Saturday with a 3-0 shutout of Presbyterian.
So far this season, Denny leads the team in kills with 96 and Cain leads in assists with 207. Bickley holds a tight lead in the service aces category with 13. Roper has notched a team-high of 148 digs, and Winterhoff leads the team in blocks with 35 total.
In the conference standings, App State and Coastal Carolina lead the East Division with overall records of 6-3 each. The Mountaineers are fifth in the team hitting percentage category (.232), team assist category (416 total, 11.24 average per set), and digs category (536, 14.49 average per set). In the individual hitting percentage category, Winterhoff is third in the conference and 17th nationally with a percentage of .432. In the same category, Pledger checks in at fourth in the Sun Belt and 36th nationally with a .400 hitting percentage. Winterhoff also stands seventh in the conference in blocks, totaling 35 (9 solo, 26 assisted). In the digs category, Roper comes in at eighth in the Sun Belt with 148.
Scouting the Tournament Field
App State vs. Western Carolina | Thursday | 3:00 p.m.
App State last met with Western Carolina in Boone, on Sept. 12, 2019, where the Black & Gold won, 3-1. Bickley, who was in her freshman season, marked a double-double, leading the team in assists (53) and was second in digs (10). Bickley also recorded a kill.
The Catamounts are 6-4 (0-0 SoCon) this season. Western Carolina went on a five-match win streak from Aug. 27 to Sept. 2, edging past Wake Forest, 3-2, before notching three consecutive sweeps against NC Central, UNC Asheville, and Evansville. The Catamounts' fifth win was against Tennessee Tech, 3-1. Western Carolina is coming off of a 3-0 sweep of NC State (Sept. 9), its second win against an ACC opponent this season. The Catamounts are undefeated on the road and 2-4 at neutral locations.
Merry Gebel leads the Catamounts in kills, logging 116. Leading the assists category is Sydney Carlson with 201, and Destinee Dorsey leads the digs category with 116. Sarah Janourova is the team leader in service aces (11) and Eden Punch has logged a team-high of 35 blocks so far this season.
Last season, Western Carolina went 11-17 (7-9 SoCon) and notched sweeps against Villanova (Sept. 4), ETSU (Sept. 24), Furman (Oct. 8 and Nov. 6), and The Citadel (Oct. 16). In the SoCon Tournament, the No. 5 seeded Catamounts fell to No. 4 seeded Wofford, 3-1, in the quarterfinals.
Notes on Norfolk State
The Mountaineers are 2-0 against Norfolk State. App State last met the Spartans on Aug. 27 2016 at the Virginia Tech Tournament. The Black and Gold swept the Spartans, 3-0.
Norfolk State is 0-7 (0-0 MEAC) this season. The Spartans will clash against Old Dominion on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in a solo match prior to opening play at the Virginia Tech Classic on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. against host Virginia Tech.
Sydney McCree leads the team in assists (171) and aces (8). Shonte Seale leads the team in the kills category with 77 kills, Nicole Rodriguez has notched a team-high of 105 digs, and Adlene Jideofor has recorded 17 blocks on the season.
The Spartans went 8-18 (4-10 MEAC) last fall. Norfolk State posted four sweeps on the season, including back-to-back shutouts of American (Sept. 4) and Regent (Sept. 7). In their first appearance in the MEAC Tournament since 2016, the No. 6 seeded Spartans fell short to No. 3 seeded Coppin State in three sets.
Notes on Virginia Tech
The Mountaineers last met Virginia Tech on Aug. 26, 2016, falling to the Hokies 3-2 in the 2016 season opener.
The Hokies are 5-4 (0-0 ACC) this fall and opened the season with a 3-1 win over UNCW (Aug. 26). Virginia Tech posted three wins in a row spanning from Sept. 2 to Sept. 9, which included sweeps of Marist (Sept. 2) and Old Dominion (Sept. 3), as well as a 3-2 win over Eastern Michigan (Sept. 9).
In the kills category, Cera Powell leads the team with 86 on the season. Hanna Borer leads the Hokies in assists (193) and aces (13). Maddie Slagle has posted 112 digs so far this fall and Anabel Zier has a team-high of 40 blocks.
Virginia Tech went 12-18 (3-15 ACC) last year, and notched two non-conference four-match win-streaks on the season. The first four-match win-streak spanned from Aug. 27 to Sept. 3, including wins over Lehigh (Aug. 27), Toledo (Aug. 27), Elon (Aug. 28), and Georgia State (Sept. 3). The second spanned from Sept. 11 to Sept. 17, including victories over Chattanooga (Sept. 11), Tennessee Tech (Sept. 11), George Mason (Sept. 17) and Wofford (Sep. 17).
Virginia Tech Classic | Full Schedule
Thursday, Sept. 15
3 p.m. App State vs. Western Carolina
5:30 p.m. Virginia Tech vs. Norfolk State
Friday, Sept. 16
3 p.m. Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
5:30 p.m. Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Up Next
App State will head to Harrisonburg, Va. to open conference play with a pair of matches against James Madison. The first match will be at 6 p.m. on Sept. 23, and the second will be at 1 p.m. on Sept. 24. Both matches will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
