Mountaineers Set to Close Out Regular Season at Louisiana

BOONE, N.C. - The App State volleyball team is set to close out the regular season with a pair of matches against Louisiana on Friday and Saturday in Lafayette. Friday's match is set for 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) and Saturday's match is set for 12 p.m. CT (1 p.m. ET). Both will be available to stream on ESPN+.
 
Last Time Out
The Mountaineers return to the court after a pair of hard-fought battles at Georgia Southern.
 
On Friday, App State fell, 3-0, to the Eagles. Fifth year senior McCall Denny and junior Lulu Ambrose tallied seven kills apiece. Sophomore Maya Winterhoff recorded six kills and a hitting percentage of .429. Redshirt freshman Katie Cruise recorded a team-high 14 assists in addition to the Mountaineers' sole pair of aces. Sophomore Alyssa McBean led the team in the digs category with 10. 
 
On Saturday, the Black and Gold rallied to take one set from the Eagles, fighting point-for-point despite falling in four sets. Ambrose tallied a team-high 17 kills on the afternoon. Winterhoff served up four aces and recorded 11 kills. With 10 kills and 10 digs, Denny posted her 29th career double-double. Senior Sophie Cain and Cruise both made 24 assists. McBean made 16 digs and freshman Delanie Grevengoed made the team's sole block. 
 
Ranked Mountaineers 
Winterhoff continues to lead the conference in the hitting percentage category and ranks 52nd in the NCAA. She also leads the league in total blocks (111) and ranks in the top-50 nationally. Winterhoff also stands third in the SBC in blocks per set, averaging 1.17. The Mountaineers rank fourth in the Sun Belt for aces per set, averaging 1.65. 
 
Scouting Louisiana
App State posted back-to-back victories over Louisiana to close out the regular season last year. The Mountaineers swept the Ragin' Cajuns, 3-0, on Nov. 11 before defeating Louisiana, 3-1, on Nov. 12. The Mountaineers had won 11 of 12 matches spanning from Oct. 6 to Nov. 12, 2022, marking its best stretch of play since a program-tying 16 straight wins during the 2015 season. In the second round of the Sun Belt Tournament, No. 4 seeded App State fell to No. 5 seeded Louisiana after a five-set thriller.
 
Shyia Richardson leads the Ragin' Cajuns in the kills category, tallying 343 on the season. Siena DeCambra has recorded 1,020 assists this season. Leading Louisiana in the digs category is Mio Yamamoto, who has 425 digs on the year. Cami Hicks is one block away from reaching 100 total blocks this season and leads the team in the aces category with 25.
 
Louisiana is 16-12 (7-7 SBC) this fall and returns to Lafayette after splitting a pair of matches in Hattiesburg against Southern Miss. The Ragin' Cajuns posted a pair of victories over ULM and Arkansas State, in addition to splitting matches with Old Dominion and Texas State. During non-conference play, Louisiana won four consecutive matches from Sept. 9-16. 
 
ON DECK
The Mountaineers will head to Foley, Ala. for the  Sun Belt Tournament, which is slated for Nov. 15-19. The tournament will be available to stream on ESPN+.