BOONE, N.C. - The App State volleyball team will close out the regular season with a pair of road matches against Troy on Thursday and Friday. Both matches are slated for 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) and will be available to stream on ESPN+.
The Mountaineers clinched the Sun Belt East Division after posting a pair of victories over Marshall last weekend. App State enters this week's contests with a 16-7 record on the season and 10-2 record in conference play.
Last Time Out
App State swept Marshall, 3-0, to clinch the SBC division title on Friday. Freshman
Bella Hutchens made a career high 13 kills and recorded a hitting percentage of .407. Junior
Maya Winterhoff went up for a team high five blocks (two solo, three assists). Redshirt junior
Addison Heidemann led the team with 38 assists, while freshman
Elise Marchal led the team with 13 digs.
The Mountaineers edged past the Thundering Herd, 3-2, on Saturday's Senior Day. Sophomore
Ava Leahy led the Mountaineers with a career and team high 22 kills, recording a hitting percentage of .459 on the afternoon. She also led the team in the blocks category, totaling six. Heidemann accounted for 61 of the Mountaineers' 64 assists. Heidemann, Winterhoff, and senior
Lulu Ambrose combined for six of App State's eight aces, each contributing two. Marchal led the team with 17 digs on the afternoon. The Mountaineers honored their graduating seniors,
Lulu Ambrose,
Cierra Huntley, and
Lauren Pledger after the match.
Around the Mountain
Heidemann collected her second Sun Belt Volleyball Setter of the Week honor of the season on Tuesday. She totaled 99 assists, averaging 12.38 per set, to lead the conference for the weekend. Heidemann previously earned the nod on Sept. 24 after her performance at the Wake Forest Invitational.
Winterhoff leads the Sun Belt and maintains her spot in the NCAA's top-40 in hitting percentage (.381). Winterhoff has 265 kills on the season, averaging 2.91 kills per set. She also rounds out the league's top-10 in blocks per set (0.99) and total blocks (90). Heidemann ranks fourth in the league in assists per set (8.59) and rounds out the Sun Belt's top-five in total assists (696). Additionally, Heidemann matches Marchal with a team high 28 aces on the season. Leading the team in the digs category is junior
Kenady Roper, who has 268 on the season and averages 2.95 digs per set.
App State remains third in the Sun Belt in hitting percentage (.235) and rounds out the top-five in kills per set (12.92). The Black and Gold also stands eighth in the conference in assists per set (11.75).
Scouting Troy
App State and Troy last met in the second round of the 2023 Sun Belt Tournament on Nov. 16, 2023. The No. 6 seeded Mountaineers fell short to the No. 3 seeded Trojans in three sets after defeating the No. 7 seed ULM on Nov. 15, 2023. In the series, App State trails Troy, 9-10.
Tori Hester, who was named this week's Sun Belt Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week, set the program record for all-time kills (1,682) on Nov. 8 against Southern Miss. Hester leads the Sun Belt and stands sixth in the NCAA in kills per set (4.96). She also leads the league and ranks seventh in the NCAA in total kills (451). Additionally, Hester leads the team and SBC in aces, serving up 36 this fall. Janelle Stuempfig leads the team with 605 assists on the year, averaging 6.65 per set. Leading the team in digs is Jaci Mesa, who has 269 digs on the year and averages 2.99 per set.
Troy is 12-12 on the season and 7-7 in conference play. The Trojans have won their last four matches, posting a pair of sweeps over ULM on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, followed by a pair of 3-2 victories over Southern Miss on Nov. 7 and 8. In Sun Belt play, Troy posted a pair of wins over South Alabama and split with Louisiana. The Trojans fell short to Texas State, Georgia Southern, Arkansas State. In non-conference action, Troy notched victories over New Hampshire, LSU, Alabama State, The Citadel, and Kennesaw State.
In the Sun Belt rankings, Troy ranks fourth in aces per set (1.59), team aces (145), and assists per set (12.13). The Trojans also rank sixth in kills per set (12.87) and seventh in team assists (1,104).
Looking Ahead
The Sun Belt Tournament is slated for Nov. 21-24 at the Foley Event Center in Foley, Ala.
