BOONE, N.C. – The App State volleyball team secured the Sun Belt East Division title with a 3-0 (27-25, 25-8, 25-23) sweep of Marshall in front of a packed crowd in the Holmes Convocation Center on Friday. The Mountaineers rise to 15-7 on the season and 9-2 in conference play. The Black and Gold have also won their last five matches.
"I am so proud of this team," said head coach Sarah Rumely Noble. "We played a complete game today offensively and defensively. I love going to battle with them every day as we keep chasing. The crowd tonight was incredible, and they helped push us over the edge to secure the Sun Belt East Division. I'm looking forward to celebrating our seniors tomorrow and the legacy they have left on this program."
App State will celebrate its graduating seniors,
Lulu Ambrose,
Cierra Huntley, and
Lauren Pledger, at Saturday's 1 p.m. Senior Day match against the Thundering Herd.
App State 3, Marshall 0
Freshman
Bella Hutchens slammed down a career and team high 13 kills and recorded a hitting percentage of .407 on the night. Ambrose made 11 kills and sophomore
Ava Leahy made 10 kills for the Mountaineers. Junior
Maya Winterhoff went up for a team high five blocks (two solo, three assists). Redshirt junior
Addison Heidemann led the team with 38 of the Mountaineers' 42 assists. In the digs category, freshman
Elise Marchal registered a team high 13 digs, followed by junior
Kenady Roper, who tallied 11. Winterhoff, Marchal, Roper, Heidemann, and sophomore
Caroline Farthing each contributed an ace for the Mountaineers.
App State outpaced Marshall in kills (49-32), aces (5-2), blocks (7-3), assists (42-26), and digs (54-49).
The Mountaineers opened the first set with a 4-0 run as Winterhoff and Ambrose made kills, Leahy and Ambrose went up for a block, and Heidemann set Marchal up for a kill. Back-to-back kills from Ambrose and a Marshall error extended the Mountaineers' lead to 7-3. As the Thundering Herd chipped away at the deficit, the Black and Gold went on a 5-0 run that included three Hutchens kills and a Winterhoff kill, to pull ahead 13-7. Winterhoff made a pair of kills to keep the Mountaineers ahead, 16-11. As the Thundering Herd worked to close the deficit, Winterhoff made a kill to put App State up, 21-17. Marshall managed to knot the score thrice late in the set, but the Mountaineers took the set, 27-25, after a kill from Ambrose and a block from the duo of Leahy and Hutchens.
App State commanded the second set after starting things off with a solo block from Winterhoff, an ace from Farthing, and a kill from Winterhoff. Building off kills from Marchal and Leahy, App State pulled ahead, 9-3. With a 6-0 run that included a kill from Leahy, three consecutive kills from Hutchens, and a kill from Winterhoff, App State extended the deficit to 15-4. The Mountaineers continued to pull ahead, 19-5, after Winterhoff made a kill, Heidemann served up an ace, the duo of Hutchens and Winterhoff made a block, and the Herd made an error. A kill from Ambrose, a Marshall error, and a Winterhoff ace extended App State's lead to 23-7. The Mountaineers clinched the set, 25-8, after a Leahy kill and Marchal ace. The Black and Gold held Marshall to six kills over the course of the set.
App State and Marshall knotted the score 10 times and swapped the lead thrice in the third and final set. After Marshall tied things up at 14 all, the Mountaineers broke away with a 5-0 run that included back-to-back kills from Hutchens, a pair of Marshall errors, and Winterhoff's second solo block of the match, pulling ahead, 19-14. Kills from Heidemann, Hutchens, and Winterhoff gave the Mountaineers a 22-20 edge. Marshall met the Mountaineers at 22 all and 23 all, but a kill from Ambrose brought App State to set and match point. After a Marshall error, App State clinched the set, 25-23, the sweep, 3-0, and the Sun Belt East Division title.
