ATHENS, OH – The App State volleyball team closed out competition at the Bobcat Invitational on Saturday after falling short to Ohio, 3-2 (22-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-28, 12-15).
"I'm proud of our fight this weekend," said head coach Sarah Rumely Noble. "We won a five-setter, and battled back from down 0-2 to almost steal another one. We played at a really high level through stretches and I'm excited to get back in the gym to keep getting better."
Junior
Maya Winterhoff earned a spot on the Bobcat Invitational All-Tournament Team after tallying 42 kills, averaging 3.23 kills per set, and posting a hitting percentage of .474 on the weekend. She also made 14 blocks (five solo, nine assists), made nine digs, served up four aces, and made four assists over the course of the weekend. She started all three matches and appeared in all 13 sets at the tournament.
Ohio 3, App State 2
Senior
Lulu Ambrose and redshirt junior
Addison Heidemann registered the Mountaineers' first double-doubles of the season. Ambrose matched Winterhoff with 15 kills apiece, in addition to making a career-high 12 digs. Heidemann tallied a career and team-high 27 assists and a career and team-high 18 digs. In addition to her 15 kills, Winterhoff led the team in the blocks category, totaling seven, which included three solo blocks. App State outpaced Ohio in the kills (61-56), assists (59-52), and digs (73-52) categories. App State also scored the first point in four of the five sets.
The Mountaineers and Bobcats battled through a close first set until Ohio managed to break away with a 4-0 scoring run. The Black and Gold answered with a 5-0 run of their own, building off kills from Ambrose and a solo block from freshman
Bella Hutchens, to take a 17-15 edge. Ohio managed to jump ahead, 21-18, finding momentum with a 5-0 run, before taking the set, 25-22.
In the second set, the Mountaineers and Bobcats went point-for-point until App State managed a 4-0 scoring run to take a 13-10 lead. Despite meeting at 17 all, the Mountaineers managed to pull ahead, 20-17 after a kill from freshman
Maddie Smith, a block from Winterhoff and Smith, and a block from Winterhoff and Hutchens. Ohio managed to catch up, and despite the Mountaineers holding the Bobcats at set point, the Bobcats took the set, 26-24.
Down by two sets, the Mountaineers found momentum in the third set, taking a 16-11 lead with kills from Ambrose and Smith. Smith made another kill that junior
Kenady Roper followed up with an ace to extend the lead to 18-13. Ohio went on a late run to meet the Mountaineers at 23 all, but App State edged past with kills from sophomore
Ava Leahy and Smith to take the set, 25-23.
App State took an early 6-4 lead in the fourth set, building off kills from freshman
Elise Marchal and Winterhoff. With a kill from Marchal and a block from Smith and Leahy, the Black and Gold extended its lead to 14-9. Winterhoff made a kill and followed it up with a solo block to bring App State to 19-14 over the Bobcats. The Mountaineers held Ohio to 18 points, going on a 4-0 run to secure the set, 25-18.
In the fifth and final set, Ohio took the first two points, but the Mountaineers were quick to respond with a 3-0 run that included an ace from Winterhoff and kill from Ambrose. Ohio pulled ahead, but App State regained an 8-7 edge after a Winterhoff kill and block from Winterhoff and Smith. Ohio managed to pull ahead to 14-11, and Hutchens managed to hold the Bobcats off at set point with a kill, but it wasn't enough as Ohio took the set 15-12, and the match 3-2.
Looking Ahead
App State will host the Mountaineer Classic on Sept. 6 and 7. The Mountaineers will take on ETSU at 10:30 a.m. and Kennesaw State at 7 p.m. on Sept. 6. On Sept. 7 at 3 p.m. the Mountaineers will take on Gardner-Webb.
