WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The App State volleyball team defeated Davidson, 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 22-25, 25-15), on Saturday to wrap non-conference play at the Wake Forest Invitational.
"We had a great weekend and I am so proud of our team," said head coach Sarah Rumely Noble. "We battled hard and played with confidence against a good Wake Forest team on Friday. Then we had a great response today against Davidson. We had a balanced offense and were super dynamic. We are ready for conference play next week."
App State 3, Davidson 1
Four Mountaineers hit double-figure kills against the Wildcats, led by senior
Lulu Ambrose, who slammed down 14. Junior
Maya Winterhoff recorded 12 kills, a hitting percentage of .688, and a team-high eight blocks. Freshman
Elise Marchal recorded her third career double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs. She also had a hitting percentage of .455 and five blocks on the afternoon. Sophomore
Ava Leahy slammed down 10 kills for a hitting percentage of .500 and made four blocks. Redshirt junior
Addison Heidemann registered 49 of the Mountaineers' 53 assists. Winterhoff, fellow junior
Kenady Roper, and sophomore
Caroline Farthing served up two kills apiece.
App State (6-5, 0-0 SBC) outpaced Davidson in blocks (14-6) and edged past the Wildcats in kills (56-53) and assists (53-52). The Mountaineers recorded a team hitting percentage of .423 and held Davidson to 11 kills in the first and fourth sets.
App State commanded the first set, only allowing two ties early in the set. Breaking a 4-4 tie, a solo block and a kill from Winterhoff gave the Mountaineers a 6-4 edge. Building off a pair of 3-0 scoring runs that featured kills from Marchal, Leahy, and Hutchens, as well as a Winterhoff ace, and a block from the duo of Leahy and Ambrose, the Mountaineers extended the lead to 13-7. After a Winterhoff kill, a block from the duo of Marchal and Winterhoff, and a Farthing ace, the Mountaineers jumped to a 19-12 lead. With a trio of Davidson errors and kills from Marchal, Hutchens, and Winterhoff, the Mountaineers took the set, 25-18.
The second set started with a 4-0 run from Davidson, which App State answered with a 4-0 run of its own with kills from Leahy and Winterhoff, in addition to back-to-back aces from Roper. The Mountaineers and Wildcats knotted the score eight times and traded the lead three times during a tighter second set. The Black and Gold charged ahead, 20-16, with a 5-0 scoring run that included a kill from Hutchens, a block from the duo of Leahy and Marchal, and an ace from Winterhoff. Kills from Marchal, Hutchens, and Ambrose brought the Mountaineers to set point. App State took the set, 25-21, after a Davidson error.
The Mountaineers' momentum carried into the third set, where they took an early 6-2 lead over the Wildcats. With kills from Winterhoff, Leahy, Marchal, Hutchens, and Ambrose, the Black and Gold extended the deficit to 12-7. Despite this, Davidson steadily chipped away at App State's lead, knotting the score twice late in the set. Breaking a 22-22 tie, Davidson edged ahead with a 3-0 run to take the set, 25-23.
In the fourth and final set, the Mountaineers and Wildcats knotted the score six times, trading the lead thrice. Trailing Davidson 8-10, the Mountaineers took control of the set with six consecutive points that included a trio of kills from Ambrose, a block from Ambrose and Winterhoff, and a kill from Winterhoff. A trio of kills from Winterhoff and a Wildcat error brought App State to an 18-12 lead over Davidson. App State reached set and match point with another 6-0 run. The run included kills from Winterhoff and Marchal as well as a block from the duo, an ace from Farthing, a block from Hutchens and Winterhoff, and a solo block from Hutchens. Davidson held App State to two match points before Heidemann set Hutchens up for a final kill to seal the set, 25-15, and clinch the match, 3-1.
Looking Ahead
App State will open conference play with a pair of matches against James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va. on Sept. 26 and 27. Both matches are set for 6 p.m. starts and will be available to stream on ESPN+.
