BOONE, N.C. - The App State volleyball team is set to open play in the Holmes Convocation Center with the Mountaineer Classic on Friday and Saturday. Action starts at 10:30 a.m. on Friday as the Black and Gold hosts ETSU for Education Day. The Mountaineers will then return to the court for Friday's closer against Kennesaw State at 7 p.m. and will cap competition at the Mountaineer Classic with a 3 p.m. battle against Gardner-Webb on Saturday.
Single-match tickets, starting with the 7 p.m. match against Kennesaw State, will be available for purchase.
Friday's 10:30 a.m. match against ETSU will be Education Day, where the Mountaineers will welcome students from area schools to the match. Admission to the morning match is free for all. The fan zone will return for Friday's 7 p.m. match against Kennesaw State, where there will also be a schedule magnet giveaway for fans. Saturday's 3 p.m. match against Gardner-Webb will be Selfie Saturday, which will include a phone wallet giveaway.
Last Time Out
The Mountaineers opened the 2024 campaign at the Bobcat Invitational in Athens, Ohio. Junior
Maya Winterhoff landed on the Bobcat Invitational All-Tournament team after starting all three matches and appearing in all 13 sets. Over the duration of the tournament, she made 42 kills, averaging 3.23 kills per set, and posted a hitting percentage of 4.74 on the weekend. She also totaled 14 blocks (five solo, nine assists), nine digs, four aces and four assists.
App State opened the season with a gritty 3-2 (24-26, 25-19, 21-25, 25-17, 15-11) morning victory over Xavier on Aug. 30. Winterhoff led the team in kills, slamming down 16. In her collegiate debut, freshman
Maddie Smith matched senior
Lulu Ambrose with 12 kills apiece. Smith also recorded her first career block and six digs. Freshman
Julianna Horta also made an impressive debut, recording a team-high 29 assists.
In the afternoon, the Mountaineers dropped a contest to Wright State in three sets (18-25, 24-26, 13-25). Winterhoff managed 11 kills, Horta made 13 assists and junior
Kenady Roper tallied 13 digs and served up the Mountaineers' sole ace of the match.
Returning to the court to close out the tournament on Aug. 31, the Mountaineers fell to host Ohio in five sets (22-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-18, 12-15). Down two sets, the Mountaineers fought back to take two sets of their own before coming up short to the Bobcats in the fifth and final set. Despite this, Ambrose and redshirt junior
Addison Heidemann registered the Mountaineers' first double-doubles of the season, which also marked their first career double-doubles.
Ranked Mountaineers
Winterhoff leads the Sun Belt and stands in the top-30 in hitting percentage (.474) in the NCAA. The preseason All-SBC selection also ranks third in points (55.5) and rounds out the top-five in total blocks (14). App State stands fourth in the league for team digs (192) and sixth for team assists (144) and team kills (151).
Scouting the Tournament Field
App State vs. ETSU | Friday | 10:30 a.m. | ESPN+ | Education Day
The Mountaineers have a long history with ETSU, recording 71 encounters with the Buccaneers since 1981. App State leads the series 51-20 and last met ETSU on Sept. 4, 2021, at the Black & Gold Challenge, where the Mountaineers won 3-1.
Brianna Cantrell and Amanda Lowe lead the team in kills, with 31 and 30, respectively. Jenna Forester, who was named to the Preseason All-SoCon Team, stands third on the team in kills with 25. Across three matches, Reese Rhodes has tallied a team-high 90 assists, while Melanie Morris has a team-high 37 digs. Abbey Thomas leads the team and the SoCon in blocks per set with 1.50. Enisilina Savelio ranks second in the SoCon and third nationally in the aces per set category. Savelio also leads the team and ranks fourth in the league for service aces.
ETSU is 2-1 (0-0 SoCon) after opening the season at the Wildcat Classic. After falling in three sets to Marshall on Aug. 30, ETSU managed to sweep Elon before defeating host Davidson, 3-1, on Aug. 31. The Buccaneers lead the SoCon in the blocks per set category, averaging 2.60 per set. They also rank third in the league in total blocks.
App State vs. Kennesaw State | Friday | 7 p.m. | ESPN+
App State has a one-match edge over Kennesaw State after the teams met for the first time in program history on Aug. 27, 2011, when the Black and Gold swept the Owls in three sets at the Holmes Convocation Center.
After the opening weekend, Manu Johnsen leads the team in the kills category with 40. In the Owls' first season in Conference USA, Johnsen was named to the league's Preseason All-Conference team. She also ranks fourth in the CUSA in the kills per set category (3.33). Kaeley Walz leads the team in assists with 57. Following Walz in the assists category is Kourtney Brown, who has 49. Brown also stands second in CUSA and is tied for 32nd in the NCAA for aces. Leah Freeman leads the team with 25 digs.
Kennesaw State is 0-3 (0-0 CUSA) on the season and will clash with Gardner-Webb at 1 p.m. before meeting the Mountaineers at 7 p.m. on Friday. The Owls opened the season by hosting Wichita State and Indiana in the Kennesaw State Invitational. KSU fell to Wichita State, 3-1, and Indiana, 3-0, before falling short to the Shockers in a five-set rematch against Wichita State. KSU ranks second in Conference USA in the team service aces category and third in the league in aces per set.
App State vs. Gardner-Webb | Saturday | 3 p.m. | ESPN+
App State leads its series with Gardner-Webb, 5-0. The Mountaineers opened the series with a 3-0 sweep on Oct. 19, 2004 and last met the Bulldogs on Sept. 17, 2021, where they picked up a 3-1 win over GW at the ECU Pirate Invitational.
Cayton White leads the team in the kills category with 50. White ranks second in kills and third in kills per set in the Big South. Leading the team in the assists category is Morgan Hornaday with 58. Molly Littlefield leads the Bulldogs in the digs category with 78. Littlefield leads the Big South and rounds out the NCAA top-20 in digs per set (5.20) and ranks second in the league and fifth in the NCAA in total digs.
Gardner-Webb is 1-3 (0-0 Big South) coming into the Mountaineer Classic. The Bulldogs fell in three sets to Norfolk State and Miami (Ohio) at the Norfolk State Tournament on Aug. 30. On Aug. 31, Gardner-Webb closed out action at the Norfolk State Tournament with a 3-1 victory over Lamar. On Sept. 3, Gardner-Webb fell short to Elon in five sets. Gardner-Webb leads the Big South in aces per set and checks in at second in the team service aces category.
Looking Ahead
App State will host Clemson, Winthrop and Wofford for the Black & Gold Invitational on Sept. 12-14. All matches for the Black & Gold Invitational will be available to stream on ESPN+.
Full Mountaineer Classic Schedule
Friday, Sept. 6
10:30 a.m. - App State vs. ETSU | Live Stats | ESPN+
1 p.m. - Kennesaw State vs. Gardner-Webb |
Live Stats |
ESPN+
4:30 p.m. - ETSU vs. Gardner-Webb |
Live Stats |
ESPN+
7 p.m. - App State vs. Kennesaw State | Live Stats | ESPN+
Saturday, Sept. 7
12 p.m. - ETSU vs. Kennesaw State |
Live Stats |
ESPN+
3 p.m. - App State vs. Gardner-Webb | Live Stats | ESPN+
