STATESBORO, Ga. – The App State volleyball team (13-5, 4-3 SBC) fell short to Georgia Southern (15-3, 6-1 SBC) in five sets (25-22, 27-25, 22-25, 20-25, 14-16) in Statesboro, Ga. on Thursday.
Georgia Southern 3, App State 2
For a second consecutive match, sophomore
Bella Hutchens led the Mountaineers in kills, slamming down a career high 22. Seniors
Ali Morris and
Keionna Mackey matched with 17 kills apiece. Morris registered her sixth double-double of the season (35th of her career) adding 18 digs to her double-figure kills and is now seven digs away from reaching 1,000 in her career. Redshirt senior
Addison Heidemann and sophomore
MeMe Davis also recorded double-doubles. Heidemann dished out a team high 31 assists and made 20 digs, helping the Mountaineers to a team hitting percentage of .239. Davis made a season high 33 digs and 10 assists on the evening. Senior
Maya Winterhoff led the team in blocks with six (one solo, five assists) and redshirt freshman
Maddie Smith served up three of App State's seven aces. App State outpaced Georgia Southern in digs (99-85), kills (77-60), assists (71-55), and aces (7-5).
Down 9-7 early in the first set, App State went on an 8-0 run, building off kills from Hutchens, Morris, sophomore
Lou Johnson, a block from the duo of Johnson and Hutchens, and back-to-back solo blocks from Johnson to leap ahead, 15-9. As Georgia Southern narrowed the deficit, kills from junior
Maria Contreras, Winterhoff, and Mackey kept the Mountaineers ahead, 20-18. The Eagles managed to match the Mountaineers at 21 all, but a kill from Johnson, a block from the duo of Hutchens and Winterhoff, and a kill from Winterhoff brought the Black and Gold to set point (24-21). Morris capped the set at 25-22 for App State with a kill of her own. The Mountaineers recorded a team hitting percentage of .351 in the first set.
Over the course of the second set, the Mountaineers recorded a hitting percentage of .317 while holding the Eagles to a mark of .196. App State and Georgia Southern knotted the score seven times, but only traded the lead twice. The Mountaineers fought back from a 23-18 deficit with a pair of Morris kills, a kill from Hutchens, and a block from the duo of Winterhoff and Hutchens to bring the Mountaineers within one of the Eagles' lead (23-22). Georgia Southern reached set point, but back-to-back kills from Hutchens tied things up at 24 all. The Eagles managed to edge ahead, 25-24, but the Mountaineers took the set, 27-25, with a 3-0 run as Contreras set Morris up for a kill, Morris served up an ace, and the Eagles made an attack error.
Much like the second set, the Mountaineers and Eagles knotted the score seven times and traded the lead twice in the third. Three consecutive kills from Mackey tied things up at 8-8. The Mountaineers took a 16-15 edge after a Morris kill, a block from Winterhoff and Morris, and Hutchens ace. Georgia Southern took a 21-18 lead with a 3-0 run. Despite kills from Mackey, Hutchens, and Morris, the Eagles took the set, 25-22.
App State jumped to an early 3-0 lead after a pair of Eagle errors and a solo block from Hutchens. Georgia Southern answered with a 4-0 run for the set's only lead change. The Mountaineers steadily chipped away at a 15-8 deficit with kills from Johnson and Morris and a 4-0 run that featured kills from Morris, Winterhoff, and Mackey as well as a Morris ace. App State managed to hold Georgia Southern to several set points with a Georgia Southern error and kills from Contreras, Johnson, and Mackey, but the Eagles took the set, 25-20.
In the fifth set, App State established a 10-6 lead with a 5-0 run, building off of a block from Contreras and Winterhoff, kills from Mackey, Johnson, and Contreras, as well as a Winterhoff ace. The Eagles came within one of App State's lead, but a trio of kills from Hutchens kept the Mountaineers ahead, 14-11. Georgia Southern answered with a 5-0 run to take the set, 16-14, and the match, 3-2.
Looking Ahead
The Mountaineers return to the court for a rematch against Georgia Southern at 6 p.m. on Friday. The match will be available to stream on ESPN+.
