STATESBORO, Ga. – The App State volleyball team (13-6, 4-4 SBC) dropped Friday's contest against Georgia Southern (16-3, 7-1 SBC) in four sets (25-21, 21-25, 15-25, 23-25).
"It was a tough weekend in Statesboro," said head coach
Chad Sutton. "We need to come back, get back to work and get ready for another tough weekend in South Carolina."
Friday's match was highlighted by a career milestone from senior
Ali Morris, who surpassed 1,000 career digs. She is the third Mountaineer to reach a career milestone this fall, following redshirt senior
Addison Heidemann and senior
Maya Winterhoff, who eclipsed 1,000 career assists and 1,000 career kills, respectively. Additionally, Morris is on pace to reach a second milestone this season, as she currently has 934 career kills. Sophomore
MeMe Davis is also on course to reach a career milestone, standing at 939 career digs after Friday's match.
Georgia Southern 3, App State 1
Winterhoff led the Mountaineers with 20 kills on a mark of .429, matching her single-match career high in kills that she set in 2024 against Georgia State. Additionally, Winterhoff led the Black and Gold in blocks, going up for six (two solo, four assists). In addition to her 1,000th career dig, Morris registered her seventh double-double of the season (36th of her career) with 11 kills and 11 digs. She also served up two of App State's four aces. Heidemann made 27 of App State's 54 assists, while junior
Maria Contreras contributed 17 assists. Davis made a team high 13 digs for the Black and Gold. App State outpaced Georgia Southern in kills (59-52), assists (54-47), digs (50-47), and aces (4-3).
In the first set, App State established a 10-4 lead with a 6-0 run, which featured a pair of kills from senior
Keionna Mackey and a kill from Winterhoff. With a 5-1 run, the Mountaineers maintained their lead, building off kills from Morris and Winterhoff, a block from the duo, and one of Winterhoff's solo blocks. Back-to-back kills from Mackey and Winterhoff put the Mountaineers up 23-16. Georgia Southern managed to narrow the deficit to 23-21 before kills from Mackey and Morris capped the set, 25-21, for the Mountaineers. Over the course of the set, the Mountaineers held the Eagles to a hitting percentage of .097.
The Mountaineers and Eagles battled through a tight second set, knotting the score on 14 occasions, but only trading the lead thrice. Winterhoff and Mackey managed to keep the score tied four times midway through the set, but Georgia Southern edged ahead, 19-16 with a 3-0 run. A kill from sophomore
Lou Johnson and back-to-back kills from Winterhoff cut the deficit to one (20-19). Despite kills from Morris and Contreras, Georgia Southern flipped the script from the first set, taking the second, 25-21.
Georgia Southern's momentum carried into the third set and the Eagles outpaced the Mountaineers, 25-15.
Sophomore
Bella Hutchens opened the fourth set with back-to-back kills. Johnson set Heidemann up for a kill and Heidemann returned the favor for Johnson as the Mountaineers took a 5-2 lead. With a pair of 3-0 runs that featured an ace from junior
Caroline Farthing, kills from Winterhoff and Morris, an ace from Morris, and a block from the duo of Winterhoff and Contreras, App State took an 11-6 lead. The Eagles edged ahead, 12-11 after a 6-0 run of their own. Hutchens slammed down back-to-back kills to push the Mountaineers ahead, 14-13. As Georgia Southern jumped to a 21-16 lead, Winterhoff made a trio of kills and Hutchens made another set of back-to-back kills to narrow the deficit to two (23-21). The Mountaineers held Georgia Southern to a pair of set points as Contreras set Johnson up for a kill, which Heidemann followed up with an ace, but the Eagles took the set, 25-23, and the match, 3-1.
Looking Ahead
App State will challenge Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C. on Oct. 24 and 25. Friday's match is set for 6 p.m. and Saturday's match is slated for 2 p.m. Both will be available to stream on ESPN+.
