BOONE, N.C. - The App State volleyball team (10-3, 1-1 SBC) is set to travel to Lafayette, La. for a pair of matches against Louisiana (9-3, 1-1 SBC) on Friday and Saturday. Friday's 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) match will be available to stream on ESPN+. Saturday's match is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT).
Last Time Out
App State split its Sun Belt-opening weekend against James Madison in the Holmes Center on Sept. 26 and 27. In the Mountaineers' 3-1 victory over JMU on Friday, seniors
Keionna Mackey and
Maya Winterhoff led the team with a combined 29 kills. Redshirt senior
Addison Heidemann made 43 of App State's 48 assists, while sophomore
MeMe Davis registered a team high 11 digs. The Black and Gold served up nine aces compared to JMU's two.
The Mountaineers fell short in four sets on Saturday. Winterhoff led the Black and Gold with 14 kills and seven blocks (one solo, six assists). Senior
Ali Morris and Heidemann each logged their fourth double-doubles of the 2025 campaign. Morris tallied 13 kills and a team-high 14 digs, while Heidemann made 45 assists and 10 digs.
Mountaineer Leaders
Winterhoff is the Mountaineers' top blocker, attacker, and server. The Charlottesville, Va. native ranks 12th nationally and second in the Sun Belt in blocks with 73 (13 solo, 60 assists) through 13 matches. Additionally, she stands second in the league and rounds out the NCAA's top 25 in hitting percentage with a mark of .416. Winterhoff has totaled 159 kills (2.84 k/s) and 18 aces this fall. Morris follows Winterhoff in the kills category with 146 on the season, averaging 2.61 kills per set. In the assists category, Heidemann stands second in the league with a team high of 437, averaging 7.8 assists per set. Leading the Mountaineers with 213 digs on the season (3.8 d/s), Davis ranks fifth in the conference in the digs category.
App State stands among the NCAA's top 40 and second in the Sun Belt in blocks with 129.5 (27 solo, 205 assists). The Mountaineers also rank second in the conference in aces (87) and fourth in assists (633) and kills (695).
Series History vs. Louisiana
App State and Louisiana are 8-8 overall, last meeting in 2023. The Mountaineers and Ragin' Cajuns were scheduled to meet during the 2024 season, but the matches were canceled due to the effects of Hurricane Helene.
In the penultimate match of the 2023 regular season, App State fell in three sets to Louisiana on Nov. 10. The Mountaineers returned to the court for a five-set battle on Nov. 11. Despite coming up short,
Lulu Ambrose led the team with 16 kills and McCall Denny recorded 12 kills and 13 digs for her 30th career double-double. Winterhoff tallied 11 kills on a clip of .423 and went up for a team high five blocks. Sophie Cain guided the team to a hitting percentage of .283 and made 24 of App State's 47 assists.
Scouting Louisiana
Louisiana split its Sun Belt opener with Texas State in San Marcos last week, defeating the Bobcats, 3-1, on Friday before falling short in three sets on Saturday. The Ragin' Cajuns return to their home arena, Earl K. Long Gym with the intention of defending an unblemished 5-0 home record. In nonconference play, the Ragin' Cajuns opened the 2025 campaign with a sweep of Texas Southern (Aug. 29) and went on to sweep Alcorn (Sept. 11), Southern (Sept. 19), and Nicholls (Sept. 20).
Senior Cailin Demps is Louisiana's top attacker, totaling 157 kills on the season and averaging 3.65 kills per set. Leading the team in the assists category are juniors Ryleigh Garis and Nene Hawkins. Garis has a team high 242 assists (5.76 a/s), while Hawkins has 186 assists this fall (4.89 a/s). With 170 digs on the season (3.95 d/s), fellow junior Kennedy Gustafson leads the team in the digs category. Gustafson and sophomore Marlee Ervin match with a team high 15 aces apiece. Ervin ranks fifth in the league in aces per set (0.44). Louisiana's top blocker is freshman Lindsey Henry, who has totaled 35 (three solo, 32 assists) through 12 matches.
The Ragin' Cajuns rank 41st nationally and second in the league in hitting percentage (.259), as well as second in the SBC in aces per set (1.72). Louisiana also stands fourth in the conference in assists per set (12.4) and fifth in kills per set (13.19).
On the Horizon
App State will host Old Dominion on Oct. 10 and 11 at the Holmes Convocation Center. Both matches will be available to stream on ESPN+.
