BOONE, N.C. - The App State volleyball team (13-6, 4-4 SBC) will travel to Conway, S.C. for a pair of matches against Coastal Carolina (14-6, 6-2 SBC). Friday's match is set for 6 p.m. and Saturday's match is scheduled for 2 p.m. Both matches will be available to stream on ESPN+.
This weekend's matches mark head coach
Chad Sutton and assistant coach
Valerie Sutton's return to Conway since the pair had served on the Chanticleer coaching staff in 2022.
Last Time Out
App State dropped a pair of road matches to Georgia Southern last week. The weekend was highlighted by a career milestone from senior
Ali Morris, who surpassed 1,000 career digs on Oct. 17. 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. Morris is also on pace to reach a second career milestone, standing at 934 career kills. Additionally, sophomore
MeMe Davis is on pace to surpass a career milestone, tallying 939 career digs going into the weekend's matches.
In Friday's five-set match, sophomore
Bella Hutchens led the Mountaineers in kills with a new career high of 22. Morris, Heidemann, and Davis all registered double-doubles. Heidemann dished out 31 assists and made 20 digs, helping the Black and Gold to a team hitting percentage of .239. Morris tallied 17 kills and 18 digs, while Davis made a season high 33 digs and 10 assists. In Saturday's four-set match, Winterhoff led the Mountaineers with 20 kills on a clip of .429. Morris registered her seventh double-double of the season (36th of her career) with 11 kills and 11 digs, and served up two of App State's four aces.
Mountaineer Leaders
Winterhoff stands 11th nationally and remains second in the Sun Belt in blocks, tallying 101 on the season (17 solo, 84 assists). Additionally, she leads the league and rounds out the NCAA's top 30 in hitting percentage on a mark of .404. Winterhoff is the Mountaineers' top attacker with 228 kills this fall, averaging 2.81 per set. Morris follows with 206 kills (2.54 k/s) and leads the team in aces, serving up 23. Heidemann, who leads the team in assists with 628 (7.75 a/s), ranks third in the conference in total assists and fourth in assists per set. Leading App State in the digs category with 319 digs (3.94 d/s), is Davis. Davis also stands fourth in the league in total digs.
App State stands second in the Sun Belt and 33rd nationally in kills, tallying 1,034. The Mountaineers also rank second in the league and 45th in the NCAA in assists (938) as well as 46th in the NCAA in blocks (182.5).
Series History vs. Coastal Carolina
The Mountaineers and Chanticleers last met a year ago to the day on Oct. 24 and 25, 2024. With a four-set victory on Oct. 24 and a sweep on Oct. 25, the Black and Gold broke a 13-match drought that had spanned from the 2019 season. Coastal Carolina leads the series, 19-8.
On Oct. 24, Winterhoff slammed down 12 kills and served up two aces. With 43 assists and 12 digs, Heidemann notched a double-double and helped the Mountaineers to a team hitting percentage of .229. App State out-served Coastal Carolina, eight aces to five. Returning to the court on Oct. 25, the Mountaineers swept the Chants, 3-0. The Black and Gold served up nine aces to Coastal Carolina's two.
Lulu Ambrose tallied a team high 12 kills while Heidemann dished out 35 assists and served up six of App State's aces.
Caroline Farthing led the team with 11 digs, followed by
Kenady Roper, who made 10.
Scouting Coastal Carolina
Coastal Carolina is 14-6 on the season, 6-2 in Sun Belt play, and enters the weekend's contests after a pair of home losses to James Madison. The Chanticleers had won seven consecutive matches from Sept. 26 to Oct. 15, defeating Marshall, Old Dominion, Georgia State, and UNC Wilmington. CCU opened the 2025 campaign with a five-set victory over Maryland (Aug. 29) before falling short in four sets to North Carolina (Aug. 31) and falling short in five sets to South Carolina (Sept. 3). From Sept. 5 to Sept. 14, the Chanticleers won six in a row.
Junior Jalyn Stout secured the NCAA triple-double career record with her 40th triple-double on Oct. 1. The previous record was held by Jordyn Gates with 39. Stout has since added two more triple-doubles for a total of 42. Stout leads the Chants with 248 kills (3.44 k/s) and 22 aces. She also stands second on the team in assists (303, 4.21 a/s) and digs (226, 3.14 d/s). Fellow junior Anna Rita leads the Sun Belt and stands seventh nationally in blocks (106). She also leads the league and stands eighth in the NCAA in blocks per set (1.54). Leading the team in assists is junior Ava Wallis, who has 387 on the season, averaging 5.53 assists per set. Senior Bailee Earnhardt leads the team in digs with 242 (3.36 d/s). Coastal Carolina leads the Sun Belt and ranks 10th nationally in blocks (199) and ranks 16th in the NCAA in blocks per set (2.76).
On the Horizon
App State will host Georgia State on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at the Holmes Convocation Center.
