BOONE, N.C. - The App State volleyball team (13-8, 4-6 SBC) is set to host Georgia State on Friday and Saturday. Friday's 6 p.m. Halloween match will feature postgame trick-or-treating for fans. During Saturday's 2 p.m. match, fans will be able to play Volleyball Bingo. Both matches will be available to stream on ESPN+.
Last Time Out
The Mountaineers fell short to Coastal Carolina on Oct. 24 and 25 in Conway, S.C. In Friday's contest, senior
Keionna Mackey led the Mountaineers with nine kills. Redshirt senior
Addison Heidemann and junior
Maria Contreras combined for 24 of App State's 31 assists. Sophomore
MeMe Davis made a team high 12 digs. App State fell short in five sets on Saturday. Sophomore
Bella Hutchens set a new career high with 24 kills and served up six of App State's eight aces. Senior
Ali Morris slammed down 15 kills for the Black and Gold. Heidemann dished out 47 of App State's 50 assists, while Davis made a team high 17 digs.
Mountaineer Leaders
Senior
Maya Winterhoff continues to lead the league and ranks 35th nationally in hitting percentage with a mark of .392. She also stands third in the SBC and 17th in the NCAA in blocks, totaling 108 (19 solo, 89 assists). In the kills category, Winterhoff leads the team with 241 kills, averaging 2.71 kills per set. Following Winterhoff in the kills category is
Ali Morris, who has 226 on the season (2.54 k/s). Morris, who eclipsed 1,000 career digs on Oct. 17 against Georgia Southern, is on track to surpass another career milestone this fall, entering Friday's contest with 954 career kills. Morris also leads the team in aces, serving up 24 this fall. Heidemann, who leads the team in the assists category, stands second in the league in assists (688) and fifth in assists per set (7.73). Davis rounds out the league's top five in the digs category, tallying 348 digs (3.91 per set). Additionally, Davis is on pace to eclipse 1,000 career digs this season, entering this weekend's contests with 968.
App State stands second in the Sun Belt and 48th nationally in kills, slamming down 1,124 this fall. The Mountaineers also rank second in the league in assists (1,019), aces (83), and attacks (3,046). Additionally, the Black and Gold rounds out the conference's top five in blocks, totaling 193.5.
Series History vs. Georgia State
App State leads the series against Georgia State, 18-11. The Mountaineers have won the last four matches against Georgia State, including three in the 2024 season alone. During the regular season last fall, App State downed Georgia State in four sets on Nov. 1 and defeated the Panthers in five sets on Nov. 2.
In the quarterfinal round of the 2024 Sun Belt Tournament, the No. 1 East seeded Mountaineers came out victorious after a five-set battle against the No. 5 East seeded Panthers on Nov. 22. Three Mountaineers made double-figure kills, led by Winterhoff, who slammed down 15 kills on a mark of .313. Heidemann dished out 54 of App State's 57 assists while
Kenady Roper made a team high 22 digs on the afternoon. The victory set the Mountaineers up for an appearance in the semifinal round of the SBC Tournament, the first for the program since in the 2018 campaign.
Scouting Georgia State
This weekend's matches mark Georgia State's third consecutive week on the road. The Panthers (12-9, 3-7 SBC) come to Boone after splitting matches with Old Dominion (Oct. 17 and 18) as well as with Marshall (Oct. 24 and 25). GSU had opened Sun Belt play on Sept. 26 and 27, splitting their weekend with Arkansas State. The Panthers then fell short to James Madison (Oct. 3 and 4) and Coastal Carolina (Oct. 9 and 10). GSU opened the season with a trio of victories over Presbyterian, West Georgia, and Furman (Aug. 29-30). Additionally, the Panthers picked up nonconference victories over Florida A&M (Sept. 5 and 13), Evansville (Sept. 6), McNeese State (Sept. 12), Sam Houston (Sept. 19) and Houston Christian (Sept. 20).
Freshman Marta Lazzarin ranks 11th nationally and leads the Sun Belt in digs per set (5.05). Additionally, Lazzarin leads the league and ranks among the NCAA's top 40 in digs with 379 this fall. Georgia State's top attacker is senior Nazli Guvener, who has 199 kills and averages 2.62 kills per set. Following Guvener in the kills category is graduate student Maria Cecilia de Pinho, who has 189 kills (2.49 k/s). Three Panthers have registered triple-digit assists, led by senior Shanelle Martinez (427 assists, 5.47 a/s). Martinez also leads the team in aces, serving up 25 this fall. In the blocks category, graduate student Myllean Torquetti leads the team with 58 blocks (15 solo, 43 assists). The Panthers rank third in the league in digs per set (15.51) as well as assists per set (12.28).
On the Horizon
The Mountaineers will travel to Marshall for their penultimate regular season weekend on Nov. 6 and 7. Thursday's match is set for 1 p.m. and Friday's match is set for 4 p.m. Both will be available to stream on ESPN+.
