CHARLESTON, S.C. – The App State volleyball team opened the 2025 campaign with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-15) sweep of Mercer at C of C Classic on Friday. The victory marked head coach
Chad Sutton's first at the helm of the program. Additionally, the Mountaineers' all-time record against the Bears remains unblemished and now stands at 5-0.
App State 3, Mercer 0
App State outpaced Mercer in all but one category, matching with the Bears with 46 digs apiece. The Mountaineers tallied 35 kills and 34 assists, while holding the Bears to 28 kills and 28 assists. The Black and Gold also recorded a team hitting percentage of .286 while holding the Bears to a mark of .046.
Sophomore
Lou Johnson made eight kills on 10 attacks for a .800 hitting percentage. Senior
Maya Winterhoff matched Johnson with eight kills of her own. In the assists category, redshirt senior
Addison Heidemann made 31 of the Mountaineers' 34 assists and is now 28 away from reaching 1,000 career assists. Sophomore
MeMe Davis led the team in digs, registering 12, and was followed by junior
Caroline Farthing, who made nine. Senior
Ali Morris was the Mountaineers' top blocker on the day with four, three of which were solo. Fellow senior
Keionna Mackey served up three of the Mountaineers' seven aces, which came consecutively in the third set.
App State came out strong in the first set, jumping to a 5-1 lead early, which featured a kill from redshirt sophomore
Delanie Grevengoed and an ace from sophomore
Bella Hutchens. Mercer managed to take an 11-10 edge, but a kill from Hutchens knotted the score at 11 all. A pair of 4-0 runs that featured kills from Johnson, Morris and Winterhoff as well as aces from Farthing and Davis, pushed the Black and Gold ahead, 19-14. Despite Mercer's efforts, App State took the set 25-17, building off kills from Grevengoed, Winterhoff, and Hutchens.
The Mountaineers' momentum carried into the second set as they established a hefty 12-3 lead, built on kills from Hutchens, Grevengoed, Johnson, and Winterhoff, as well as a Morris solo block and block by the duo of Johnson and Grevengoed. Mercer managed to narrow the deficit to 15-11, but the Mountaineers were quick to push ahead, 20-13 with a kill from Hutchens and a trio of kills from Johnson. Winterhoff slammed down a kill before going up for a block alongside Morris. Morris went up for a solo block, which Mackey followed up with her first kill of the match to bring the Mountaineers to set point (24-16). With an ace, Morris secured the second set for the Mountaineers, 25-16.
In the third set, Mercer pulled ahead 8-4 early before the Mountaineers found their footing with a 4-0 run, tying the score at 8-8. The Mountaineers gained an 11-9 edge after a kill from Winterhoff and a pair of Mercer errors. With a 5-0 run that featured three consecutive Mackey aces sandwiched by a pair of Johnson kills, App State pulled ahead, 17-11. Regaining momentum, the Black and Gold saw back-to-back kills from Grevengoed and Winterhoff, both assisted by Heidemann. A kill by Morris, assisted by junior
Maria Contreras, brought the Mountaineers to set point (24-14). Contreras, assisted by Davis, scored set and match point (25-15).
Looking Ahead
Competition continues at the C of C Classic on Saturday as the Mountaineers take on host College of Charleston at 11 a.m. and Eastern Kentucky at 4:30 p.m. Saturday's morning match against College of Charleston will be available to stream on FloCollege.
