KENNESAW, Ga. – The App State volleyball team suffered its first setback of the 2025 campaign after falling short to Michigan State in five sets (24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 21-25,10-15), at the Kennesaw State Invitational on Friday. The Mountaineers will enter Saturday's noon match against Kennesaw State (4-2) with a 6-1 record. Saturday's match will be available to stream on ESPN+.
Michigan State 3, App State 2
A quartet of Mountaineers made double-figure kills on Friday, led by senior
Ali Morris, who slammed down 13. Redshirt sophomore
Delanie Grevengoed made 12 kills, followed by senior
Maya Winterhoff and sophomore
Bella Hutchens, who tallied 11 kills apiece. Winterhoff recorded a hitting percentage of .450 and made a team-high six blocks. Redshirt senior
Addison Heidemann made 31 assists and helped App State to a team hitting percentage of .243. Heidemann also made 14 digs to register her second double-double of the season and 13th of her career. Heidemann, Morris, and Hutchens combined for six of App State's seven aces, each contributing two. Sophomore
MeMe Davis led the team with 16 digs.
Despite Friday's outcome, App State and Michigan State were closely matched in their first meeting in program history. Each served up seven aces. The Mountaineers kept pace with the Spartans in blocks, only trailing by one (13-12) and only trailing by two in assists (60-58) and digs (64-62). Friday's clash marked the Black and Gold's third consecutive five-set match in the month of September and fifth five-set match this fall.
In the first set, the Mountaineers and Spartans tied things up 10 times and traded the lead four times. Late in the set, a kill from Hutchens pushed the Mountaineers ahead, 21-20. Michigan State answered with a pair of kills, but Morris knotted the score at 22 all. As MSU reached set point, back-to-back kills from Winterhoff and Davis tied things up at 24 all. Michigan State managed to push ahead to secure the set, 26-24.
The Mountaineers broke a 9-9 tie in the second set with a block from the duo of sophomore
Lou Johnson and Morris, which was followed up by a Winterhoff kill. App State extended the lead to 18-14, building off kills from Morris, Winterhoff, and Hutchens. As MSU chipped away at the deficit, App State secured the set, 25-21, after a kill from Winterhoff, an ace from Morris, and a Spartan error.
App State and Michigan State battled through a tight third set. The Mountaineers erased a 14-10 deficit with kills from Hutchens and Johnson, an ace from Hutchens, and a block from the duo of junior
Maria Contreras and Winterhoff, knotting the score at 16 all. With a Contreras kill, Morris ace, and a Winterhoff kill, App State edged ahead, 20-19. Michigan State managed to catch up to the Black and Gold at 23 all, but a Spartan error brought App State to set point. Grevengoed slammed down a kill to seal the set, 25-23, in App State's favor.
Similar to the first set, App State and Michigan State matched on 10 occasions and swapped the lead three times in the fourth set. The Black and Gold met MSU at 12 all after a kill from Morris, a solo block from Contreras, and a block from the duo of Morris and Winterhoff. The Spartans managed to pull away with a 7-2 run. App State held MSU to several set points with a 4-0 run that was punctuated by a kill from Johnson, but Michigan State took the set, 25-21.
In the fifth and final set, App State managed to tie things up early with kills from Johnson and Morris, but the Spartans found momentum with a 7-1 run to take a hefty 9-3 lead. The Mountaineers had a late surge, cutting the deficit to 11-8 with a 5-1 run that featured a Heidemann ace and a trio of kills from Hutchens, Grevengoed, and Johnson. Despite the Mountaineers' efforts, Michigan State took the set 15-10, and the match, 3-2.
