KENNESAW, Ga. – The App State volleyball team rallied for a 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 15-11) victory over Kennesaw State on Saturday to cap competition at the Kennesaw State Invitational. The Mountaineers rise to 7-1 on the season and now hold a 2-1 edge in their series with the Owls.
Saturday's match marked the Mountaineers' third five-set victory in the month of September and fifth of the 2025 campaign.
"Another road trip, another set of five-set matches. We missed an opportunity to beat Michigan State and gutted out enough points to beat Kennesaw State. I'm very fortunate to coach a team that simply doesn't give up," said head coach
Chad Sutton. "We need to focus on our training and continue to elevate our level of play each day as our schedule does not let up. We're excited to be heading home with a dub and looking forward to a great opportunity at Chapel Hill."
App State 3, Kennesaw State 2
Senior
Ali Morris recorded her 30th career double-double with a team-high 15 kills and 11 digs. Fellow senior
Maya Winterhoff also registered a double-double with 10 kills and a career-high 10 blocks (two solo, eight assists). Redshirt senior
Addison Heidemann tallied a team-high 20 assists and eight digs, while junior Maria Conteras made 12 assists and a career-high seven blocks. Sophomore
MeMe Davis led the Black and Gold with 14 digs and served up four of App State's nine aces. The Mountaineers outpaced the Owls in aces (9-5) and blocks (16-10).
App State and Kennesaw State kept pace with each other through the first set. Winterhoff knotted the score at 14 all with a kill. The Owls found momentum with a 6-1 run to jump ahead, 22-16. The Black and Gold answered with a 4-1 run, building off kills from senior
Keionna Mackey, Davis, and Contreras, and a block from the duo of Contreras and Winterhoff. KSU managed to take the set, 25-20.
The Owls' momentum carried into the second set as they established a 10-4 lead. The Mountaineers steadily chipped away at the deficit, cutting it down to two (20-18) with a 4-0 run that featured a Heidemann ace and kill from sophomore
Bella Hutchens. A kill from fellow sophomore
Lou Johnson, followed by a block from the duo of Johnson and Morris, kept the Mountaineers within two of the Owls' lead (22-20). With a late 5-0 surge built off a pair of Owl errors, a Davis ace, and kills from Morris and Winterhoff, App State secured the set, 25-23.
In the third set, App State and Kennesaw State knotted the score five times early before the Mountaineers broke a 10-10 tie with a Hutchens kill for the only lead change in the set. Davis served up an ace and Winterhoff went up for the solo block to extend App State's lead to 13-10. The Mountaineers maintained the lead for the remainder of the set, jumping ahead 22-14 with a 4-0 run that featured a Contreras kill and block from the duo of Johnson and Contreras. Kills from Contreras and Johnson brought the Black and Gold to set point (24-16). Despite being held to two set points, App State took the set, 25-18, after an Owl service error.
App State and Kennesaw State battled through a tight fourth set, tying the score on 13 occasions, but only trading the lead four times. Down 14-10, App State pushed ahead, 15-14, with a 5-0 run that featured a kill from Hutchens, a block from the duo of Morris and Winterhoff, and back-to-back kills from Morris. Late in the set, KSU managed to push ahead, 23-21. App State knotted the score at 23 after a kill from Morris, but Kennesaw State edged ahead to take the set, 25-23.
The Mountaineers erased a 7-2 deficit in the fifth and final set with an impressive 7-0 run. With kills from Hutchens, Winterhoff, and Morris, and a pair of Davis aces, App State pushed ahead, 9-7. Another 5-0 run that featured a kill from Morris and a pair of Winterhoff kills brought the Mountaineers to set and match point (14-8). Kennesaw State held App State to a trio of match points before Contreras set Winterhoff up for a kill to cap the set, 15-11, and match, 3-2, for the Mountaineers.
Looking Ahead
The Mountaineers will travel down to Chapel Hill, N.C. to take on No. 25 UNC on Sept. 16 before returning to Boone to host Duke and Davidson for the 2025 Mountaineer Classic on Sept. 19-21. Tuesday's match against UNC will be available to stream on ACCNX. The Mountaineer Classic matches will be available to stream on ESPN+.
