By Katherine Jamtgaard. NORFOLK, Va. — The App State volleyball team defeated Old Dominion, 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-22, 25-11), on the road Oct. 11. With the win, the Mountaineers improve to 9-5 on the season and 3-0 in Sun Belt play.
The Mountaineers return to the court at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12, for a second match against the Monarchs.
App State 3, Old Dominion 1
Senior Lulu Ambrose led App State with 12 kills on the night. Junior Maya Winterhoff served up a team-high four aces in addition to making nine kills and five blocks. Sophomore Ava Leahy led the team with seven blocks while redshirt junior Addison Heidemann recorded a team high 34 assists. In the digs category, junior Kenady Roper tallied a team high 11 digs. Freshman Elise Marchal registered her fifth career double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs.
App State served up 13 aces compared to ODU’s four and tallied 12 blocks to ODU’s eight.
Ambrose put the Mountaineers on the board in the first set with a kill. Though ODU matched the score at 1-1, it was the sole tie of the set, as the Mountaineers took control of the lead with a 3-0 run that included a Marchal kill and Winterhoff ace. App State extended the lead to 11-5, building off kills from Winterhoff and Marchal and an ace from Heidemann. Back-to-back kills from Ambrose and a kill from Leahy pulled the Mountaineers ahead, 16-9. Building off a block from the duo of freshman Bella Hutchens and Leahy, as well as a kill from Hutchens, App State reached a 20-12 lead. A pair of kills from Winterhoff and a pair of ODU errors brought the Black and Gold to set point (24-16). The Monarchs managed to hold the Mountaineers to two set points, but App State took the set, 25-18, after an ODU attack error.
The Mountaineers and Monarchs tied thrice and exchanged the lead twice early in the second set. Taking an early 5-3 edge, ODU maintained their lead through the set, despite the Mountaineers’ efforts to close the deficit. The Mountaineers came within two of the Monarchs’ lead on three occasions, but it wasn’t enough as ODU edged ahead to take the set, 25-21.
In the third set, App State took an early 6-3 lead with a 4-0 scoring run that included kills from Ambrose and Leahy. ODU edged ahead, 9-7, with a 4-0 run of its own. Back-to-back kills from Hutchens knotted the score at 10 all. With a kill from Marchal, an ace from sophomore Taylor McNear, and a block from Winterhoff and Marchal, App State pulled ahead, 13-11. With a 4-0 run that included a kill from Leahy, a block from Ambrose and Leahy, and back-to-back aces from Marchal, App State extended the deficit to 18-13. Leahy, Winterhoff, Marchal, and Ambrose contributed kills to bring the Mountaineers to set point. ODU managed to hold App State to two set points, but Heidemann set Ambrose up for the kill to seal the set, 25-22, for the Mountaineers.
App State commanded the fourth and final set, taking an early 7-1 lead that featured three consecutive aces from Winterhoff. Seven of the Black and Gold’s 13 aces were served up in the final set. The Mountaineers went on a 6-0 run to rise to a 17-6 lead as Winterhoff and Hutchens made kills, Heidemann served up back-to-back aces, and the duos of Winterhoff and Hutchens and Winterhoff and Marchal went up for blocks. Ambrose slammed down back-to-back kills to extend the deficit to 22-9. Kills from Marchal and Ambrose brought the Mountaineers to set and match point, 24-11. App State took the set, 25-11, and the match, 3-0, after an ODU error.
