By Katherine Jamtgaard. HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The App State volleyball team fell short to Marshall in five sets on Oct. 21, 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 19-25, 15-10).
Marshall 3, App State 2
Sophomore Maya Winterhoff, along with freshmen Ava Leahy and Delanie Grevengoed posted double-digit kills on the afternoon with Winterhoff recording 16, Leahy recording 12, and Grevengoed recording 11. Redshirt freshman Katie Cruise and senior Sophie Cain both recorded double-doubles, as Cruise posted 29 assists and 12 digs and Cain tallied 21 assists and 20 digs. Five Mountaineers tallied double-digit digs, led by sophomore Kenady Roper, who had 30. Fifth year senior McCall Denny and Winterhoff served up two aces apiece. Winterhoff also totaled eight blocks on the afternoon. App State recorded five aces compared to Marshall’s one, as well as 13 blocks to Marshall’s 11.
In the first set, Marshall built off a pair of 4-0 runs to take a 14-7 lead. App State chipped away at Marshall’s lead, going on a late 3-0 run that included kills from Grevengoed and Denny, but Marshall capped the set, 25-20.
App State and Marshall fought point-for-point in the second set, until Marshall broke a 17 all tie with a 4-0 run to take a 20-17 lead. Kills from Winterhoff and Grevengoed, as well as an ace from Winterhoff brought App State within two of Marshall’s 22-20 lead. A kill from Denny brought the Mountaineers within one (24-23), but Marshall took the set, 25-23.
In the third set, App State kept pace with Marshall early. Back-to-back kills from Winterhoff gave App State a 10-9 edge. The Mountaineers found momentum with a 4-0 run that included a pair of blocks from Denny/junior Lauren Pledger and Pledger kill (15-11). With another 4-0 run, the Black and Gold took a 20-13 lead. The run included a pair of kills from Leahy. Despite a run from Marshall, App State secured the third set, 25-20, after a Denny kill.
App State took an early 5-2 lead in the fourth set after a block from Leahy/Pledger and ace from Denny. A kill from Pledger and ace from Cain extended App State’s lead to 12-8. As Marshall chipped away at App State’s lead, the Mountaineers answered with a 4-0 run that included kills from junior Lulu Ambrose and Winterhoff, as well as a pair of block from Ambrose/Winterhoff (17-11). Back-to-back kills from Pledger and Winterhoff closed out the set for App State, 25-19.
Grevengoed opened the fifth and final set with a kill and tied things up at 2-2 with a second kill. Marshall took a 6-3 lead that the Mountaineers chipped away at with an Ambrose kill and Marshall error. Marshall jumped ahead, 11-5, after a 5-0 run. Despite kills from Ambrose and Grevengoed, Marshall took the set, 15-10, and match, 3-2.
