By Katherine Jamtgaard for App State Sports. GREENVILLE, N.C. — The App State volleyball team swept Bethune-Cookman, 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-16), and came out victorious from a five-set thriller against Campbell, 3-2 (28-30, 21-25, 25-19, 25-16, 15-9), at the ECU Tournament on Friday.
Due to statistics-related issues during the App State vs. Campbell match, a full box score is not available at this time.
App State 3, Bethune-Cookman 0
Freshman Delanie Grevengoed tallied a career and team high 11 kills, while redshirt freshman Katie Cruise posted a career high and team high 22 assists. Sophomore Kenady Roper led the Mountaineers in the digs category with 10, while junior Lily Harvey totaled a team-high four blocks. Fifth-year senior McCall Denny, junior Alexis Hardison, sophomore Alyssa McBean, Roper and Cruise each posted an ace on the morning.
The Mountaineers outpaced the Wildcats in points (56-24), kills (44-21), aces (5-0), blocks (7-3), assists (41-19), and digs (33-26). Eighteen of 20 Mountaineers saw playing time against the Wildcats in Friday’s morning session.
App State held Bethune-Cookman to a mere 11 points in the first set after jumping ahead 4-0 early with kills from junior Lauren Pledger, Denny, and Grevengoed. The Mountaineers steadily built on their lead with three more 3-0 scoring runs, which eventually brought the Mountaineers to a 19-8 lead.
A kill from freshman Ava Leahy, block from Leahy/Pledger, and pair of errors from the Wildcats extended the Black & Gold’s lead to 23-9. Leahy and junior Lulu Ambrose closed out the first set with a pair of kills for a score of 25-11.
The second set started with a pair of blocks from Grevengoed/Harvey and Harvey/Denny as well as an ace from McBean. Leading 3-2, the Mountaineers extended their commanding lead with a 5-0 scoring run as well as a pair of 4-0 runs (21-13). App State took the second set 25-17 after another set-closing kill from Ambrose. Bethune-Cookman scored the first point of the final set and went point-for-point with the Mountaineers until a pair of Wildcat errors and an ace from Denny gave App State a 6-3 edge.
The Mountaineers continued to break away with another pair of 3-0 runs to take a 12-5 lead. A pair of back-to-back kills from Grevengoed, a kill from senior Cierra Huntley, and BCU error, put App State up 17-7. Kills from Huntley, Winterhoff, Ambrose, an ace from junior Alexis Hardison, and block from Harvey/senior Madison Baldridge brought the Mountaineers to set and match point. The Mountaineers secured the set 25-16, and the match 3-0.
App State 3, Campbell 2
Ambrose, Denny, and Winterhoff each recorded double-digit kills against the Camels. Denny also recorded the Mountaineers’ first double-double on the season with double-digit kills and digs.
The Mountaineers and Camels battled through a tight first set, pushing the score to 30-28 in favor of Campbell. Another point-for-point set brought Campbell into a 2-0 lead as they took the second set, 25-21, but App State was undeterred. The Black and Gold found its momentum in the third set, building off a 6-4 lead to leap ahead, 21-16. Taking the third set, 25-19, App State jumped to an immediate 10-0 lead in the fourth, building off aces from Roper and kills from Winterhoff, and Grevengoed. The Mountaineers held the Camels to 16 points in the fourth set, tying up the match at two sets apiece. App State clinched the five-set thriller, 3-2 after taking the fifth and final set, 15-9.
