By Katherine Jamtgaard. BOONE, N.C. — The App State volleyball team split its weekend against Georgia Southern, falling short in four sets (25-23, 23-25, 21-25, 18-25) in Saturday’s Pink Day match after edging past the Eagles in five sets on Friday.
“I am glad we walked away with the weekend split. Georgia Southern is a great team and we battled hard,” said head coach Sarah Rumely Noble. “We are walking away from the weekend confident and hungry.”
Georgia Southern 3, App State 1
Junior Maya Winterhoff led the Mountaineers in kills (13) and blocks (4). Freshman Bella Hutchens recorded a new career high with 12 digs, while senior Lulu Ambrose recorded 10 kills. In the assists category, redshirt junior Addison Heidemann registered 38 of the Mountaineers’ 44 assists. Junior Kenady Roper led the team with 18 digs, followed by freshman Elise Marchal, who recorded 15 digs and was one kill away from her seventh double-double of the year. Winterhoff, Marchal, and sophomore Caroline Farthing, served up an ace apiece for the Mountaineers.
In the first set, App State (10-7, 4-2 SBC) went on a 6-0 run that included a kill from sophomore Ava Leahy, three consecutive kills from Winterhoff, a solo block from Winterhoff, and a kill from Heidemann, to take an early 6-2 lead. A kill from Marchal and back-to-back kills from Hutchens extended the lead to 10-4. Georgia Southern managed to cut the deficit to one, but the Mountaineers extended their lead to 20-17, building off kills from Ambrose and Winterhoff, as well as a block from the duo of Marchal and Winterhoff. Heidemann set Marchal up for a kill, which was followed by an Eagle error that put the Black and Gold ahead 23-20. A kill from Hutchens brought the Mountaineers to set point (24-21), and despite holding the Mountaineers to two set points, a kill from Ambrose sealed the set for App State, 25-23.
The Mountaineers and Eagles knotted the score twice and swapped the lead twice in the second set. After steadily chipping away at Georgia Southern’s lead throughout the set, App State managed to take a 21-20 edge with a 4-0 run that included back-to-back kills from Marchal and a kill from Winterhoff. Another kill from Winterhoff broke a 21-21 tie, giving the Mountaineers a 22-21 edge. Georgia Southern reached set point with a 3-0 run. A block from Marchal and Leahy held the Eagles to set point, but Georgia Southern took the set, 25-23.
In the third set, the Eagles jumped to an early lead. App State steadily worked to close the deficit over the course of the set and managed to cut the deficit down to one at 19-18 with a 4-0 run that included a kill from Ambrose. Despite kills from Winterhoff, Ambrose, and Hutchens, the Eagles took the set, 25-21.
In the fourth and final set, App State and Georgia Southern tied on five occasions and traded the lead twice once more. The Eagles took the lead after a 6-0 run, but the Mountaineers chipped away at the deficit with kills from Ambrose, Winterhoff, Hutchens, and Leahy. Down, 22-14, the Mountaineers saw back-to-back kills from Marchal as well as an Eagle error to cut the deficit to 22-17. Despite a last kill from Marchal, set up by Heidemann, the Eagles took the set, 25-18, and the match, 3-1.
Looking Ahead
The Mountaineers will host Coastal Carolina on Oct. 24 and 25. Both matches are slated for 6 p.m. first serves and will be available to stream on ESPN+.
