The App State volleyball team swept James Madison, 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-20) in its Sun Belt opener in Harrisonburg on Thursday. The Mountaineers improve to 7-5 (1-0 SBC) on the season after marking their first victory over the Dukes since 2011 and since JMU joined the league.
“I’m so proud of our team,” said head coach Sarah Rumely Noble. “We talked about playing assertively and just continuing to kill balls and we did that through the whole match.”
The Mountaineers will return to the court on Friday for their second match against JMU. First serve is set for 6 p.m. and the match will be available to stream on ESPN+.
Junior Maya Winterhoff led the Mountaineers in the kills category with 11 kills and a hitting percentage of .450. She also recorded three blocks (one solo, two assists). Redshirt junior and this week’s SBC Setter of the Week honoree Addison Heidemann tallied 32 of App State’s 40 assists in addition to nine digs. Leading the Black and Gold in the digs category with 14 digs was junior Kenady Roper, a Patton High School grad.
App State outpaced James Madison in kills (43-34), assists (40-28), and digs (44-38). The Mountaineers and Dukes matched in the aces category with four apiece.
The Mountaineers and Dukes fought point-for-point early in the first set, batting through nine ties and three lead changes over the course of play. The Black and Gold broke a 7-7 tie with back-to-back kills from senior Lulu Ambrose and Winterhoff to edge ahead early in the set. Building off Winterhoff’s sole solo block of the match and a pair of kills from freshman Bella Hutchens, App State extended its lead to 15-11. A rare Roper kill, in addition to kills from sophomore Ava Leahy and Winterhoff, brought the Mountaineers to a 19-15 lead. Back-to-back kills from Winterhoff and a JMU error extended App State’s lead to 22-18. Despite the Dukes meeting the Mountaineers at 23 all, consecutive kills from freshman Elise Marchal and Hutchens secured the set for App State, 25-23.
Over the course of the second set, App State and JMU knotted the score 11 times and traded the lead twice. The Mountaineers managed to hold JMU to a mere seven kills over the course of the set. App State and JMU kept close early, until the Mountaineers found momentum with a 5-0 scoring run that included a block from the duo of Heidemann and Winterhoff, a kill from Heidemann, and a Roper ace, to pull ahead 16-11. JMU worked to close the deficit, but a kill and two consecutive aces from Marchal kept the Mountaineers ahead, 22-17. Ambrose brought the Black and Gold to set point with an assist from Heidemann. Despite holding the Mountaineers to four set points, Ambrose clinched the set for the Mountaineers, 25-23, with a kill.
In the third and final set, App State and JMU tied nine times and fought through six lead changes early on. The Mountaineers took control of the lead after breaking a 10-10 tie with a 3-0 run that included kills from Winterhoff and Ambrose. Another 3-0 run, which included kills from Hutchens and Marchal, extended the Mountaineers’ lead to 16-12. JMU came within one of App State’s lead, but a pair of kills from Leahy, a kill from Ambrose, and a Farthing ace pushed the Mountaineers ahead, 20-16. Leahy, Ambrose, and Winterhoff each made kills to keep the Mountaineers ahead, 23-20, late in the set. A pair of JMU errors sealed the set, 25-20, and match, 3-0, for App State.
{Information provided by Appalachian State Athletics}
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