The App State volleyball team recorded a 3-1 (25-18, 25-27, 25-21, 25-21) victory over Coastal Carolina on Thursday. The Mountaineers rise to 11-7 on the season and 5-2 in Sun Belt play. Thursday’s victory marked the Mountaineers’ first win over Coastal Carolina since the 2018 campaign.
The Mountaineers will return to the court at 6 p.m. on Friday for their second match against the Chants. Friday’s match will have free food for the first 100 students. Additionally, students will earn double Yikas Rewards points. The fan zone will feature a bounce house and the match is also the Mountaineers’ Athletes Supporting Athletes match.
App State 3, Coastal Carolina 1
Five Mountaineers tallied double-figure kills, led by junior Maya Winterhoff and sophomore Ava Leahy, who both tallied 12 on the night. Leahy recorded a hitting percentage of .444 and led the Mountaineers in the blocks category, totaling nine on the night. Freshmen Bella Hutchens and Elise Marchal each made 11 kills and four blocks. Marchal registered her seventh double-double on the season with a team high 16 digs. Marking her sixth double-double this fall with a team high 43 assists and 12 digs was redshirt junior Addison Heidemann.
App State recorded 58 kills compared to Coastal Carolina’s 48. The Mountaineers also outpaced the Chants in assists (50-43), digs (61-51), and aces (8-5).
The Mountaineers and Chanticleers fought through a tight first set, knotting the score six times and trading the lead three times. The Mountaineers took a 15-13 lead after a kill from Marchal and back-to-back kills from Winterhoff. As the Chants cut the deficit to one, a Chanticleer error and Marchal ace pulled the Mountaineers ahead, 18-15. App State went on a 5-0 run that featured a kill from Hutchens, an ace from sophomore Caroline Farthing, and a block from the duo of Leahy and Heidemann, to take a 23-16 lead. Heidemann set Ambrose up for a kill, bringing the Mountaineers to set point. Another kill from Ambrose sealed the set for the Mountaineers, 25-18.
Early in the second set, Coastal Carolina took a 10-6 lead, but the Mountaineers went on a 6-0 run that featured kills from Hutchens, Heidemann, and Leahy, as well as a block from the duo of Hutchens and Leahy to edge ahead 12-10. Leahy, Winterhoff, and Ambrose made kills to extend App State’s lead to 16-12. With a pair of runs, Coastal took a slight edge, but the Mountaineers regained the lead with kills from Hutchens and Leahy. Kills from Marchal and Leahy put the Mountaineers up 24-23, but the Chants managed to seal the set, 27-25.
Heidemann set Winterhoff up for the first kill of the third set. Coastal Carolina took an early edge, but the Mountaineers managed to tie things up at 15 all after a 3-0 run that included a kill from Marchal and a block by Hutchens and Leahy. The Mountaineers jumped ahead, 21-17 with a 6-0 run, building off a trio of consecutive kills from Hutchens, a kill from Leahy, and blocks from the duo of Hutchens and Leahy, and the duo of Leahy and Heidemann. A kill from Ambrose followed by an ace from junior Kenady Roper brought App State to set point, 24-19. Despite holding the Mountaineers to two set points, an Ambrose kill clinched the set, 25-21, for App State.
The Black and Gold opened the fourth and final set with a block from Marchal and Winterhoff. Building off a block from Leahy and Marchal, a Marchal ace, and a block by Leahy and Heidemann, the Mountaineers pulled ahead, 7-4. Another 3-0 run that included kills from Leahy and Ambrose, as well as a block from the duo, extended App State’s lead to 10-5. As Coastal worked to close the deficit, the Mountaineers went on a 4-0 run that consisted of a Winterhoff kill and a trio of consecutive kills from Marchal. Another 4-0 run featuring a block from the duo of Hutchens and Winterhoff, kills from Leahy and Marchal, and an ace from Winterhoff pushed App State ahead, 21-14. Leahy slammed down two more kills to extend the lead to 23-17. Despite a late surge from the Chanticleers, App State took the set, 25-21, and the match 3-1, after a Coastal Carolina service error.
{Information provided by Appalachian State Athletics}
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