App State Defeats Greyhounds in Four Sets
WILMINGTON, N.C. — Appalachian State University volleyball earned its second victory in the Springhill Suites Mayfaire Invitational in a 3-1 match (25-20, 25-15, 22-25, 25-20) over Loyola Maryland on Sunday morning.
TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
In the final match of the tournament, UNC Wilmington defeated Davidson, 3-1, making a three-way tie for first place. Appalachian State would be named the tournament champion for winning a tiebreaker with a 5-4 record in sets played between the tied teams.
Three Mountaineers were named to the All-Tournament team including Kara Spicer who was named the tournament Most Valuable Player. Olivia Loeffler and Melissa McMath were other two Mountaineers with honors.
Spicer finished with 41 kills and nine blocks over the weekend, while McMath tallied 43 kills along with eight blocks. Loeffler made 75 total digs, including a 33-dig performance in the victory over UNCW.
TOP PERFORMERS VS. LOYOLA
In today's match, Ashlyn Brown snagged her fourth double-double in as many matches with 36 assists and 12 digs. For the fourth-straight match, Leoffler led the Mountaineers in digs with 20. Sydney Farthing also had double-digit digs with 10.
McMath and Spicer paced the App State offense with 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Lexi Kohut tallied eight kills on the day.
SET-BY-SET RECAP
In the opening set, the Mountaineers snagged a 25-20 win. Following a block by Spicer and Kohut with the score 23-18, the Greyhounds were forced to take their second timeout. Loyola would get the next two points, but a kill by Spicer and a kill by Cassidy Stephenson sealed the first set.
The Mountaineers jumped out to an 15-8 lead in the second set - burning through two more Geryhound timeouts. A 10-7 run capped a commanding set for the Apps. The set included a service ace from Brown, Emma Reilly and Sydney Hinds.
The outpour of service aces would continue in the third set as Spicer had back-to-back serves drop in, leading to a Greyhound timeout with the score at 13-10. Loyola would take its first lead of the match to go up 16-14, which led to head coach Matt Ginipro calling his first timeout of the day.
Out of the timeout, a Greyhound service error sparked a 5-1 Mountaineer run for a 19-17 advantage. Loyola and App State would trade points for the remainder of the set until a 4-0 Greyhound run sent the match to 2-1.
In the fourth set, App capitalized on seven Loyola errors to take an early 11-7 lead. Much like the third set, the Greyhounds tied the set up at 17. Loyola's eleventh service error ignited an 8-3 Appalachian run to clinch the set and the match.
The Mountaineers return home to host the Appalachian Invitational next weekend on Sept. 1-2. The tournament features Towson, East Tennessee State and Virginia. Action starts on Friday with a match between ETSU and Virginia at 4:00 p.m and App State plays Towson at 7:00 p.m.
Kennesaw State Defeats Troy Volleyball
KENNESAW, Georgia – Troy volleyball lost to Kennesaw State 3-1 on Sunday at the KSU Convocation Center in the Owls' 2017 season opener.
Troy (0-4) came out strong as it earned an early 7-2 lead over the Owls in the first set. Kennesaw State (1-0) was able to adjust on its miscommunication to get back into the game to tie things up late at 23-23, but with pressure on, Troy came out of a timeout to finish the set as a few miscues by the Owls gave Troy the 25-23 win to take the 1-0 advantage.
In set two, the Owls came out with more energy and were able to adjust on their weaknesses to go on an early five point run to force the Trojans to take a timeout. Attack and service errors plagued Troy as Kennesaw State was able to run away with a 25-12 win to even the match at 1-1.
After gaining momentum in the second set, the Owls continued to control the tempo of the match with a 25-15 set three win posting a .433 attack percentage over the Trojans and a 25-18 win in the fourth set to seal the win. The Trojans fought back late as they won seven of eight points, but couldn't contain the powerful Owl offense.
Anaiah Boyer led the Owls with 15 kills and also added nine digs. Kennesaw State put up an attack percentage of .300 and were able to hold the Trojans to a .047 overall percentage.
For Troy, freshman Cheyenne Hayes continued to impress as she posted four kills. Lauren Long and Belle Waldrop each added 11 kills, but that wasn't enough for the Trojans overcome the reigning ASUN regular season champions.
NOTEWORTHY
Sophomore Bethany Cullity and freshman SaraGrace Wilson split time at the libero position. Cullity served as Troy's libero for the first three games of the season.
Waldrop leads the team averaging 3.0 kills/set with 48 total kills through the first four matches.
Hayes and Kiara Barrett lead the Trojans with seven service aces each.
At 6-2, Savannah Moore has been a force at the net posting 14 total blocks.
Kennesaw State takes a 3-2 series lead over Troy.
UP NEXT
The Trojans will make their 2017 home debut as they host the Troy Invitational Friday, Sept. 1 and Saturday, Sept. 2, at the Trojan Arena. Troy is set to face Winthrop, Northwestern State and Jackson State. Matches will be streamed and live stats will be available.