App State volleyball’s excellent season ended prematurely, winning their quarterfinal match against Georgia State Friday but falling to Texas State in the semifinals Saturday.
The Mountaineers defeated Georgia State in the quarterfinals in five sets Friday, 28-26, 21-25, 25-22, 15-25, 15-8.
The Mountaineers jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the first set, with sophomore middle blocker Ava Leahy recording 2 kills and a block assist during that stretch. After Georgia State called a timeout, the Panthers regrouped and took an 11-10 lead courtesy of a 5-0 run.
From there, the teams went back and forth with neither side able to establish an advantage larger than two points. Despite committing 6 service errors in the set and repeatedly giving Georgia State free points on costly mistakes, App State eventually won the set on an attack error by the Panthers.
It appeared that the Black and Gold cleaned up their act in the second set as they recorded 2 service aces in their first 4 points and went on a 6-0 run to grab a 12-8 lead. Georgia State rallied back, following up App State’s run with a 5-0 run of their own which included back-to-back aces from Panthers’ libero Kaleigh Fitzgerald. Georgia State would tack on 2 more aces as the set continued and tied the match at one with a kill by middle blocker Akira Burt.
App State took the lead right back by winning the third set. Junior middle blocker Maya Winterhoff got things started with a kill and finished the match with a team-leading 15. The Mountaineers went on a 6-0 run later in the set which saw senior outside hitter Lulu Ambrose record an ace, which gave them enough of a cushion to withstand a late push by Georgia State.
App State again got off to a strong start to begin the fourth set. This time, sophomore libero Caroline Farthing shined for App State, serving back-to-back aces as part of a 4-0 Mountaineers run. However, the Panthers wound up running away with the set, taking momentum thanks to a 10-2 extended run that capitalized on several App State errors. The Panthers won the set on back-to-back attack errors from the Mountaineers.
The tiebreaking fifth set was controlled by the Black and Gold who, after Georgia State led 2-1, won 7 of the next 8 points to pull away from the Panthers. Leahy recorded a kill to eliminate Georgia State from the tournament and punch App State’s ticket to the semifinals.
The Mountaineers fell short in their semifinal match against Texas State, losing to the Bobcats in straight sets, 18-25, 24-26, 18-25.
App State won the first point in both the first and second sets but could not keep the lead in either. Texas State had two 5-0 runs and served 3 aces during the first set while the Mountaineers committed 14 errors. In the second set, the Bobcats recorded 5 aces to App State’s 2 and had 13 blocks in the match compared to App State’s 3.
Texas State kept App State’s heavy hitters quiet throughout the match. Ambrose was the only player with a double-digit kill total, while freshman right side Elise Marchal had just as many attack errors as she had kills with 5 apiece. Winterhoff was limited to just 2 kills, 1 block assist and 1 ace.
The writing was on the wall when Texas State opened the third set with a 5-0 run, and even more so when App State could not score more than two points in a row. The Bobcats won the match on an attack error by Ambrose, advancing to the championship match and ending App State’s tournament run.
Despite the way the season ended, it is one that should be viewed fondly. Four players, Winterhoff, Marchal, Leahy and redshirt junior setter Addison Heidemann, received All-Sun Belt Conference honors, with Winterhoff named to the First Team All-SBC and Marchal named Sun Belt Freshman of the Year. Additionally, the Mountaineers won the East Division and advanced to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2018.
App State ended the 2024 season with an 18-9 overall record and 11-3 in conference play. They will look to improve on those marks next year as they set their sights on the 2025 season.