App State volleyball was swept in Statesboro, Georgia, Thursday and Friday. Despite the losses, the Mountaineers opened Thursday’s match strongly, winning the first two sets 25-21 and 27-25. The early momentum came from sophomore outside hitter Bella Hutchens, senior outside hitter Keionna Mackey and senior outside hitter Ali Morris, who combined for a total of 56 kills on the night.

However, the Mountaineers shot themselves in the foot, committing a total of 29 errors, 15 of which came as service errors. These errors put the game out of reach for the Black and Gold, as of those 29 errors, 19 came in the final three sets.

The Black and Gold got off to a similar start the next day, winning the first set 25-21 with an excellent performance from senior middle blocker Maya Winterhoff and sophomore middle blocker Lou Johnson. Winterhoff went off for 20 kills over the 4 set match. Five mountaineers had a kill total of over 8: Winterhoff, Morris, Hutchens, Mackey and Johnson.

 The Black and Gold couldn’t kick the error bug, committing 32 errors on the night, 8 of which were service errors. The Mountainteers dropped their next two sets 25-21 and 25-15. 

The Black and Gold needed a bounce-back win and looked poised to do so in the fourth set, going back and forth with the Eagles. App State had a chance to tie the score up late, but the Eagles held on with a late-game kill from Georgia Southern outside hitter Reagan Barth to sweep the series and send the Mountaineers packing. 

App State will hit the road for Conway, South Carolina to play Coastal Carolina University Friday and Saturday. The start time for Friday’s match is 6 p.m., and Saturday’s match will begin at 2 p.m. The matches will be streamed on ESPN+.