App State volleyball traveled to Statesboro, Georgia for a weekend double header against Georgia Southern.
The Eagles took the match 3-0 after the Mountaineers sprung to an early 9-7 lead in the first set. Freshman right side Ava Leahy and senior setter Sophie Cain recorded kills to establish the lead. A kill from senior outside hitter McCall Denny and a block from sophomore middle blocker Maya Winterhoff maintained a Mountaineer lead.
A pair of 3-0 runs from both sides saw the score knotted at 18. Back-to-back kills from freshman right side Delanie Grevengoed and Denny tied the score at 22. The Eagles won the set 25-23 despite the Mountaineers best efforts.
Georgia Southern started the second set strong, jumping to a 9-4 lead. However, three straight Eagle errors set the score at 9-7. The Black and Gold saw themselves down 15-13 after a kill from junior middle blocker Lily Harvey. The Eagles flew away with the set, taking it 25-15.
Kills from junior outside hitter Lulu Ambrose and senior right side Meghan Dombrowski tied the score 7-7 to start the third set. Georgia Southern went on back to back runs to take a 21-11 lead. The Eagles maintained their dominance winning the set 25-14 and the match 3-0.
The Mountaineers lost the second match of the double header on Saturday, 3-1.
Georgia Southern started with a strong 10-6 lead to open up the first set. Kills from Ambrose and Denny shrunk the Eagle lead to 10-9. Kills from Harvey and Grevengoed started a Mountaineer 4-0 run to take a 13-11 lead over the Eagles.
The Black and Gold found themselves down 24-21, but battled back to take a 25-24 lead off two kills from Ambrose. After going point for point, Georgia Southern broke away 29-27 to win the first set.
Kills from Grevengoed, Winterhoff and Denny opened up the second set, and propelled the Mountaineers to a 5-1 lead.
However, Georgia Southern took control and found themselves ahead 19-11. The Eagles maintained this momentum and won the second set 25-13.
The Mountaineers took a 4-2 lead at the start of the third set. The Eagles found themselves back in front until a 7-0 Mountaineer run made the score 21-20.
Three straight aces from Winterhoff gave App State a 24-23 advantage. The Mountaineers won the third set 28-26 with a kill from freshman libero Taylor McNear and an ace from sophomore libero Alyssa McBean.
Georgia Southern took a 14-9 lead at the start of the fourth set. However, kills from multiple Mountaineers decreased the deficit 17-14.Yet, this was not enough as the Eagles took the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.
The Mountaineers fall to 13-12 after dropping the double header as their road struggles continue with an 1-7 away record.
App State ends the regular season with back-to-back matches against Louisiana. Friday’s match is slated for 7 p.m. and Saturday’s match will take place at 2 p.m. The matches can be streamed on ESPN+.
