App State volleyball faced off against No. 25 University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Tuesday but could not pull off the win on the road, falling in four sets to the Tar Heels, 17-25, 25-20, 15-25, 18-25.
Prior to the match, the Mountaineers and Tar Heels came together in a ceremony to recognize the Mountaineers’ honorary captain, Ali Waldon. Waldon played under head coach Chad Sutton at Mercer until her sophomore year, when she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer. Players on both teams wore shirts with “United in our fight against cancer” on the front during pregame warmups.
The Mountaineers collected 2 aces in the opening set, one from freshman libero Bella Dafforn and the other from senior middle blocker Maya Winterhoff.
Despite the aces, App State committed 13 errors in the first set. The Tar Heels won the set courtesy of a 7-1 UNC-Chapel Hill run late in the set.
Senior outside hitter Ali Morris powered the Mountaineers to a tie game, slamming home 4 kills and serving an ace to clinch the second set.
The Tar Heels responded with authority in the third set and went on a 7-2 run with a lead that was never less than 3 points. App State scored consecutive points only twice in the set.
The Mountaineers were unable to keep pace with the Tar Heels in the fourth and final set. UNC-Chapel Hill went on a 5-0 run in the latter stages of the set to pull away and seal the win.
Despite the loss, App State volleyball is off to one of the best starts in recent history, winning seven of its first nine games for only the fourth time since 2010 and for the second time in three years, when the Mountaineers started 9-0 in 2023.
App State returns to the Holmes Convocation Center this weekend for the Mountaineer Classic. The Black and Gold will take on Duke Friday at 6 p.m. and Davidson Sunday at 2 p.m. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.
