App State volleyball made the short trip to Winston-Salem Friday and Saturday for their final non-conference matches of the regular season in the Wake Forest Invitational. The Mountaineers split their two matches against Wake Forest and Davidson.
The Mountaineers lost in four sets to Wake Forest on Friday night, 25-18, 18-25, 22-25, 25-27. Despite App State winning the first set convincingly, a 6-0 run to start the second set shortly followed by a 5-0 run allowed the Demon Deacons to pull away and win three straight sets to take the match.Â
The Mountaineers struggled after the first set, only leading for three points the rest of the match. Wake Forest put on a masterclass in defending a lead; they collected more kills, aces and blocks than the Mountaineers, helping the Demon Deacons build enough of a lead in the final set to withstand a 6-0 run from App State and secure the victory.
The good news for head coach Sarah Rumley Noble and Mountaineer fans alike is that they paid their four-set loss forward against Davidson, handing the Wildcats a loss in four sets, 25-18, 25-21, 22-25, 25-15.
Junior middle blocker Maya Winterhoff had a stellar match, recording 12 kills, two service aces and a team-high nine total blocks. Other standout performances include senior outside hitter Lulu Ambrose who led the team with 14 kills and redshirt junior setter Addison Heidemann who had 49 of the Mountaineers’ 53 assists.
App State used multiple 3-0 scoring runs to pull away from Davidson in the first set, then capitalized on three attack errors in a row late in the second set from the Wildcats to take a two-set lead.
Davidson stayed in the match with a 6-1 run to close out the third set highlighted by three service aces, but the Mountaineers would not be denied. A 16-3 run midway through the final set, featuring two separate 6-0 runs, put the match out of reach for the Wildcats and allowed the Mountaineers to close out their non-conference schedule with a win.
App State’s record sits at 6-5 heading into conference play. Their first Sun Belt challenger is James Madison, as the Mountaineers will travel to Harrisonburg for a two-game series against the Dukes Thursday and Friday. Both games will stream live on ESPN+.
