Boone, NC – The App State volleyball team will travel to Blacksburg, Va., for the Virginia Tech Classic Sept. 15-16. The Mountaineers play at Western Carolina on Thursday at 3 p.m. The winner of Up State vs. Western Carolina will play the winner of Norfolk State vs. Virginia Tech on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The consolation game will be played Friday night at 3 p.m.
The past tense
Upstate is coming off a 3-0 streak, successfully defending its home court at the Mountaineer Classic and posting wins over Texas A&M Commerce (Sept. 9), Furman (Sept. 9) and Presbyterian (Sept. 10). . second Lulu Ambrose And high McCall Denny He earned spots on the Mountaineer Classic All-Tournament team and as a freshman Maya Winterhoff Named tournament MVP.
The Mountaineers opened the tournament with a 3-1 win over Texas A&M, led by Denny who recorded a double-double (12 kills, 15 digs). High Sam Bickley Collected 23 assists and three aces and first class Candy Roper She had 16 kills in a match for the second time this season. In Friday night’s cap, Upstate and Furman battled to a five-set thriller, with Mount Mauratus emerging victorious, 3-2. second Lauren Pledger A career and season high 17 kills for a .577 hitting percentage. Jr Sophie Cain She had her fifth double-double of the season (32 assists, 18 digs). The Black and Gold’s streak ended with a 3-0 shutout of Presbyterian on Saturday.
So far this season, Denny leads the team in kills with 96, while Cain leads with 207 assists. Bickley holds the solid lead in service aces with 13. 35 total in blocks.
In the conference standings, Upstate and Coastal Carolina each lead the East Division with 6-3 overall records. The Mountaineers are fifth on the team in hitting percentage (.232), assists (416 total, 11.24 average per set) and digs (536, 14.49 average per set). In individual hitting percentage, Winterhoff is third in the conference and 17th nationally at .432. In the same category, Pledger ranks fourth in the Sun Belt and 36th nationally with a .400 hitting percentage. Winterhoff is also seventh in the conference in blocks with 35 overall (9 solo, 26 assisted). In the digging category, Roper comes in eighth at Sun Belt with 148.
Scouting the field
App State vs. Western Carolina Thursday | 3:00 p.m
The last time Upstate met Western Carolina was in Boone, Sept. 12, 2019, with the black and gold winning 3-1. In her freshman season, Bickley led the team in assists (53) and was second in rebounds (10). Bickley recorded a kill.
The Catamounts are 6-4 (0-0 SoCon) this season. Western Carolina went on a five-game hitting streak from Aug. 27-Sept. 2, going 3-2 at Wake Forest before snapping a three-game sweep against NC Central, UNC Asheville and Evansville. The Catamonds’ fifth win is at Tennessee Tech, 3-1. Western Carolina is coming off a 3-0 win over NC State (Sept. 9), its second win against an ACC opponent this season. The Catamounts are undefeated on the road and 2-4 in the postseason.
Merry Gebel leads the Catamounts in kills with 116. Sydney Carlson leads the team in assists with 201, and Destinee Dorsey leads the team in digs with 116. Sarah Janurova leads the team in service aces (11) and Eden punches a team-high. – Top 35 blocks this season so far.
Last season, Western Carolina went 11-17 (7-9 SoCon) and lost to Villanova (Sept. 4), ETSU (Sept. 24), Furman (Oct. 8 and Nov. 6) and The Citadel (Oct. 16) in the SoCon Tournament, the No. 5 seed Catamons. In the quarterfinals, he fell to No. 4 Wofford 3-1.
Notes on the Province of Norfolk
The Mountaineers went 2-0 against Norfolk State. Upstate last met the Spartans in 2011. August 27, 2016 at Virginia Tech. The black and gold beat the Spartans 3-0.
Norfolk State is 0-7 (0-0 MEAC) this season. The Spartans will face Old Dominion on Tuesday at 6 p.m., before opening play against host Virginia Tech on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the Virginia Tech Classic.
Sidney McCree leads the team in assists (171) and aces (8). Shonte Seale leads the team with 77 kills, Nicole Rodriguez has a team-high 105 digs and Adeline Gidiofor has 17 blocks on the season.
The Spartans went 8-18 (4-10 MEAC) last fall. Norfolk State has posted four shutouts during the season, including shutouts of American (Sept. 4) and Regent (Sept. 7). In their first MEAC Tournament appearance since 2016, the No. 6 seeded Spartans fell to No. 3 seed Coppin State in three sets.
Notes on Virginia Tech
The Mountaineers last met Virginia Tech in 2014. On August 26, 2016, they lost to the Hokies 3-2 in the 2016 season opener.
The Hokies are 5-4 (0-0 ACC) this fall and opened the season with a 3-1 win at UNCW (Aug. 26). Virginia Tech posted three straight wins from Sept. 2 to Sept. 9, including wins over Marist (Sept. 2) and Old Dominion (Sept. 3), as well as a 3-2 win over Eastern Michigan (Sept. 3). 9).
Sierra Powell leads the team in kills with 86 on the season. Hannah Borer leads the Hokies in assists (193) and aces (13). Maddie Slagle has posted 112 digs so far this fall and Anabel Zier has a team-high 40 blocks.
Virginia Tech went 12-18 (3-15 ACC) last year, and won two non-conference games on the season. The first four-game winning streak spanned from August 27 to September 3, including wins at Lehigh (August 27), Toledo (August 27), Elon (August 28) and Georgia State (September 3). . The second was from September 11 to September 17, including wins at Chattanooga (September 11), Tennessee Tech (September 11), George Mason (September 17) and Wofford (September 17).
Virginia Tech Classic | Full program
Thursday, September 15
App State vs. Western Carolina at 3 p.m
5:30 pm Virginia Tech vs. Norfolk State
Friday, September 16
3:00 p.m. Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
5:30 pm Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner
Next
Upstate heads to Harrisonburg, Va. to open conference play with two matches against James Madison. The first match will be on September 23 at 6 pm and the second will be on September 24 at 1 pm. Both matches will be broadcast on ESPN+.
