BOONE, N.C.  – The App State volleyball team (12-4, 3-2 SBC) defeated Old Dominion (3-13, 0-5 SBC) in a five-set reverse sweep (22-25, 15-25, 25-21, 25-20, 18-16) in the Holmes Convocation Center on Friday.
 
The night's action was highlighted by senior Maya Winterhoff's 1,000th collegiate career kill. Winterhoff is the second Mountaineer to surpass a career milestone this fall, as redshirt senior Addison Heidemann surpassed 1,000 career assists in the Black and Gold's season opener against the College of Charleston on Aug. 30.
 
App State 3, Old Dominion 2
Sophomore Bella Hutchens was the Mountaineers' top attacker, matching her career high of 15 kills on a clip of .379. Following Hutchens in the kills category was senior Keionna Mackey with 14 and Winterhoff with 13 kills and a hitting percentage of .393. Winterhoff and sophomore Lou Johnson led the team in blocks with six apiece. Heidemann dished out 38 assists while sophomore MeMe Davis led the team with 19 digs. App State made 14 blocks to Old Dominion's eight.
 
Throughout the first set, App State and Old Dominion tied four times, but only traded the lead twice. ODU took a 16-10 lead with a 5-0 run, which the Mountaineers responded with a 7-1 run to knot the score at 17 all. The run included kills from Hutchens and senior Ali Morris, as well as a block from the duo of Winterhoff and Morris. Winterhoff and junior Maria Contreras went up for back-to-back blocks to push the Mountaineers ahead, 19-18. ODU edged ahead with a 3-0 run, but App State met the Monarchs at 21 all as Winterhoff and Mackey slammed down kills. With another 3-0 run, ODU reached set point (24-21). A kill from Mackey held the Monarchs at set point, but ODU pushed ahead to take the set, 25-22.
 
Old Dominion commanded the second set. App State managed to match the Monarchs at 1-1 with a kill from Johnson. ODU managed to establish a 19-8 lead. Despite the Mountaineers' efforts to narrow the deficit, which included kills and an ace from Winterhoff, a solo block from junior Akila Hardie, and a Mackey kill, Old Dominion took the set, 25-15.
 
In the third set, the momentum shifted in the Mountaineers' favor as App State established an early 6-2 lead, building off kills from Hutchens and Winterhoff as well as a pair of Monarch errors. ODU took an 11-10 edge, but App State answered with a 7-2 run that featured kills from Johnson and Mackey, in addition to blocks from the duos of Hutchens and Johnson and Johnson and Mackey. Morris made a kill, which she followed with an ace to push App State ahead, 21-15. Contreras set Mackey up for a kill before ODU narrowed the deficit to two (23-21) with a late 4-0 run. After an ODU service error brought App State to set point, the Mountaineers took the set, 25-21, with a block from the duo of Johnson and Hutchens. The Mountaineers held the Monarchs to a hitting percentage of .034 over the duration of the set. 
 
App State commanded the fourth set, only allowing two ties early on. The Mountaineers jumped to a 10-6 lead, building off kills from Winterhoff, Mackey, and Johnson, as well as a block from Winterhoff and Mackey, and a solo block from Johnson. After a rash of ODU errors and a kill from Mackey, App State extended the deficit to 17-13. Late in the set, redshirt freshman Maddie Smith served up an ace. Kills from Johnson, Hutchens, and Winterhoff, all set up by Heidemann, brought App State to set point (24-19). ODU held App State at set point before Contreras made a setter's dump to clinch the set, 25-20, for the Black and Gold.
 
The Mountaineers and Monarchs battled through a tight fifth set, knotting the score on 10 occasions and trading the lead four times. Down 10-7, the Mountaineers went on a 6-1 run to push ahead. Hutchens slammed down three consecutive kills, went up for a block alongside Johnson, and made a fourth kill over the course of the run, helping push App State ahead, 13-11. Heidemann set Winterhoff up for a kill to bring the Mountaineers to set point (14-12), but ODU answered with a 3-0 run to take a 15-14 edge. Winterhoff slammed down her 1,000th career kill to knot the score at 15 all, which Morris followed up with an ace. Old Dominion met App State at 16 all, but the Mountaineers took the set, 18-16, and the match, 3-2, with back-to-back kills from Contreras and Mackey.
 
Looking Ahead
App State will return to the court on Saturday for its 2 p.m. Pink Day match against Old Dominion. Fans are encouraged to wear pink. There will be a wristband giveaway and "I Stand For" signs for fans to fill out.