CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The App State volleyball team (7-2) fell short to No. 25 UNC (6-1) in four sets (17-25, 25-20, 15-25, 18-25) on the road on Tuesday.
Before the match, the Mountaineers and Tar Heels joined together to celebrate App State's honorary captain,
Ali Waldon. Waldon had played for head coach
Chad Sutton at Mercer prior to her diagnosis of osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, at the beginning of her sophomore year of competition.
"I want to thank UNC and for their support and help bringing awareness to Waldon, our honorary captain. There are bigger things than volleyball and coming together in recognition of that is first class," said Sutton. "As far as our play today, we were unable to sustain high-level play and made too many costly mistakes to achieve a victory tonight. I give credit to UNC for their ability to keep us pinned down and limiting us offensively."
UNC 3, App State 1
Senior
Ali Morris registered her second double-double of the season (31st of her career) with a team-high 12 kills and 10 digs. Redshirt senior
Addison Heidemann made 23 of App State's 38 assists, while sophomore
MeMe Davis led the team with 18 digs. Seniors
Maya Winterhoff and
Keionna Mackey and sophomore
Lou Johnson went up for four blocks apiece. App State out-served UNC, seven aces to two.
The Mountaineers knotted the score at 4-4 early with a kill from Morris, but the Tar Heels found their stride in the first set. App State managed to narrow the deficit to 17-13 with kills from Mackey and Morris, and an ace from freshman
Bella Dafforn. The Mountaineers held UNC to a trio of set points with a 3-0 run that featured a Winterhoff ace and a block from the duo of Johnson and junior
Maria Contreras, but the Tar Heels took the set, 25-17.
Early in the second set, App State went on a 6-0 run, building off kills from Johnson, Winterhoff, and Morris, as well as a pair of blocks from the duo of Mackey and Winterhoff. The Tar Heels managed to push ahead, 12-10, but Winterhoff went up for the Black and Gold's sole solo block of the match, which sparked a 5-0 scoring run for the Mountaineers. App State reached 20 points after a block from Johnson and Mackey, a pair of Johnson kills, and a kill from Winterhoff. Back-to-back kills from Morris and Contreras brought the Mountaineers to set point (24-20). Morris served up an ace for the Mountaineers, sealing the set, 25-20. The Mountaineers tallied 14 of their kills in the second set, while holding UNC to eight kills and a hitting percentage of .065.
Mackey opened the third set with a kill before UNC established a steady lead. App State narrowed the deficit to 11-7 with a kill and ace from Winterhoff and a kill from sophomore
Bella Hutchens. As UNC jumped ahead, 20-12, Hutchens and Morris slammed down kills, but UNC took the set, 25-15. The Tar Heels' momentum carried in the fourth set, where they controlled the lead for the duration of play. Hutchens managed to hold UNC to a pair of match points with a kill and an ace, but the Tar Heels took the set, 25-18, and the match, 3-1.
Looking Ahead
App State will host the Mountaineer Classic at the Holmes Convocation Center on Sept. 19-21. App State will open tournament play with a 6 p.m. match against Duke on Friday for Alumni Night. Duke and Davidson will clash at 4 p.m. on Saturday. App State will then host Davidson at 2 p.m. on Sunday. All three matches will be available to stream on ESPN+.
