NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion volleyball team combined for 10 blocks and won a couple of close sets as the Monarchs defeated Appalachian State 3-0 in Sun Belt Conference action Friday night at the ODU Volleyball Center.
The match marked the second meeting between the two programs and ODU is now up 2-0 in the all-time series. The win also snapped App State's six match win streak.
ODU 3, App State 0
Ashley Peroe had the hot hand tonight as the Virginia Beach, Virginia native scored 13 kills while swinging for a .440 clip. She added one assist and four digs to her totals. ODU had a balanced attack in the win as Tessa Mati, Hailey Duncan, Myah Conway and Bailey Burgess all ended up with seven kills. Teresa Atilano reached 38 assists with four kills, five blocks and five digs. Jamie Bissmeyer served three aces, Conway was right behind her with two, and Burgess and Anna Burkhardt contributed one each. Burgess led the Monarchs (9-13, 4-5 Sun Belt) with six blocks (one solo), Duncan had four, Conway three and Mati one. Mati and Burkhardt also totaled 12 and 11 digs, respectively.
As a team, the Monarchs hit for a .275 percentage and bettered their opponents in points (62.0-40.0), kills (45-30), service aces (7-6), blocks (10-4), assists (44-26) and digs (47-33).
With the first set even at 5-5, a Burgess kill opened a 9-1 swing as ODU distanced itself with a 14-6 lead. The Mountaineers (13-9, 6-5 Sun Belt) earned the next four points, but a pair of Bissmeyer service aces highlighted a 7-0 response that pushed the lead to 21-10. App State couldn't recover, and the Monarchs claimed the set, 25-13.
The visitors kept the next two sets close, however. With the Mountaineers out front 9-6 in Set Two, Burkhardt capped off a 4-0 run with an ace to give the Monarchs control at 10-6. The sides traded points the entire set, which featured 11 ties and nine lead changes. Peroe scored a ball from Atilano for a 23-21 ODU advantage, but an App State kill and a pair of service aces put the away team back on top, 24-23. A service error allowed ODU to pull even yet again at 27-27. Burgess and Atilano then combined for back-to-back block assists and the Monarchs prevailed, 29-27.
App State continued to battle back in the third set. After ODU built an early 8-4 lead, the Mountaineers answered with a 3-0 run. The Monarchs then went up 12-8, but the Mountaineers won another three straight points. ODU finally created some separation at 24-16, but the visitors stormed back with an 8-0 run for the fourth tie of the set. Atilano and Conway strung together a pair of kills from there and ODU won the match in straight sets with a 26-24 decision.
Up Next
ODU and App State play again tomorrow with a 1 p.m. first serve at the ODU Volleyball Center.
Monarchs Take Care of Mountaineers in Straight Sets Friday
