BOONE, N.C. – Old Dominion volleyball combined to hit .400 or better in the first three sets as the Monarchs secured a 3-1 road victory over App State on Friday night at the Holmes Convocation Center.
With the win, ODU splits the conference series and improves to 11-15 overall and 3-9 in the Sun Belt with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
"It was great to see us turn it around on day two," said head coach Fred Chao. "We did not compete the first day, and it was really a gut check to see what we were willing to do today. We served and passed better today. Some points went our way in the second set and that really put the wind back in our sails. I'm proud of the effort and resilience of the squad today."
ODU 3, App State 1
The Mountaineers (13-10, 4-8) secured the first five points of the opening set and pushed their lead to 8-2 early. Some late kills by Elisa Maggi and Olivia De Jesus and an ace from Bailey Burgess trimmed the hosts' lead to 20-16, but App State held on for a 25-17 tally.
Down 4-2 in the second set, ODU's defense picked it up as three straight blocks highlighted a 6-0 run that gave the Monarchs control at 8-4. A few rallies later, Teresa Atilano converted an attack, Maggi added two more kills and Adrienne Peji served an ace to help push the lead to 13-6. ODU put together another 5-0 spurt to pull away 22-12 and evened the match at a set apiece as Atilano scored the set point at 25-15.
The third set remained closed with a Burgess kill putting ODU in front 15-13 at the midway point. App State then took over with four answered points and went up 22-19, but Myah Conway opened up a 5-0 response to wrestle back the lead at 24-22. The home team evened the set at 24-24, but Maggi and Conway closed out the set with back-to-back kills.
ODU strung together a 6-0 run to build a 12-4 advantage in the fourth set. The Mountaineers fought back to within 14-12, but another strong effort at the net allowed the Monarchs to pull away 21-14 as Burgess, Conway, Maggi and De Jesus combined for three more blocks. A late charge by App State wasn't enough as ODU held on for a 25-22 final.
Conway was two digs shy of a double-double, finishing with 22 kills, eight digs and three blocks. Maggi posted a 17-kill, 10-dig effort for her third career double-double. The freshman from Pavia, Italy also served two aces and made two blocks with a new season high of 20 points. Mati finished with nine kills and 10 digs, and Atilano reached 39 assists with six digs and five kills. Burgess chipped in six blocks, one of them solo, and Kate Kilpatrick contributed 17 digs and seven assists.
The Monarchs hit .400 in the first two sets, .432 in the third, and .350 for the match. ODU edged App State in points (78-64), kills (62-49), blocks (7-5) and assists (48-42).
Up Next
ODU is back in Norfolk next Thursday and Friday as the Monarchs host Georgia State for their final two home matches of the regular season.
Volleyball Earns 3-1 Road Win at App State
