Old Dominion (13-2, 2-0 Sun Belt) vs. App State (8-5, 2-0 Sun Belt)
Match Info – Friday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 12 at 2 p.m.
Location – ODU Volleyball Center (Norfolk, Va.)
Watch – ESPN+ (Friday | Saturday)
Live Stats – Friday | Saturday
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball welcomes App State for a pair of Sun Belt matches this Friday and Saturday at the ODU Volleyball Center in what will mark ODU’s Dig Pink Weekend.
The teams will play at 6 p.m. on Friday and at 2 p.m. on Saturday with both matches streamed on ESPN+. Live stats will also be available.
Dig Pink
Together with the ODU chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha and in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this weekend has been designated as the Monarchs’ Dig Pink matches in support of the Side-Out Foundation and its mission to research and fight metastatic breast cancer.
Fans are encouraged to wear pink and can donate to the Side-Out Foundation here. For more information on Side-Out and its Dig Pink initiative, visit the Foundation’s website here.
Series History
ODU and App State have met on the court five times, with the Monarchs holding a 3-2 advantage in the series. The first meeting was at App State’s Black & Gold Challenge on Sept. 3, 2021, a match that went to ODU, 3-1.
The two teams have split their Sun Belt series the past two seasons as ODU won in straight sets on Oct. 28, 2022 before falling 3-1 the next day. Last season in Boone, North Carolina, the Mountaineers captured the first match 3-0 on Oct. 26, but the Monarchs responded with a 3-1 victory on Oct. 27.
About ODU
The Monarchs (13-2, 2-0 Sun Belt) come into this weekend having won 10 matches in a row, their longest win streak in program history. After Hurricane Helene forced the cancellation of ODU’s scheduled matches at Georgia Southern on Sept. 27-28, the team opened Sun Belt Conference play with a pair of 3-1 wins over Coastal Carolina last weekend.
Myah Conway leads ODU with 216.5 points and 192 kills (3.25 per set) and ranks third in the Sun Belt with a .357 hitting percentage. Elisa Maggi follows her with 144 kills and Hailee Blankenship is third on the team with 107 kills. Ashlynn Belcher comes into this weekend ranked fourth in the league with 141 assists, averaging 7.10 per set. Serving continues to be a strong part of ODU’s game with six different players owning double-digit aces. Maggi leads the way with 20, though Blankenship and Emma Schelah are close behind her with 18 each and Kate Kilpatrick has served 17 aces.
On defense, LeeAnne Lowery is tied for second in the Sun Belt with 13 solo blocks and ranks fourth with 67 total blocks. Schelah and Conway follow with 49 and 45 blocks, respectively. Kilpatrick is up to 199 digs (3.37 per set) and Belcher has 126 (2.14 per set) to lead ODU’s back row.
ODU is currently tied for first in the Sun Belt East Division standings alongside Georgia Southern and App State. The first NCAA Division I RPI rankings were released on Monday with the Monarchs coming in at No. 107. The conference has four teams inside the Top 100: GS at 28, Arkansas State at 82, Troy at 96 and Texas State at 100.
About App State
The Mountaineers (8-5, 2-0) have won five of their last six matches and opened conference play at James Madison, defeating the Dukes 3-0 on Sept. 26 and 3-2 on Sept 27. App State was supposed to host Louisiana last weekend, but was forced to cancel the series due to the impact of Hurricane Helene on the Boone area.
Maya Winterhoff, a Preseason All-Sun Belt honoree, leads the league and ranks 19th nationally with a .420 hitting percentage. The junior middle blocker is also sixth in the SBC with 1.14 blocks per set and owns the team highs in points (191.5 , 3.75 per set), kills (150, 2.94 per set) and blocks (58, 1.14 per set). Lulu Ambrose follows Winterhoff with 123 kills, Elise Marchal enters the weekend with 113, and Maddie Smith has 107. App State uses two setters in Addison Heidemann (283 assists) and Juliana Horta (245 assists), and Kenady Roper and Marchal have combined to serve 24 aces.
On the other side of the net, Ava Leahy and Marchal follow Winterhoff with 32 blocks apiece. Roper has recorded 146 digs, Marchal owns 107, and Heidemann is approaching triple figures with 98.
The Mountaineers were picked to finish in fifth place in the Sun Belt East Division in the league’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll. App State has 10 returners from its 2023 squad and welcomed five newcomers for this season. The team is led by third year Head Coach Sarah Rumely Noble, who has amassed a 40-30 record in her time in Boone, and sits at 141st in the RPI rankings.
Up Next
ODU will make the trip to Atlanta, Georgia next weekend for a Sun Belt series at Georgia State. The teams will take the court at 6 p.m. next Friday, Oct. 18 and return for a 2 p.m. first serve on Saturday, Oct. 19.