NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball saw its 10-match win streak come to an end as the Monarchs suffered a 3-1 setback to App State on Friday night at the ODU Volleyball Center.
With the loss, ODU falls to 13-3 overall with a 2-1 mark against Sun Belt opponents. The Mountaineers move to 9-5 and 3-0 in league play.
“We were flat the whole time, they controlled the serve and pass the whole time, and we knew that was going to be important because they’ve got a lot of weapons. We didn’t execute,” said ODU head coach Fred Chao.
App State 3, ODU 1
A kill by App State’s Elise Marchal followed by a Maya Winterhoff service ace allowed the guests to take an early 4-1 lead in the first set. Ashlynn Belcher caught the defense off guard with an attack on the second touch, her kill getting ODU to within 7-5. However, a kill by Winterhoff opened a 4-0 response as App State went up 11-5 and forced a timeout by the Monarchs. The Mountaineers then put together another 4-0 run to pull away 17-9 and would claim the set with a 25-18 decision.
A couple of errors and an ace from Emma Schelah helped the Monarchs take control of the second set, 5-3. Following a service error that made it 5-4, Myah Conway and LeeAnne Lowery combined for a block as ODU earned five of the next six points for a 10-5 advantage. The Mountaineers kept it close for the remainder of the set and trailed 23-21 late, but Belcher found Conway for a pair of kills to even the match with a 25-21 total.
The two teams traded leads several times in the third set. App State went up 6-3, but a block from Alice Munari and Lowery capped off a 6-1 swing that put ODU ahead 9-7. Taylor McNear and Marchal combined for another three aces as the Mountaineers seized back the lead, 18-13. A couple of kills by Elisa Maggi and Lowery caused App State to take a timeout with a 24-22 lead, but Addison Heidemann assisted Lulu Ambrose as the guests won another set.
Four aces highlighted a 7-1 start to the fourth set for App State. Old Dominion burned a timeout with the Monarchs trailing 10-3, and Tshilanda Diouf came out of the break with a successful attack attempt. The sophomore then paired up with Lowery for another block to cut the deficit to 10-5, but that was as close as the Monarchs would get. The Mountaineers rattled off six-straight points to pull away 17-6 and closed out the match with a 25-11 final.
Conway scored a team-high 11 kills and added three blocks and four digs to her match totals. Belcher tallied 30 assists with 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Maggi and Munari contributed six kills each while Schelah served three aces. Lowery led the Monarchs at the net with a five-block performance, to include one solo block, and Kate Kilpatrick reached 14 digs on the night.
Neither side hit particularly well, with the visitors swinging for a combined .188 percentage and ODU turning in a .104 clip. The Monarchs accumulated more assists (42-39) and digs (57-44), but App State led in every other category. Of note were 12 Mountaineer service aces compared to just four by the Monarchs. There were a total of 10 ties in the match, including six in the third set, and seven lead changes.
The series with App State marks ODU’s Dig Pink Weekend in support of the Side-Out Foundation and its mission to find a cure for breast cancer. The Monarchs also welcomed back their alumni, who were recognized on the court prior to first serve.
Asked about Dig Pink as well as what having the alumni in attendance means to him, Chao added, “It’s near and dear to my heart and our players in the program. I’m glad everyone came out and supported, I appreciate that. Having our alumni back is really special. To have graduated the Founding Mothers last year and for them to already want to come back and still stay connected with the program, it’s what we started building [the team] for. Yes for high performance, but also to build a community that cares about the program, and that starts with the players that come through.”
Up Next
Both teams will be back on Saturday for the second match of the conference series, which is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.