BOONE, N.C. – Old Dominion volleyball won the first two sets and led 10-8 in the fifth, but dropped the decisive set 18-16 to App State on Friday night at the Holmes Convocation Center.
ODU falls to 3-13 overall and 0-6 in Sun Belt Conference play.
App State 3, ODU 2
A couple of App State errors and a block by Kyra Hampton and Emma Schelah gave the Monarchs an 8-6 advantage in the fifth set. After the Mountaineers (12-4, 3-2) used a timeout down 10-7, the hosts earned six of the next seven points to jump ahead 13-11. Katie Rakoski then scored back-to-back kills and Tiana Stubb added another to put ODU in front 15-14, but App State outscored the Monarchs 4-1 to complete the comeback.
The Monarchs put together a 5-1 run to begin the match and later led 8-4 in the opening set. App State fought back to within a point at 11-10, but a couple of kills from Rita Benidio highlighted a 5-0 push as ODU went up 16-10. After the hosts were able to pull even at 17-17, a Hampton service ace and a kill by Katie Rakoski put the Monarchs ahead, 21-19. The Mountaineers tied the set again at 21-21, but another three errors helped ODU pull away for a 25-22 total.
Old Dominion was up 11-7 in the second set when a Rakoski kill opened up an 8-1 run by the Monarchs. App State couldn’t recover from that, and ODU won another set 25-15 on a block by Stubbs and Rakoski.
ODU led 9-7 in the third set, but App State countered with a 5-0 run to take a 15-11 lead. Kate Kilpatrick served an ace to cut the deficit to 23-21, but the Mountaineers held on with a 25-21 decision.
App State controlled most of the fourth set, pulling ahead 14-9. A Benidio ace trimmed the Mountaineer lead to 16-13, but the home team forced a fifth set with a 25-20 tally.
Maggi scored 23 kills and Rakoski had 13 kills to pace the ODU attack. Hampton finished with 40 assists and 12 digs for her second double-double this season. Kilpatrick served three aces with nine digs while Hampton and Benidio served two each. Madelyn Eslinger also tallied 12 digs, Benidio ended up with 11, and Stubbs made five blocks.
Up Next
The two teams will be back at the Holmes Convocation Center tomorrow with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m.