Old Dominion (4-7, 0-0 Sun Belt) vs. App State (7-7, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Match Info – Thursday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. | Friday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m.
Location – ODU Volleyball Center (Norfolk, Va.)
Watch – ESPN+ (Friday)
Live Stats – Thursday | Friday
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball opens Sun Belt Conference play at home this week as the Monarchs welcome App State for two matches on Thursday and Friday. Both matches are scheduled for 6 p.m. first serves at the ODU Volleyball Center.
Live stats will be available for both matches, with Friday’s contest streamed on ESPN+.
As part of ODU’s Monarchs Give Back campaign, fans who bring a non-perishable food item will receive free admission to Thursday’s match. Faculty and staff who bring their ODU or EVMS ID will receive free admission to Friday’s match.
The Series
ODU and App State have previously met nine times, with the Mountaineers holding a narrow 5-4 lead in the series. Last season, the two teams played in Boone, North Carolina on Oct. 10-11. In the first match, Old Dominion won the first two sets and held a 10-8 lead in the fifth set, but fell 18-16 as the hosts completed the reverse sweep. Elisa Maggi finished with 23 kills, Katie Rakoski followed with 13, and Kyra Hampton recorded a 40-assist, 12-dig double-double.
App State then claimed the second match, 3-0 the next day. Maggi again paced the ODU attack with 15 kills while Rakoski was next with 10 kills. Hampton contributed 29 assists, seven digs, and two blocks. Emma Schelah served three aces, while Rita Benidio and Adrienne Peji served two each.
About ODU
The Monarchs (4-7, 0-0 Sun Belt) competed in East Carolina’s No Quarter Invitational last weekend in Greenville, North Carolina. After falling 3-0 to the tournament hosts on Thursday, the Silver and Blue took the court against Campbell on Friday. ODU captured the first two sets and led 19-13 in the third set, but could not close out the match as the Monarchs fell to the Camels in five sets. The team then suffered a 3-0 setback to Maryland on Saturday to round out the Invitational.
First year outside hitter Leilani Lawrence leads the Sun Belt and ranks 11th nationally with 27 service aces. She’s also the conference leader and 18th in the country with 0.64 aces per set. The Tampa, Florida native is second in the SBC with 4.65 points per set. She ranks fourth in the league with 161 kills, 195.5 points, 3.83 kills per set, and 10.00 attacks per set. Lawrence is fifth in the conference with 420 total attacks.
Maggi follows Lawrence with 110 kills (2.56 per set) and 129.5 points (3.01 per set). Wiktoria Zagumny and Erica Duffy have gotten the most time at setter, tallying 182 and 161 assists, respectively. Libero Ashlyn Gent enters the week with 111 digs (2.64 per set) and Maggi is next with 76 digs. Schelah leads the team at the net with 39 blocks, though Emma DiRocco is close behind with 32 blocks.
ODU is hitting .213 as a team, though opposing teams have hit .238 against the Monarchs. Head coach Fred Chao is 71-97 overall with a 20-40 record against Sun Belt opponents.
About App State
The Mountaineers (7-7, 0-0 Sun Belt) played in Eastern Kentucky’s Geri Polvino Invitational last weekend in Richmond, Kentucky. App State defeated Tennessee Tech, 3-1 on Friday and then swept Presbyterian in straight sets later that day, but fell 3-2 to the host Colonels on Saturday. MeMe Davis and Raegan Richardson were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Bella Hutchens sits atop the Sun Belt and is 17th in Division I in both kills (180) and points (205.5). She’s also the conference leader in attacks with 463. Richardson is the team’s primary setter with 497 assists, good for first in the SBC and fifth in the nation. The junior from Jensen Beach, Florida is also fifth in the country with one triple double and ranks 23rd with 24 service aces. Richardson is third in the SBC with 8.72 assists per set and fourth with 0.42 aces per set. Delanie Grevengoed follows Richardson with 22 aces, which ranks fourth in the conference.
On defense, Davis is currently second in the country with 276 digs and 15th with 4.84 digs per set. Chelsea Gilmore owns a team-high 45 blocks, Lou Johnson is second with 37 blocks, and Grevengoed and Nevaeh Hays have both made 33 blocks. As a team, the Mountaineers rank second in Division I with 723 kills and 651 assists. They’re sixth in total attacks (1,859), eighth in blocks (123), 15th in digs (742), and 17th in service aces (93).
The Mountaineers are led by second-year head coach Chad Sutton, who is 22-19 in his first two seasons in Boone. App State was picked to finish fourth in the East Division in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
Up Next
Next week will see ODU heading to Statesboro, Georgia for a Sun Belt series at Georgia Southern. The Monarchs and Eagles will play at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2 and will then return for a 1 p.m. start on Saturday, Oct. 3.