Troy University Athletics
Trojans control destiny for SBC Volleyball Tournament
11/8/2007 6:00:00 AM | Volleyball
TROY, Ala. - The final weekend of the Sun Belt Conference volleyball season officially begins tonight, and Troy University finds itself in a race for one of two spots remaining in the upcoming conference tournament.
Troy (15-16, 6-9 SBC) finds itself in the eighth spot with two matches remaining. They trail North Texas (12-19, 8-9 SBC) by just one game for the seventh seed, and lead Arkansas State (9-18, 5-10 SBC) by a game for the final spot in the tournament. In order for the Trojans to qualify for the tournament, they must win at least one of their remaining two matches and rely on the three Lousiana schools to defeat Arkansas State at least once this weekend. Or the Trojans can do it the old-fashioned way, and win both of their matches this weekend and climb into the seventh seed, leaving North Texas and Arkansas State battling for the remaining spot in the field.
"Arkansas State plays Louisiana-Monroe tonight (Thursday)," Troy head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. "We need Arkansas State to lose at least one match this weekend to take the pressure off of us. We are in a position where we control our own destiny and would be nice to not rely on someone else for help when we can do it ourselves."
But first, the Trojans must focus on Florida International (16-7, 10-5 SBC), a team that defeated Troy 3-1 earlier in the season.
In that match, FIU won by a score of 30-16, 24-30, 30-23, 30-26 behind the play of a trio of players. Olga Vergun led Florida International with 24 kills and hit .462 for the match. She was followed closely in kills by Yarimar Rosa with 22 kills and a .370 attacking percentage. Ines Medved recorded a double-double for the Panthers with 10 kills and 10 digs.
The Trojans were led Meghan Gilroy with 14 kills, the only player in double figures for the match.
Troy will rely on their heavy hitter; Gilroy, Aubre Smith and Jean McCarthy in Friday night's match to take some pressure off of the rest of the team with just two matches remaining in the season.
"For us it is the most important match of the year to date," Kirkpatrick said. "If we want a chance to go to the conference tournament with the highest seed possible, this is a must-win in a lot of aspects. The importance of match cannot be stressed enough this weekend."
The Trojans will also hit the floor on Saturday afternoon against Florida Atlantic, a team that the Trojans defeated 3-0 earlier in the season but will not take lightly this weekend.
"We need to win both matches," Kirkpatrick said. "They are both must wins if we want to go the conference tournament. with both matches being equally important. We need to win one of the matches to give ourselves a chance."
The first match of the weekend begins Friday night at 7 pm in Trojan Arena. Admission is free.
