Troy University Athletics
Troy Shuts Out FAU, 3-0
10/17/2008 5:00:00 AM | Volleyball
TROY, Ala. - Troy head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick had all ready labeled Friday night's match with Florida Atlantic as a must-win for his Trojan squad. The Trojans did not disappoint, running to a quick lead and defeating Florida Atlantic 3-0 in Sun Belt Conference action at Trojan Arena.
Troy used a .565 night hitting the ball from junior Meghan Gilroy to finish off Florida Atlantic 25-18, 26-24, 25-19. Gilroy finished with 16 kills, while Laura Mackley finished with 11 kills. Megan Henderson finished with 39 assists and 10 digs, while Emily Strader recorded 17 digs and Meghan Washlow 13 in the victory.
"This was a big confidence builder going into tomorrow's match," Kirkpatrick said. "I want to thank the fans for coming out, they have been good all year and I wish they would keep coming back. Offensively we did some good things, but we weren't mentally at the beginning of the match and we didn't play with as much as energy as we have in the past."
The first point of the match may not have been the hardest kill of the season, but the kill from freshman Brittany McClelland set the tone for the Trojans in the opening set. McClelland chased an assist down toward the right line and put the kill away with a dink over the net that started a 3-0 Trojans run. From that point, the kills only got stronger in the opening set with the teams trading points until senior Jean McCarthy unleashed a kill down the right side, and Gilroy hammered down another kill in front of Kristyna Dzmuranova to give Troy a 9-5 opening set lead. After Florida Atlantic trimmed the lead to a pair, freshman Mackley recorded the kill that brought the crowd to its feet, hammering a ball from left to right at a pace so quick that the FAU defender was unable to leave her feet before it hit the court for an 12-8 lead.
Florida Atlantic was able to come back and tie the opening set at 13-all on a kill from Katie Arvidson, but the tie was short-lived as senior Aubre Smith recorded her first kill of the match off an FAU defender for a 14-13 advantage. The lead grew to 17-14 on a kill from Gilroy, and the lead stayed at three until a kill from sophomore Henderson caught the entire Owls squad off balance giving Troy a 20-16 lead. McClelland was able to laugh off a mishit when her kill attempt hit the line on the right side of the court for a 21-16 Trojans lead. Troy continued to lead, even pushing the lead to as many as six late in the first set, and put the opening set away on a block from Smith and McClelland.
FAU used a pair of points from Mobile-native Morgan Johns to jump to a 4-2 lead at the opening set, including a service ace, before the Trojans were able to climb back into the set on a monsterous kill from Gilroy to tie the set at 5-all. Following the kill, Florida Atlantic scored the next two points to take a 7-5 advantage and kept the lead at two before an attack error allowed Troy to climb to within a single-point at 8-7. A kill by Gilroy off the hands of FAU's libero Kendall Utz and an attack error by the Owls gave Troy their first lead of the set at 9-8, but a service error by the Trojans allowed FAU to tie the match at 9-all. The two teams traded points until Troy was able to take a 12-10 adavantage, and held the lead despite allowing Florida Atlantic to climb within a point on several occasions.
The second set was eventually tied when Arvidson outdueled Henderson for a ball at the net, with the ball falling on the Trojans side and the match was tied at 14-all. The tie didn't last long as the Trojans were able to get the advantage again on a kill by Gilroy for a 15-14 advantage. A kill from McCarthy gave Troy a 16-14 advantage, but just like earlier Florida Atlantic was able to, not only trim the deficit, but take an 18-16 lead and force Troy to call a timeout. After the timeout, Troy was able to tie the match at 18-all, before Henderson finished off the 3-0 run with a kill for a 19-18 advantage. The run continued for Troy with a misplay by Florida Atlantic gave Troy a 20-18 lead. The Owls were able to tie the match, again, in the second set on a service ace from Casey LaRocca, before a block from Krystena Castro gave the Owls a 21-20 lead late in the set. Troy kept fighting to stay in the second set, tying the match at 21-all on a kill by McClelland forcing a FAU timeout. The two teams continued to trade points out of the timeout until Gilroy gave Troy a 26-24 victory and two set lead going into lockerroom at halftime.
Troy (12-12, 3-6 Sun Belt) came out of the lockerroom in the third with two thunderous kills for a quick 3-1 lead over the Owls. The lead grew to as many as four points at the beginning of the set, before Florida Atlantic was able to tie the score at 6-all and take a 7-6 lead on a block from Arvidson. The two teams traded points until Florida Atlantic (10-9, 3-4 Sun Belt) pushed the lead to 10-8. The set stayed that way until Troy used a pair of kills from Heinz to take an 11-10 lead, and an attack error by FAU to push the lead to 12-10. The lead continued to grow as Smith added another kill for a 13-10 lead. The match ended on an attack error by the Owls, giving Troy a three-set victory.
Troy returns to action Saturday afternoon against FIU at Trojan Arena. The match is scheduled to start at 1 pm and there is no admission to any home volleyball match.
