Troy University Athletics
Troy Heads West For SBC Play
10/23/2008 5:00:00 AM | Volleyball
TROY, Ala. - With only seven regular season matches remaining, the Troy Trojans find themselves in a battle for one of the remaining spots in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Troy (12-13, 3-7 Sun Belt) is currently tied with South Alabama and Louisiana-Lafayette for the ninth spot overall, but trail eighth-place Florida Atlantic (3-6 Sun Belt) by just one game in the loss column and Western Kentucky (3-5 Sun Belt) by just two games in the loss column.
The Sun Belt Conference takes the top eight teams in the conference to the postseason conference tournament, held this season in Miami on the campus of FIU.
This weekend is a key weekend for each of the five teams mentioned, with the Trojans and South Alabama playing on the road against Denver and North Texas, Florida Atlantic on the road in Arkansas and Western Kentucky on the road in Louisiana (each for two matches).
For the Trojans, the weekend begins in Colorado against the West Division's second-best team (currently in the conference standings), the University of Denver (17-4, 6-2 Sun Belt). Troy has never defeated the Pioneers, trailing in the all-time series 4-0, including losing both matches at Hamilton Gymnasium.
This season, Denver is led by Holly Benson offensively, registering 238 kills on the season and averaging 3.09 kills per set. The Pioneers also have Emmy Davidsmeyer (213), Kelly Porter (194) and Jacqueline Paul (156) in triple digits in kills this season. Defensively, Kacie Wikierak leads the way with 277 total digs and averaging 3.60 digs per set. She is followed closely by Benson with 275 total digs.
Denver heads into the Friday night match with an 11-1 record at Hamilton Gymnasium, but lost their last match in the home arena to Middle Tennessee in their last match.
On Sunday, the Trojans travel to North Texas (4-17, 2-6 Sun Belt) to face the Mean Green as part of the "Dig for a Cure" which is going around the country. The Trojans trail in the series 3-1 to North Texas, including 0-2 on the road all-time.
North Texas heads into the weekend series off a win over Western Kentucky which ended a six-match losing streak last weekend. They are led reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week Roxana Casvean with 212 total kills and averaging 2.99 kills per set. A trio of other players are in double digits in kills for the Mean Green led by Salah Schoenecke (162), Amy Huddleston (158) and Brittani Youman (132). Defensively, North Texas is led by Sarah Willey with 215 total digs, averaging 2.99 digs per set.
For the Trojans to be successful, big hitters Meghan Gilroy and Aubre Smith must get back on a track after a combined eight kills against FIU last Saturday at Trojan Arena. Gilroy has recorded 298 total kills this season, averaging 3.47 kills per set, while Smith has registered 206 total kills in 89 sets. Gilroy continues to lead Troy with an attack percentage of .313.
Troy will also look to setter Megan Henderson to provide a spark with her defensive play and senior Meghan Washlow to continue her steady play defensively.
The first match of the weekend, Troy at Denver, takes place at 7 pm at Hamilton Gymnasium in Denver, Colorado.
