Troy University Athletics
Troy Falls To Middle Tennessee At Home
10/31/2008 5:00:00 AM | Volleyball
TROY, Ala. - The Troy Trojans lost 3-0 (15-25, 15-25, 21-25) to Middle Tennessee State University in Sun Belt Conference action on a spooky Halloween night at Trojan Arena.
Meghan Gilroy led the Trojans with 18 kills and hit .400 on the night in three-set loss. Ashley Asberry led Middle Tennessee to the 10th victory in 11 matches, with 10 kills and an .533 attack percentage.
With the students donning their best costumes for prizes at the arena, the Trojans did not disappoint in the opening points of the match. They jumped ahead early in the opening set over Middle Tennessee, holding a 3-1 advantage after service ace by Emily Strader to start the match. After a Blue Raider point, the Trojans took a 2-1 lead when Aubre Smith and Gilroy combined on a block; followed by a Gilroy kill for the lead.
After the Trojans took the two-point lead, Middle Tennessee went on a 13-4 run to open up a 14-7 lead. Troy was able to climb within six in the opening set on a kill by Megan Henderson at 14-8. However, they could get no closer than eight down the stretch as Middle Tennessee closed the set on consecutive kills by Ashley Asberry.
Middle Tennessee jumped to an early 9-4 lead in the second set, and pushed the lead to 16-8 before a kill from Gilroy trimmed the deficit back down to seven and an attack error by the Blue Raiders and another kill from Gilroy trimmed the lead to 16-11. Middle Tennessee used a kill from Asberry to push the lead to 17-11, before the Trojans scored the next two points on a kill by Gilroy and an attack error from the Blue Raiders to trim the deficit to 17-13. That was as close the Trojans could get in the second set, as Middle Tennessee closed the set on an 8-2 run to claim a 2-0 lead at intermission.
After a ghoulish halftime volleyball match in which the fans got a chance to play, the Trojans and Middle Tennessee (20-4, 10-2 Sun Belt) battled each other point for point at the beginning of the third set. After the Blue Raiders went on a 9-3 run to open a 12-5 lead, Troy used a service error for a sideout and trimmed the deficit to 12-6. After Middle Tennessee pushed the lead to 14-6, Troy scored the next five points started by a service error by Middle Tennessee. Freshman Emily Allen kept the scoring going for the Trojans with four consecutive points off serve, including kills from Gilroy and Erin Kissling to trim the deficit to 14-11.
Every time that Middle Tennessee attempted to pull away in the third set, Gilroy kept the Trojans close with kills. After the Blue Raiders took an 18-13 lead, Henderson put a kill away just out of the reach of two Middle Tennessee defenders to trim the deficit to 18-14. The lead was trimmed even further when Smith recorded a solo block on Asberry to trim the lead to 18-15. The two teams traded points at that stage in the set, until pushed the lead 23-17.
Troy (13-15, 4-9 Sun Belt) returns to action Saturday afternoon, hosting Western Kentucky University at Trojan Arena. The match is scheduled to start at 1 pm, and admission is free to all home volleyball matches. This will be the final home match for a week, when the Trojans host South Alabama at Trojan Arena next Friday night on "Senior Night."
