Troy University Athletics
Troy University
University of North Texas
Trojans Fall to Mean Green at Home
10/25/2009 2:00:00 AM | Volleyball
TROY - The Trojans dropped their second match of the weekend on Saturday when they fell to North Texas, 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-18). The Trojans took the first set, but after losing an early second set lead, they lost control of the match and fell in four.
"North Texas just wanted to play more than we did tonight," head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said.
The Trojans (11-13, 6-6) were led on the night offensively by Meghan Gilroy who posted 23 kills and a .354 attack percentage. Devin Von Pingel was the only other Trojan in double digits in kills with 13. Megan Henderson posted 43 assists on the night.
Defensively, four Trojans were in double digits in digs with Lizzie Clough leading the way with 13. Henderson (11), Kayla Giles (11) and Emily Strader (10) were the other three.
"We didn't play with the defensive intensity that we needed to," Kirkpatrick said. "That shows in North Texas' .303 hitting percentage."
As a team, the Trojans hit .166 in the match, after posting a .485 attack percentage in the first set. The Trojans outdug the Mean Green 60 to 57, but were outkilled 62 to 49.
In the first set the Trojans took an early 5-1 lead, and never trailed after that. North Texas (11-13, 6-4) could only manage to get within two points on a couple of occasions and the Trojans led by as many as six at one time. The Trojans went on to close out the set, 25-21.
The two teams swapped roles in the second set as the Mean Green used an early run to take control. After Troy went ahead 3-1, North Texas took eight straight to pull ahead 9-3. This time the Trojans were the ones that could only manage to get within two and North Texas stretched their lead to as many as seven at one point. The Mean Green ultimately took the set, 25-19.
In the third set, after the Trojans took the first two, the Mean Green scored on five straight to pull ahead 5-2. The never gave up that lead as they went on to stretch it to as much as eight with a third set final of 25-17.
The fourth was much of the same story as North Texas took control early and never trailed. The Mean Green took six of the first ten as they pulled ahead to a 6-4 lead. The Mean Green took six of the next eight as they extended their lead to 12-6. North Texas maintain at least a five point lead throughout the rest of the set as they took the fourth, 25-18, and the match, 3-1.
North Texas was led on the night by Brittani Youman who recorded 18 kills and a .567 attack percentage. Amy Huddleston (16) and Brittany Brown (12) also posted double digit in kills. Kayla Saey posted 52 assists for the Mean Green. Lacy Reasons led the squad with 14 digs.
"We need to find a way to pick ourselves back up before next weekend," Kirkpatrick said.
The Trojans will return to the floor next weekend when they travel north to take on Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee on Friday and Saturday. Check back with TroyTrojans.com for more news and notes from the volleyball court, as well as all of Troy Athletics.
