Troy University Athletics
Troy University
Middle Tennessee State University
Seniors Close Out Career
11/15/2009 2:00:00 AM | Volleyball
TROY - The Trojan volleyball team saw its season come to a close Saturday when they fell to Middle Tennessee, 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-16). For the third straight season, the Trojans will finish as the first team on the outside of the Sun Belt Tournament.
The Trojans (12-18, 7-10) were led on senior night by one of there seniors, Meghan Gilroy, who posted nine kills and just three errors. Megan Henderson recorded 24 assists. Defensively, Kayla Giles paced Troy with 10 digs.
"We knew that we needed to play really well to give ourselves a chance," head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. "We made too many mistakes against a high caliber team."
In the first set, the two sides were tied early at 6-6 before Middle Tennessee (22-8, 15-2) took four straight to go ahead 10-6. The Trojans were able to get within three at 17-14. However the Blue Raiders took eight of the last ten to take the first set, 25-16.
The second set was a much closer affair, with the Trojans being within one at 21-20, but unfortunately, they could never get over the hump. After Troy got out to an 8-5 lead, the Blue Raiders tied things up at 8-8. The Trojans got ahead again, this time at 15-14, but that was the last lead they would have. Middle Tennessee scored three straight to go ahead 17-15, and they remained ahead by at least one until 21-20. At that point, the Blue Raiders took four of five to clinch the second set, 25-21.
Middle Tennessee got out to an early lead in the third set, 6-2. Troy could only manage to get within two on a few occasions, the latest at 12-10. Trailing 12-10, the Trojans gave up four straight to fall into a six point hole at 16-10. Middle Tennessee extended their lead to nine as they took the third set, 25-16.
The Blue Raiders hit .393 as a team and were led by Ashley Mead who posted 11 kills. Janay Yancey was also in double digits as she posted 10 kills and a .625 attack percentage. Leslie Clark recorded 38 assists for the Blue Raiders. Ashley Waugh led Middle Tennessee with 14 digs.
The Trojans will wrap up the 2009 season with a 12-18 overall mark and a 7-10 record in Sun Belt play. Unfortunately, the Trojans will finish in ninth place in the Sun Belt standings, one spot out of the Sun Belt Tournament.
Saturday's match also marked the last match for seniors Gilroy and Lauren Barney-Baker.
"I couldn't be more proud of our seniors," Kirkpatrick said. "They were the building blocks of our program, and I don't know if we could've found two better players to build the future of this program around."
