Troy University Athletics
Trojans Set to Host UAB
11/2/2009 4:00:00 PM | Volleyball
TROY - The Trojans will return home on Tuesday when they host UAB in a mid-week non conference match at 7 p.m. at Trojan Arena. The match was originally scheduled for November 10th but has been moved up one week to Tuesday.
The Trojans (11-15, 6-8) enter the match after a tough week on the road in Sun Belt play. Troy was swept by Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee this weekend, dropping the Trojans to ninth place in the Sun Belt standings.
The Trojans currently sit half a game behind North Texas (10-17, 6-7) for the eighth and final spot in the Sun Belt Tournament. Troy has three conference matches remaining while the Mean Green have five.
The Blazers (13-14, 6-6) enter Tuesday's match after splitting a pair of Conference USA matches at home this weekend. UAB defeated UCF on Friday, 3-1, before falling to Southern Miss on Sunday, 3-2. The Blazers currently sit in seventh place in the Conference USA standings.
"UAB is a very well coached team," head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. "It's always good for us to see how we're improving and how we measure up against non-conference competition."
The Trojans are led offensively this season by Meghan Gilroy. She has recorded 353 kills this season and is averaging 4.25 kills per set, the third best average in the Sun Belt. Gilroy also hit a career milestone defensively this weekend as she tied former teammate Aubre Smith for the lead in career total blocks in Troy history with 283. One more block will put Gilroy in first place by herself.
Megan Henderson has set up the Trojan attack all season and has now accumulated 878 assists. Her 9.76 assists per set average is the fifth highest average in the Sun Belt.
Defensively, Lizzie Clough leads the Trojans with 250 digs and a 2.84 digs per set average. The Trojans have three other players averaging over 2.00 digs per set. Those include Henderson (2.69), Emily Strader (2.37) and Kayla Giles (2.29).
At the net defensively the Trojans are paced by Gilroy and Devin Von Pingel. Von Pingel leads the squad with 72 total blocks and is averaging 0.79 blocks per set. Gilroy has posted 61 total blocks this season and is averaging 0.73 per set.
The Blazers have a balanced offensive attack as they have five players that average over 2.00 kills per set. Those included Andrea Lalic (2.88), Sam Serley (2.76), Savannah Pegg (2.20), Michelle Uzoh (2.20) and Patty Paniagua (2.00). The UAB attack is set up by Alison Woods who averages 9.91 assists per set.
Defensively, Heather Thomas leads the Blazers with 498 digs and a 4.83 digs per set average, the third best average in Conference USA. At the net, Uzoh's 1.25 blocks per set average is the best Conference USA and Paniagua is right behind her with a 1.06 average.
"They've been to the NCAA Tournament twice in the past three years and we're really looking forward to playing them," Kirkpatrick said.
Since the Trojans joined Division I in 1993, the Blazers lead the series between the two teams, 14-1. UAB won the meeting between the two sides last year 3-0 in Birmingham. The Trojans have never defeated the Blazers at Trojan Arena.
Admission to all home matches is FREE. Live stats and a live webcast of the match can be seen at the above links. The Trojans will return to Sun Belt action when they travel to take on in-state rival South Alabama on Friday at 7 p.m. Check back with TroyTrojans.com for more scores and stats from the volleyball court, as well as all of Troy Athletics.
