Troy University Athletics
Trojans Face Must Win on the Road
11/5/2009 7:00:00 PM | Volleyball
MOBILE, Ala. - As the Trojan volleyball team sits half a game out of the eighth and final Sun Belt Tournament spot, their road match with South Alabama on Friday has become essentially a must win.
When the Trojans (11-16, 6-8) and the Jaguars (11-16, 2-12) meet at Jaguar Gym on Friday night at 7 p.m. a losing streak is going to come to an end. The Trojans enter the match having lost five straight, and the Jags come in as losers of six straight.
"This is a huge rivalry match," head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. "They have played very well throughout the second half of the conference season, and we need to play at our best in order to win."
Troy will be hoping that their streak is the one ended, as they currently sit in ninth place in the Sun Belt standings, half a game behind eighth place North Texas (10-17, 6-7). The Trojans have three Sun Belt matches remaining, where as the Mean Green have five remaining.
In the end, because they are in the West Division, North Texas will have played one more conference match than the Trojans, therefore, if the Trojans can equal the Mean Green's number of conference victories, they will be heading to Bowling Green, Ky. in two weeks.
For the next nine days, the most important match for the Trojans will be the next one, and now that next one is against South Alabama on Friday night.
The Trojans have history on their side. Since they joined Division I in 1993, the Trojans lead the series over the Jags 16-13. The Trojans swept the Jags earlier this season in front of 975 fans at Trojan Arena. However, the Trojans are 5-7 against South Alabama on the road.
Troy enters the match being led by senior Meghan Gilroy. She has recorded 375 kills, giving her a 4.31 kills per set average. That average is the third best in the Sun Belt and the 26th best in the nation. Her 4.91 points per set also ranks third in the conference as well as 22nd in the country. She has posted a .320 attack percentage, another Top 10 Sun Belt mark.
The Trojan offense is set up by junior Megan Henderson. Her 923 assists and 9.82 assists per set average have her at fifth place in the Sun Belt. She also eclipsed the 3,000 career assists mark last weekend.
Defensively, Gilroy and freshman Devin Von Pingel are each averaging 0.78 blocks per set to lead the squad. During this season, Gilroy has surpassed former teammate Aubre Smith for first place in school history in block assists and total blocks.
Another freshman, Lizzie Clough, leads the Trojans with a 2.84 digs per set average, all though she has missed the last two matches due to illness. Three other Trojans average over 2.00 digs per set, including Henderson (2.66), junior libero Emily Strader (2.45) and freshman Kayla Giles (2.35).
South Alabama is led offensively by Juliana Almeida who has recorded 292 kills and averages 3.14 kills per set, the tenth best average in the Sun Belt. Lindsay Schwartz (2.01) and Hristina Markova (2.45) also average over 2.00 kills per set for the Jaguars.
The Jags attack is set up by Jennica Hagberg who has posted 888 assists. Her 9.45 assists per set average is the seventh best in the Sun Belt.
Defensively, the Jags are led by Lindsay Schwartz at the net. She has recorded 97 total blocks and her 1.11 blocks per set average is tied for first in the SBC.
Kari Frazier and Samia Salomao lead the Jags in digs per set average with 2.9 and 2.45 respectively. She also leads South Alabama with 0.32 service aces per set. That average is good for fifth in the Sun Belt.
"They have some really good players," Kirkpatrick said. "If we follow our game plan, we have a good shot to win, and if we don't they can beat us."
First serve between the Trojans and Jags is set for 7 p.m. You can follow the action via a live webcast through the link above. Be sure to check back with TroyTrojans.com on Friday night for scores and stats from the match.
