Troy University Athletics
Trojans Set to Open 2009 Season
8/27/2009 1:45:00 PM | Volleyball
STATESBORO, Ga. - After a long month of August full of practices, meetings and classes, the Troy University volleyball team is happy to see this weekend finally arrive.
The Trojans will open their season on Friday at the Holiday Inn Invitational, hosted by the Georgia Southern Eagles. The Trojans will travel to Statesboro, Ga. to take on Stetson, Presbyterian and the host Eagles.
"It's a new season and everyone has the same record," head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said, "This weekend is all about us being able to execute and gain some good experience."
The Trojans will take to the court for the first time in 2009 on Friday when they match up against the Stetson Hatters of the Atlantic Sun Conference at 5 p.m. Troy will face the Presbyterian Blue Hose of the Big South Conference on Saturday at 10 a.m. The Trojans will close out the tournament at 7 p.m. Saturday night against Georgia Southern of the Southern Conference.
In 2009 the Trojans will be looking to qualify for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for the first time since 2005. The Trojans have finished one game out of the final qualifying spot for the postseason tournament in each of past two seasons.
The Trojans will look to the leadership of senior middle hitter Meghan Gilroy to achieve that goal. The Pensacola, Fla. native currently holds places on Troy's Top 10 career lists for kills, kills per set, attack attempts, attack percentage, block solos, block assists, total blocks and blocks per set. She is already a member of the 1,000 kills club.
The Trojans will also look to junior setter Megan Henderson who has posted over 1,000 assists in each of her first two seasons. Also returning is last season's libero, Emily Strader, who has posted nearly 700 digs in the first two seasons of her career.
"We've been battling some sickness, but we're really excited about this weekend," Kirkpatrick said, "We've been working hard since early January to get here, and now we get to see the results of all of that hard work."
The Trojans will be facing Georgia Southern and Presbyterian for the first time in the program's history, but Troy and Stetson are familiar with each other.
The Trojans lead the series over the Hatters 5-2. Six of the seven matches came when the two schools were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. However, the two teams haven't met since 2004.
The Hatters are looking to rebound from a tough 2008 campaign. They posted a 5-23 overall record, including a 2-18 mark in Atlantic Sun conference play. However, the Hatters are returning four starters that all posted over 100 kills last season. Coach Cheryl Carlson will look to the leadership of her five seniors to turn things around for the Hatters.
As for Presbyterian, the Blue Hose finished the 2008 season with a 13-21 overall record and a 6-10 record in the Big South Conference, placing them sixth in the final standings. 2008 was Presbyterian's first season in the Big South Conference. Head coach Chris Belshe returns 10 letterwinners from last year's squad, including three starters and a libero.
The Georgia Southern Eagles are coming off of a 16-18 season in coach Chad Callihan's first season. They posted a 9-9 mark in Southern Conference play, placing them third in the South Division. The Eagles do not have a single senior on their roster, but do return four starters from last year's squad. They will also return 10 letterwinners. The Eagles have appeared in two NCAA Tournaments, the last coming in 2003.
Stay tuned to TroyTrojans.com for results, stats, news and notes from the volleyball court as well all of Troy Athletics.
