Troy University Athletics
Troy University
Presbyterian College
Trojans Sweep Blue Hose to Get to 2-0
8/29/2009 4:00:00 PM | Volleyball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Trojans got their second win of the season and their second win in the Holiday Inn Invitational on Saturday morning by sweeping the Blue Hose of Presbyterian College.
The Trojans (2-0) used a few timely runs to pull away with the first two sets, but got a dose of their own medicine in set three, allowing the Blue Hose to make the final set very intriguing.
Troy was led offensively by Meghan Gilroy who posted 14 kills and had a .700 attack percentage. Megan Henderson had a 37 assists on the day. Defensively, the Trojans saw two players post double digits in kills. Freshman Kayla Giles led the team with 13 digs and Emily Strader added 11 digs of her own.
The Trojans also got some much needed offense from two freshmen. Devin Von Pingel and Giles combined to spike down 11 kills.
"I'm very happy with the way we played," said head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick, "We played much better today than we did last night."
In set one the Blue Hose (0-2) took the first point, but after that the Trojans never trailed. The two schools traded points until the Trojans lead 10-9, it was at that time that the Trojans went on their first big run. The Trojans scored five straight to pull ahead 14-9.
After that, the Blue Hose only scored consecutive points twice, and the Trojans took set one 25-20.
The second set was a much different story, as Troy to come from behind to take the win. The Trojans were down by as many as three points, as late as 11-14. However, down 11-14, Troy scored five consecutive points to pull ahead 16-14.
The Blue Hose won the next two points to tie the set at 16, then the Trojans went on yet another run. This time they reeled off seven consecutive points, to pull out to an insurmountable 23-16 lead. From there the Trojans only needed two more points, and they got them both from kills by freshman Von Pingel. The Trojans took set two 25-17.
The Trojans started the third set by taking the first four points and building an early lead. Two of the four came off of kills by Gilroy. However, the Blue Hose fought back to scored four straight of their own and tie the score up at four.
The Trojans won the next three points to take a 7-4 lead. The two teams battled back and forth and the Trojans extended their lead to as much as six on a couple of occasions. The Trojans held their six point lead as late as 20-14. However, Presbyterian wasn't going to go down easily.
At that time they took seven of the next nine points to pull within one of the Trojans at 22-21.
The two sides split the next two points, and with the Trojans up 23-22, Gilroy came up with probably the two biggest kills of her 14 on the day. She spiked one down off of a Henderson assist to give the Trojans a match point at 24-22. The Trojans faltered on their first match point, allowing Presbyterian to pull within one again at 24-23, but the Trojans weren't going to let the next one slip through the cracks.
Gilroy once again delivered off of a Henderson assist to take the set for the Trojans, 25-23, and the match.
"They didn't roll over and die," Kirkpatrick said, "They had a solid defense and forced us to make plays. It was good to see that we could make those plays."
The Trojans will take on the host Georgia Southern Eagles tonight, looking to post a 3-0 mark in the opening tournament of 2009. The Eagles defeated Presbyterian last night and will take on Stetson this afternoon.
"They're a great team and it's going to be a knock down, drag out, long match and we're looking forward to it," Kirkpatrick said of the match with the Eagles.
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