Troy University Athletics
Troy University
St. John's University
Trojans Take Out St. John's in Four
9/12/2009 9:15:00 PM | Volleyball
OXFORD, Ohio - The Trojans were able to rebound from an early morning loss, and take a four set victory over defending Big East champion St. John's at the Miami Best Western Sycamore Inn Invitational, 25-22, 25-20, 15-25, 25-18.
The Trojans (4-6) were lead by sophomore Brittany McClelland who had 11 kills and a .400 attack percentage. Lizzie Clough also posted double digit kills with 10. Megan Henderson had 37 assists for Troy. Senior Meghan Gilroy lead the Trojans with 35 attack attempts, converting nine for kills and posting a .086 attack percentage.
"Gilroy only hit .086 and everyone else stepped up," said head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick, "It was a great team effort."
The story of the match for the Trojans was their blocking. A Trojan team that came into the weekend last in the Sun Belt in blocks, posted 13.0 blocks as a team, the most by the Trojans this season. Leading the way was freshman Devin Von Pingel who had seven block assists.
"We focused on their main hitters and got some great touches on the ball," said Kirkpatrick, "We can continue to get better though."
In the first set, the Red Storm (3-7) took four of five to go ahead 1-4 early. St. John's expanded their lead to as many as eight at 9-17. It was then that the Trojans took over, winning 11 of 12 to pull ahead, 20-18. After the Red Storm took the next two to tie the score up, Troy took five of seven to take the set, 25-22. Seniors Gilroy and Lauren Barney-Baker combined for a block to clinch the set for the Trojans.
The two teams split the first six points to start the second set tied at 3-3. The two sides found themselves tied as late as 9-9. That is when the Trojans went on a 4-1 run to pull ahead, 13-10. The Trojans maintained that three point lead all the way to 22-19, when they took three of four to clinch the set, 25-20.
Troy fell into an early 0-4 hole in the third set. The Red Storm maintained the four point lead up to 5-9, before they went on a 4-1 run to pull ahead, 6-13. The Trojans then won three straight to pull within four at 9-13. From that point, Troy could only manage to score consecutive points once more and fell to St. John's 15-25.
The fourth set was a much different story, Troy came out firing on all cylinders and took an early 7-1 lead. They expanded their lead to as seven at 10-3 when St. John's won four straight to pull within three. The Trojans, however, responded with six straight to go ahead by nine at 16-7.
The Red Storm then took seven of nine to get within four at 18-14. Troy took five of seven to pull back ahead by seven at 23-16. The Trojans maintained that seven point lead and won the set, 25-18, and the match, 3-1.
The Trojans come out of the Miami Best Western Sycamore Inn Classic with one win in three matches.
"We competed against some very good teams this weekend," said Kirkpatrick, "and we've proven what we can do. We're very close to where we want to be as a team and we're continuing to get better."
The Trojans will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Jacksonville, Ala. to take on the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State at 6 p.m. Check back with TroyTrojans.com for more news and notes from the volleyball court as well as all of Troy Athletics.
