Troy University Athletics
Troy University
Florida International University
Trojans Fall in SBC Opener
9/26/2009 1:45:00 AM | Volleyball
TROY, Ala. - The Trojans fell to defending Sun Belt champion FIU in there conference opener at Trojan Arena on Friday night. The Golden Panthers swept the Trojans, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-22).
The Trojans (4-7, 0-1) were led by senior Meghan Gilroy who had seven kills. Megan Henderson added 23 assists. Defensively, Henderson paced the Trojans with 11 digs. Devin Von Pingel contributed three blocks. Von Pingel posted the Trojans highest attack percentage of the night, hitting .385 with six kills and just one error. Kayla Giles also posted six kills for the Trojans.
"We gave them all that we had," said head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick, "We held our own agaisnt the best team in the Sun Belt and by far the best team we've played all year."
In the first set, the Trojans jumped out to an early 5-2 lead, Troy then allowed the Golden Panthers to score five of the next seven to tie the score up at 7-7. The two sides remained tied up to 11-11. That is were FIU went on a 6-1 run to pull ahead, 17-12.
The Golden Panthers (11-2, 1-0) pulled out ahead by as many as six at 20-14. From that point, the Trojans could only manage to get within four on a couple of occasions, and fell to FIU, 25-20.
The Trojans and Golden Panthers split the first 14 is set two, finding themselves tied, 7-7. At that time, FIU took five of six to pull ahead, 12-8. The Trojans battled back and tied the score up as late as 15-15.
At that point, FIU scored four straight to pull ahead, 19-15. Troy got back to within two at 22-20 and 24-22, but could never manage to get any closer and fell in the second set, 25-22.
Troy jumped out to an early 5-1 lead to start the third set. FIU battled back and eventually tied things up at 9-9. They then pull ahead by three at 12-9. The two sides found themselves tied again at 13-13.
At that point, FIU scored three more to pull ahead, 16-13. The Golden Panthers maintained a two or three point lead for the rest of the set, taking the third set, 25-22.
FIU was led by Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year, Yarimar Rosa, who posted 17 kills on 37 attempts. Natalia Valentin posted 47 assists for the Golden Panthers. Defensively, Chanel Araujo paced FIU with 16 digs.
"The team set some goals for this game and for the season," Kirkpatrick said, "As far as tonight, we met all but one."
The Trojans will be back in action tomorrow when they take on the Florida Atlantic Owls. First serve is set for 1 p.m. at Trojan Arena. Check back with TroyTrojans.com for more news and notes from the volleyball court as well as all of Troy Athletics.
