Troy Takes Down UALR In Conference Play

Saturday, October 2

Troy, AL

7:00 p.m.

Troy University

University of Arkansas - Little Rock

10/2/2010 9:00:51 PM | Volleyball

The Trojans return to action in a mid-week contest on the road at Alabama A&M

By: Brynna Waters

Box Score

TROY, Ala. - The Troy University Trojans volleyball bounced back from a loss Friday night to defeat the Trojans of UALR Saturday night 3-0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-13), a first-ever win for Troy over UALR in the series history between the two schools.

"It's good to finally get the monkey off of our back and finally beat UALR," head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. "We played really well tonight and I hope we can continue this play for the match on Wednesday."

Troy (9-11, 2-2 Sun Belt) was led in the match by junior Natasha Kolunija with 10 kills and a .412 attack percentage. Meanwhile, senior Megan Henderson recorded 35 assists, 10 digs and a .462 attack percentage on the night.

Troy fell behind early in the first set, but kills from junior Brittany McClelland and sophomore Devin Von Pingel tied the Trojans at 5-all. From there the set was a tight race, tied five times, before Troy was able to pull away with kills from Henderson, McClelland, and Von Pingel. Troy kept a steady lead until UALR (2-12, 0-4 Sun Belt) was able to come back to tie the set at 24-all, but a kill from Kolunija put a stop to the rally and gave Troy the victory.

The two teams battled each other in the second set until Troy pulled away with kills from Henderson, Von Pingel and Kolunija. Troy was able to keep the lead, although UALR scored and came within one of Troy, but could never tie or regain a lead. A kill from Kolunija once again gave Troy the victory going into intermission.

The two teams battled again in the third set, matching each other point-for-point in the early going. The Trojans were in a gridlock and tied the set five times before Troy was able to pull away after the match was tied at 12-all with a service ace from freshman Alexandra Alexander. This was not the only contribution Alexander would play in this set, under her serving, Troy scored 10 consecutive points with another service ace and kills from McClelland, Henderson, and sophomore Kayla Giles. UALR tried to come back, but there was no hope as Troy soared to the victory with a kill from Giles.

Troy's next match will take place Wednesday night at 6 p.m. as the Trojans travel to Normal, Alabama to face Alabama A&M.

Become a fan of Troy Athletics on Facebook and follow all the Troy action on Twitter by following @TroyAthletics.