Florida Atlantic Defeats Trojans In Five Sets

Friday, October 29

Troy, AL

6:00 p.m.

Troy University

Florida Atlantic University

Photo by: Cass Davis

Florida Atlantic Defeats Trojans In Five Sets

10/29/2010 8:51:42 PM | Volleyball

Troy stormed back after losing the first set, Senior Day set for Saturday

By: Travis Jarome

Box Score

TROY, Ala. – After falling in the opening set, the Troy University volleyball came back to win the next two sets before falling to Florida Atlantic University 3-2 (18-25, 25-16, 25-20, 23-25, 15-9) in Sun Belt Conference action at Sartain Hall on Friday night.

Senior Megan Henderson led the way for the Trojans with a double-double as she recorded 14 digs and 37 assists. She also added seven kills on the night.

Natasha Kolunija led the way offensively with 14 kills, while Victoria Rogoschewsky added 10 in the loss. Kayla Giles chipped in with 14 digs, while Courtney Cohen added 13 and Alexandra Alexander 10 for the Trojans.

The two teams battled every play on Friday night including in the fifth set in which Troy held a 9-8 lead midway through the set. After a serve by Florida Atlantic's Brooke Nemethy, the two teams battled each other for the decisive point and after four rallies the Trojans were awarded the point. However, an inadvertent whistle had the point replayed and Florida Atlantic came away with the point and used it win the next six to claim the victory.

“We need to be able to finish a match,” Troy head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said immediately following the match. “We were up two sets to one and fell in the fifth. We need to put the hammer down and score some points in those situations.”

The Trojans fell behind Florida Atlantic in the opening set, before tying it at 13-all. The Owls went on a 10-2 run to open a 23-15 advantage late in the set. Troy (10-17, 2-8 Sun Belt) wouldn't go away in the first set, being down eight, as a kills from Victoria Rogoschewsky and Natasha Kolunija got the Trojans to within six at 23-17, before Florida Atlantic (11-15, 2-8 Sun Belt) scored two of the last three points to win the opening set.

Troy was able to bounce back and win the next two sets, in two different ways. The Trojans won the second set after opening a 10-point lead at 19-9 before Florida Atlantic was able to close the gap to as close as eight (21-13), before the Trojans pushed it back to 10 and held on for the victory.

In the third set, the two teams battled throughout, with the match tied at 15-all midway through the set. However, the Trojans were able to grab the lead after a 4-0 run in which they got kills from Kolunija and Kayla Giles, as well as a couple of ball handling errors by Florida Atlantic. The Owls came back to tie the match as they went on their own 4-0 run, before the Trojans scored six of the next seven points for the victory.

Troy had a chance to put the match away in the fourth set as they were tied 21-all late in the set. However, Florida Atlantic jumped ahead by two before Troy was able to tie the set at 23-all for the final decisive two points. The Owls used an attack by Georgia Robinson and an error by Troy to claim the fourth set and send the match to the fifth and decisive set.

The Trojans return to the court at 7 pm on Saturday evening against the Golden Panthers of FIU. Prior to the contest, the team will honor their two seniors, Megan Henderson and Victoria Rogoschewsky at Sartain Hall.

Admission to all home volleyball matches is free.

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