Troy Defeats Georgia State In Five Sets

Tuesday, September 28

Troy, AL

6:00 p.m.

Troy University

Georgia State University

Photo by: Troy University

9/28/2010 9:27:46 PM | Volleyball

The Trojans defeated Georgia State at home for the first time since 1993

By: Brynna Waters

Box Score

TROY, Ala. - The Troy University Trojans volleyball team defeated Georgia State in five sets 3-2 (23-25, 28-26, 25-17, 18-25, 15-12), recording their first home win over the the Panthers since 1993.

“It was a great win for us tonight over a really good Georgia State team,” head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. “This win will hopefully help our confidence going into this crucial weekend. I thought we played extremely well at points, and I hope we continue to get better for Friday night.”

Troy (8-10) was led on the night by junior Brittany McClelland who recorded 16 kills, a .419 attack percentage, two digs and one block. Junior Natasha Kolunija also recorded 16 kills on the night for the Trojans.

In the first set, Troy took an early lead with kills from Kolunija and sophomore Kayla Giles, but the Panthers (7-8) were able to stay within two of the Trojans for most of the match. Georgia State was able to tie Troy at 18-all, but a kill from Kolunija kept the Panthers quiet for a while until they tied the Trojans at 23-all, this time taking the lead and victory from Troy.

The second set, saw the Trojans fighting for points, the set was tied four times before Georgia State was able to pull away after tying the match at 9-all. Troy rallied on kills from Giles, McClelland and sophomore Devin Von Pingel, to tie the set once more at 18-all. Troy took the lead from the Panthers with a pair of kills from Von Pingel, and then won the set on kills from Kolunija and McClelland, tying the match at 1-1.

After intermission, the Trojans jumped out to a big lead to open the third set on Georgia State, taking a 13-4 lead with kills from McClelland, Kolunija and Von Pingel. Georgia State pulled to within eight of the Trojans, but kills from Kolunija and senior Victoria Rogoschewsky put an end to the rally and soared the Trojans to a set victory.

In the fourth set the Trojans fell behind early until kills from McClelland, Rogoschewsky and Von Pingel tied the set at 7-all. Troy was unable to take the lead from the Panthers and rally efforts failed as Troy watched Georgia State take the victory, and send the match to a fifth set.

In the deciding set, Troy fall behind early once again, but the Trojans rallied back looking for that elusive home win against Georgia State. The Trojans got kills from McClelland, Von Pingel and senior Megan Henderson to tie the set at 7-all. From that point, the set was at a standstill with the teams trading points and no one leading by no more than a point until a kill from McClelland put the Trojans on top. Troy finally took the match from Georgia State with a service ace from freshman Alexandra Alexander.

Troy will open conference play at home this weekend when they face Arkansas State on Friday night at 7 pm and UALR Saturday night at 7 pm. Both matches can be seen on All-Access on TroyTrojans.com.

Admission to all home matches is free. Follow all the Trojan action on Twitter by following @TroyAthletics.